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What your handbag says about you
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Bagsed ... a new book says Julie White's fringe bag means she's attracted to artists / Picture: David Kapernick.
WHAT does your handbag say about you, ladies? Quite a lot, if you believe the latest book by best-selling Australian author Kathryn Eisman.
The model and television presenter has seen her fair share of bags but also spent two years researching her latest book How to Tell a Woman by her Handbag - perhaps a little too closely."I think at some point somebody thought I was going to mug them because I was sitting on the subway or walking down the street and I was staring at their handbag," she said.
"I've always believed you can tell a lot about people by the details ... the intricacies that they think no one else will notice."
Eisman said many of a woman's traits could be deciphered from her handbag, and that much was revealed by what a woman carried over her shoulder.
Julia White nodded in agreement after reading the "fringed bag" page of Eisman's book in Brisbane inner-city suburb of Fortitude Valley this week.
"I think that's right on," she laughed.
"I like the part about the boy - how he'd have to be a musician, actor or artist. That's who I usually go for."
Now based in New York, Eisman was inspired to write the book after her internationally successful guide, How to Tell a Man by His Shoes.
"I've got a German and a Japanese edition of the book ... I can recognise my name and my illustrations and that's about it," she said.
In her latest effort, Eisman has divided women into 39 different types and says her book is a celebration of all kinds of women.
"While we have so many clothes, often women are very loyal to a particular type of handbag and they will end up using the same one or two all the time," she said.
"Or they'll have a variety of bags that are all quite similar in styles."
Rather than using her guide to judge women, Eisman hopes it will allow readers an insight into the bag carrier's personality.
"When you feel like you have some idea where they're coming from, you know how to relate to them and bring out the best in them," she said.
"It's not judgment, it's understanding. It's done in a tongue-in-cheek way and it's not meant to be reworking Freud's theory on personality."
So what does your bag mean? ...
One-strap messenger bag: She's the quiet rebel who will change the world but she risks exhausting herself by lugging unnecessary angst.
Studded bag: She's unafraid of staring the ugly truth in the eye but is so prepared for the worst she wills it upon herself.
Fake designer bag: While she's faking who she is, at least she's got good taste when it comes to choosing whom to imitate. But she's only kidding herself.
Magazine freebie bag: A genuine girl in a pool of poseurs.
Quilted Chanel bag: She's always perfectly appropriate but sometimes she's also a perfect bore. If people saw the real her, they'd actually really like her.
Logo luggage: She knows how to work it but there can be too much networking and not enough working. Sometimes you schmooze and you still lose.
Over-stuffed bag: She shows a selfless strength but martyrdom is so passe.
Gym bag: She knows what she wants and goes after it but occasionally she has to deviate from her routine.
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