Looking for organization first, prettiness second.

• Is there such a thing as the perfect purse? Until maybe 5 months ago, I'd hardly ever used a purse. Finally I put my foot down and bought one that was basically just a squishy bag with a shoulder strap. But I kinda hate it now. There's only one pocket inside, so everything else just floats around at the bottom. I have slim shoulders, so the strap keeps falling off, often dragging my looser shirt sleeves, tank top straps, or bra straps with it. So now I'm looking for a new purse, one that would be a complete opposite in form and function. I'm looking for a cross-body purse, possibly with a flat bottom (since one of the most common places I set it down is on public sinks, which a squishy bag just rolls out onto, somehow getting into water, soap, and who knows what else). I'm not seeking messenger bag huge but large enough to fit my Amazon Kindle, slim man-type wallet, phone, knife, a couple pens, medium or small and slim moleskine book, and various other "I like to be prepared" items (flashlight, floss, a MiO liquid water flavor thing, etc). I usually also carry a water bottle, but that might be a bit large for the size of the purse I want. I mean, I'm the kind of chick who carries a small bottle of sunscreen if the occasion warrants, but a lighter always even though I don't smoke. Not excessive, just.....compactly prepped. I am looking for...a super organized purse that isn't huge...but hopefully has more than 3 measly inside and outside pockets to keep things neat. And doesn't advertise all of my delectable worldy possessions at once (as some of those little hip bags do with mesh and plastic windows). And -might- just come in pretty colors. And fits across the body, despite the disadvantage of it cutting right between my boobs. I mean, I'm a woman but I'm practically looking for a man-purse, a murse if you will. If such a purse exists, can you help me find it? Do you know of one already? Thanks.

• Answer:

  You can get a bag that looks how you like on the outside but is relatively light on the interior pockets, and get a http://shop.pouchee.com/collections/cotton-pouchees insert thing. (That's just the best thing that came up when I googled "purse organizer" but you can find similar ones at bed & bath stores all over.) That way you can switch between purses if you get into them as an accessory later, too, and get as obsessive about pocketing things in the right place for maximum preparedness as much as you please. As for reasonably sized and priced and pretty colors, I'm a big fan of Fossil bags, which they sell at Macy's as well as their own stores. They do a nice crossbody. You can normally find last season's colors on clearance, too. You might like the http://www.fossil.com/en_US/shop/women/handbag_collections/maddox.html collection?