Most women have too many purses.
It's true. They probably wouldn't like to admit it, but my results showed that most women own a far higher number of purses than they actually use. On average, respondents had 10.5 purses floating around their homes with a high-water mark of 25. When asked how many of these purses they actually used in the course of a week, the highest total was 3. On average, my respondents used less than 2 of their purses per week. Only one woman reported owning a single purse that she used religiously.

Why the disparity between total number of purses and actual purses used? Perhaps my next finding will shed some light on the issue.

When selecting a purse for use, form matters more than function.
I asked my sample group to tell me what the most important thing was for them about the purses that they buy and carry. They were given the following four choices:

a. How much stuff it holds
b. How many little compartments it has
c.how easy it is to hold/carry/get into
d.Whether or not it matches the rest of my outfit

Overwhelmingly, respondents reported that the way a purse looked with the rest of their outfit was the most important thing. At a distant second was how much stuff the purse could hold. The most enlightening answer by far came from Ruth, who provided the following insight into the purse selection process:

“Well, the first determining factor is what time of day it is because some purses are only for going out at night (duh). The next factor is how much stuff it holds relative to what I want to carry that day. Finally, all other things being equal, I pick the one that looks better with my ensemble.”

So perhaps the reason such a low percentage of purses make into the actual toting rotation is that they just don't go with enough things or aren't appropriate for the lifestyle of their owner. Several respondents did comment that they would like to be able to own and use more purses than they do, but are limited by either money or lack of purse-worthy occasions. Purses seem to be a luxury item for most of the sample group; a treat that isn't necessarily useful but is awfully fun to have.

You don't have to break the bank to buy a purse.
Maybe the reason that purses are such a treat is that stylish ones can be found for reasonable prices. When asked how much is too much to pay for a purse, most respondents said $50. The average for the group was $82, more than I would have said (because I would've said $12.95) but really not as high as I thought it would be. My theory of purse as treat was bolstered by my friend Maureen, who confessed to visiting a purse she likes at the shop on occasion. Not only does this give her a chance to get more comfortable with the cost of the purse; it gives the purse an opportunity to put itself on sale.

Most women have purchased more purses in the past year than I have ever.
The women in my sample group bought, on average, one purse every three months. That's four purses a year. Yeah, that's... huh.
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