Out With The Old - In With The New!

Today was it!  I was at the post office and found that I had to empty out most of my handbag to find my PO Box key... so I decided to find myself a good handbag that took all my stuff; and do it today!

So, once I was at Life Line, I looked carefully at some lovely handbags in the glass cabinet and a coin purse or two; then the other bags on the shelves.  And found the absolute one for me!  It has two compartments, a zip-up centre, a zip on the back, other zips on the front and there's a complete part that does up too.  So, I took it.

What did I do with my old handbag?  I emptied it out, transferred my stuff to the new one and handed it into Life Line where they checked it while I stood there to confirm I hadn't left anything in it.  I'm happy with my purchase and hope the next person who buys my old purse enjoys it as much as I did over the last two years.

Big Red!

I found this monster of a purse at a local charity shop and thought it would be something wonderful to add to my collection.  Seeing I've got a really tiny one, it would be a great irony to have a large, oversized purse; so I got it.  And I'm glad I did.

Isn't it lovely and big and just that little bit cumbersome?  I haven't used it yet, but I'm sure it will work just perfectly - if not better - to what I need.  However, I do like my coin purses to be cute and discrete things that hold my money and other people's attention just long enough for them to be wowed a little bit before I put them back in my bag.  This one, however it on the bigger side; I wouldn't know where to begin with its uses.  But it is something to behold with its colour.

Glo-Mesh History Mystery

A lot of people wonder where Glo-Mesh handbags come from; and why they are so hard to find after being so popular for such a short period of time.  I've done some digging around and found a few little-known facts about this very collectible, must-have for every woman.

As it was mostly produced in the 70s and 80s, but not exclusively – silver mesh had a bit of a following in the 60s with companies like the US-based Whiting and Davis that were producing mesh well before this.

The mesh came in a range of basic colours, along with some less common and more collectable ones.

However, the term ‘Glomesh’ is the official trademark of the company you asked about (Glo International Australia). If it isn’t labelled ‘Glomesh’ then the item should be referred to as simply ‘mesh’ or ‘alumesh'.  

‘Glomesh’ was manufactured in Australia and so, many Glomesh designs have a four digit design number somewhere on the label of the bag. This can be of assistance in dating the item.  However, if you've bought your bag at a charity or second-hand store, the tag may have been cut or worn out.

If you’re lucky enough to find a swing tag attached to the item, this will help in dating it. 60s bags have swing tags/sticker labels with a sort of rounded triangular shape, like a plectrum; later ones have a square tag with a gold ‘G’ on it.

If the original box comes with the item, this too can help you date it – older boxes have printed off-white cardboard that’s designed to look like glomesh; later boxes are grey with thin diagonal pink stripes and white lettering.

Cheaper mesh, which mostly seems to come from Hong Kong or China, will tarnish easily and is generally not worth your while (unless it’s an amazing shape or colour or something).

There are three most reputable brands of mesh:

Australia – Glomesh (Glo International Australia) and Park Lane
USA – Gold Crest and Whiting and Davis (USA)
Germany – Oroton

That’s about all it I found find about Glo-Mesh (alu-mesh).  Never underestimate the value of talking to the older generation. Even ladies (and some gents) who don’t take an interest seem to know the difference between Oroton and ‘Made in Hong Kong’. 

If you go into an antiques shop/fair/market where people seem to be selling loads of mesh, they will probably be wonderful founts of wisdom. You can also check fashion magazines from the 70s and 80s, which will probably assist you in identifying designs and trends of the period.

I got all this information from a wonderful website from Google.   All of this information was gleaned from a blog site; as I couldn't find anything about these particular types of bags.  I've been obtaining a lot of my history from my parents and other people who used to own Glo-mesh or other mesh bags.

Crete Coin Purse

I had a muddled up day; forgetting a multitude of things but it got figured out in the end.  And my day got even better once everything was unpacked at home and I walked to the post office to check the mail to find a little parcel sitting in the PO Box for me.

On the way to the service station (to buy some milk), I found one of my dear friends from Bookcrossing had been to Crete and has sent me a lovely little coin purse from there.  She had contacted me and asked what my address was about a week ago; but I didn't think this lovely little darling of purse would be waiting for me; she has such great taste!  

Immediately, I put my $5.00 note into it and tried it out.  I love how it has a definite sharp clip and none of the money pokes out the sides.  Then, once I received the change from the man at the counter, none of the money fell out the sides (sometimes this happens; it all in how the item is made and nothing else).  Definitely a great purchase made by one of my friends.  I will use this one again.