What’s your clutch?

A few years ago, when I first set out to blog, I took a decidedly reserved (a.k.a stiff) tone. *Imagine a snooty, British accent* I wanted to come across as intelligent, worldly, eloquent in word, thoughtful in manner and discriminating in taste. My creative labor of media love – lain bare for all the Intrawebs to see – was to always be serious. If it were a woman in a painting, it would the farmer’s wife in American Gothic – not the Mona Lisa (she smiles too much). No, my child would be as austere as the musings of a 20-something liberal arts grad could make her…

But fast forward to 2010. This (Aspiring) Media Maven has become way more comfortable in her professional skin, and is a bit more willing to reveal a personality! However, shallow, silly and sensitive in spots that personality might be :-) So, just to keep it interesting:

On vacation with girlfriends during 4th of July weekend, one of them – a sorority sister of mine – unprovokingly said,

“When I carry a clutch, I feel a little bit better than everyone else.”

…At first, I was unsure I had heard her correctly. “Excuse me?” I said. “What was the bourgeoisie ignorance that just rolled off your tongue? Please explain.” The soror, who for the rest of this post shall be called ‘Sassy Snob’ repeated her sentiment. But added, “You know, carrying a clutch just makes me feel confident and like I can do anything.”

“Oh,” I replied. “I see…and now that I think about it, I like to carry my clutch with just the fingertips. Makes me feel very swank!”

Now, you may be judging. But some of you can surely relate. One of my roommates shared that she feels royally wonderful when she drinks out of a certain juice goblet. My other roommate said she feels unstoppable when carrying a designer handbag (actually, her words were, “I feel stush (sp?).” She was born and bred in Harlem, so I’m just going to classify the etymology of that word as ‘NYC 1998’). Anyway, for me, I feel like I can take on the world when wearing one of my "’Michelle Obama-style dresses – accented with pearls.

For further clarification, my take on the purpose of these items is not to make others feel less than. Their purpose is to make the person who possess them – unique to the individual – feel better than themselves (and everyone else) on a normal day. This may lead you to deduce that they serve a word that rhymes with clutch instead – a cruch. And perhaps you’d be right. But let’s face it, some times we need that ‘power suit’/favorite lipstick/best belt to give us the courage to share an unpopular idea in a big meeting or flirt with the cute eye candy across the room.

So, what’s your clutch? Which article of clothing, pen, PDA, stuffed animal or whatever makes you feel at the top of your game? It’s okay, you can share and we won’t judge :o)