A couple of years ago around the Holidays, a wonderful happy accident happened that has changed the way I use my daily handbag and evening purse (a clutch).  I was having a particularly busy social schedule during the Holidays in addition to just the hectic day to day stuff called life.  For the very first Holiday party of the season, I transferred the basic necessities from my everyday handbag to my evening clutch as I always do.  Normally, the very next day I would transfer everything back to the handbag and then put the clutch away in my closet until the next time it was needed, then do it all over again for the next evening social event.  This time, however, the transfer just never happened, I didn’t have time.  Instead, on the way out the door one morning, I just threw the clutch into my handbag thinking I would transfer everything while sitting in traffic or waiting for a meeting to start.  Instead, I kept the items in the clutch and transferred several additional items from the handbag, removed my everyday wallet and other unnecessary items from the handbag and dropped the evening clutch into my handbag.  I carried both items like that all season and it saved me so much hassle.  Whenever I needed the clutch, it was ready to go.  In essence, my clutch became an oversized wallet.  It was also great for times when I needed to just run into a store very quickly and didn’t want to drag my entire handbag in.

Here is a short list of the items I keep in the evening clutch:

personal credit card

personal debit card

business debit card

business debit card

drivers license

cash

pen

business cards

lip gloss

slim compact

Christmas shopping list

gum

Most days I carry a Coach Brooke Cross Body Bag (shown below) and my clutch fits inside perfectly after I remove my everyday wallet.  Here are two styles that would work well together for this time saving plan:

www.coach.com

What do you think?  Would this tip work well for you around the Holidays?  Do you have any fashion or accessory tips to ease the transition from day to evening wear?  We’d love to hear your ideas!