Accessories Anonymous: Untouchable Clutch-ables

I have been so into large bags for so long- bags that I can use every day to tote all my essentials around with me. Inside my bag right now, you will find:

- A make-up bag with no less than 4 lipsticks, 1 powder, 1 cream foundation, 1 mascara, 1 eye shadow palette, 1 lip gloss and several hair ties and clip
- Wallet and separate coin purse
- Business card case
- Keys
- Cell phone
- iPod
- Tissues
- Tampons
- Pens and a small notebook
- Hand sanitizer
- Mini lotion bottle
- Mini perfume bottle
- Gloves (it's cold out there!)
- Tape measure (you'd be surprised how often I pull it out)
- Nail file
- Altoids

Of course, a lot of these don't get used every day, but I hate when I need something simple like a tissue or a working pen and it's not right at my fingertips. It's not that I'm impatient, it's just that if I have a large bag, why not fill it with all the essentials and then I'll never be stuck without the one thing I need? My new Betsey Johnson bag is much smaller than what I've been using lately and it became problematic because I simply couldn't fit everything I needed inside it. Eventually, I re-worked the contents in an effort to make it more user-friendly, and while that worked for a while, there was that one time that I didn't have the shade of lipstick with me that I really wanted. Not exactly a life-or-death situation, but still irksome. The funny thing about smaller bags is that if I do eventually grow accustomed to carrying around a smaller amount of items, when I inevitably switch out to the larger bag, it's not as if I continue to pare down the contents. Nope. It's almost as if a larger bag is free license to carry so much more around! I'm amazed I don't have back problems.

Of course, the most difficult bags to deal with for me are evening bags- specifically clutches. (How psyched was I to see oversize clutches coming into trend?) In the event that carrying an evening bag is required, I always stash it inside my larger bag. I'll carefully select the one lip product I'll need, remove the items from my wallet that are the most essential (I.D., money, credit card), and if there's any extra room after squeezing in my keys and cell phone, you can bet I'll try to cram a face powder compact in there, too. Lately, I've been thinking of forcing myself to use a smaller every day bag, just to get out of this habit. The idea prompted me to  shop around for some smaller every day bags that I could carry around and maybe create a new habit. The weather at this time of year isn't really helping my situation because if there isn't room in my bag for everything, I likely have a couple of pockets in whatever coat I'm wearing to stash a few extra essentials.

But here's the thing: if I'm legitimately going to try for a smaller every day bag, it still needs to be super cute. Maybe one of these will do:

Leather Portfolio Clutch, ASOS, $98.62

Warehouse Classic Zip Clutch Bag, ASOS, $35.86

Leather and Leopard Print Clutch, ASOS, $116.55

Glittery Mesh Clutch, Forever 21, $17.80 

Titanic Blue Weave Clutch, Ruche, $34.99

Cappuccino Carnation Clutch, Ruche, $30.99

I'll be honest- this experiment is mostly in my imagination- I don't see my big bag habit going away anytime soon. Although, if I had a couple of the clutches above to use, I might be a little more enthused about changing my ways.