I recently saw a news item in the Wall Street Journal about Monica Botkier, founder of the handbag label Botkier. The article described how Botkier understands how hard it can be to deal with all the clutter inside your purse.

The designer believes women carry around too much. “They don’t know how to edit themselves and end up dragging their lives around with them,” she says.

Being a designer, she also carries a tape measure in her bag in case she sees a fabric or home decor item that she likes, “I never know if I’ll see something that inspires me ” and has to be measured.

To help her stay organized, Ms. Botkier picks bags with zippered and outside pockets, which come in handy for things like her phone. “It drove me crazy to have everything in one huge black hole,” she says.

I can empathize with that last statement.  For years I carried a leather bag I adored, but it was impossible to find anything in it.  Often, after futile searching all through the bag–twice, three times–I would have to dump everything out in order to find my keys, ringing phone, pen, anything.

A few months ago, Myra Eisenberg, the owner of Gallery M in Greenport, NY, told me about a great handbag with plenty of inside pockets for all my “stuff.”  She introduced me to Suruchi Handbags, and I have been a fan ever since.  The Metro Bag (in black) I purchased is great for walking around New York, and holds up well to the beating I give it commuting in all kinds of weather.

Handbags with pockets solved my “black hole” problem.  I still have to search each pocket for my keys(!) but at least I know they’re in one of the pockets!

Read more about Botkier here and here.

Read more about Suruchi here.