Fashion : Purse on Wheels--L.A. Style
In Paris, women clutch flirtatious little Chanel bags, so small they hold next to nothing.
In New York, they take the opposite tack, lugging mega-tote bags that bend their backs into Quasimodo crouches, so they can keep their subway reading, gym clothes and other such sundries close at hand.
But in Los Angeles, women breeze around town carrying nothing except a set of keys. That’s because the quintessential California purse comes with four wheels and a trunk.
Among its many side effects, the car culture has fostered a purse-on-wheels mentality, and there are those who have honed it to a science.
“The first stoplight after I leave my house is a very long one,” says Candace Gilman, “so I flip over a little cardboard box between the seats and get a coat of clear polish on both hands.” The box also serves as a coffee-cup holder.
As Gilman commutes between L.A. Gear, the company near Marina del Rey where she works in fitness promotion, to the Santa Monica Athletic Club, where she teaches exercise classes, she actually changes clothes, slipping into one of several workout outfits she keeps in the back seat. Her aerobic wardrobe is only part of her enormous number of supplies.
“I have this fear of being stuck in a major traffic jam with no food or water,” she says, echoing the daily nightmare most commuters face.
Gilman is prepared to camp out in gridlock for days, with plenty of mineral water and health snacks, such as rice cakes, in stock at all times. But more to the point of everyday living, she keeps a mini beauty salon in her car. Among the grooming supplies are toothpaste and toothbrush and plenty of sample-size vials of Opium, her favorite perfume, which she stores in her unused ashtray. She also carries beach towels that double as oversize bibs to keep her and her zebra-striped seat covers free of cosmetics and crumbs.
There is a remarkable universality about the contents of Los Angeles women’s cars. If some future archeologists were to unearth a typical 1989 model intact, it would be a treasure trove of cultural memorabilia that would certainly include the following items: liter-size bottles of Evian water, sun-block cream, some food substance or other made of oat bran, a pair of aerobic shoes, trendy baby or dog toys and books on self-help subjects, such as how to improve your self-image, choose the right mate, get ahead in business or break the co-dependency habit.
Trunk Full of Tote-Ables
“I have everything you could ever need in my car,” proclaims actress Valerie Landsburg , who first made her mark as a regular on “Fame,” the TV series. She keeps her trunk full of tote-ables stored in giant, rubber boxes with snap-on tops. There is always a roll of wrapping paper as well as tape for last-minute gifts. There is also an arsenal of inspiring playthings for daughter Taylor. But this late ‘80s toddler’s favorite toy, appropriately enough, is her mother’s car phone.
In Kathryn Klinger’s immaculately clean Mercedes, there is a select supply of cleansing pads, refreshing toner spray and lip balm from the Georgette Klinger skin-care line (named after her mother and business partner) that Kathryn sells in her Rodeo Drive salon. And there is an earthquake-preparedness kit that includes sealed water packets, thermal blankets, first-aid supplies and a flashlight.
Designer Michele Lamy’s bohemian, Volkswagen van carries nothing that hints at her profession, save the knitting materials she takes up when someone else is doing the driving. There are other things that indicate Lamy’s interests beyond fashion. She carries art books and garden tools wherever she goes.
Immortalized Concept
Perhaps Laurie Frank, the Hollywood screenwriter, was the first to identify the West Coast car as a purse on wheels. In fact, you could say she immortalized the concept when she and co-writer, Floyd Byars, created a scene in “Making Mr. Right,” the 1987 film in which actress Ann Magnuson drives to work at the same time that she expertly applies makeup and even shaves her underarms and legs with an electric razor. It’s a scene bi-coastal Frank believes she could only have written after having lived in Los Angeles.
“The greatest luxury is leaving something in a car,” she says, adding that she never unpacks hers completely. “My car’s an extension of my life.” Her Saab convertible is never without a large supply of “serving platters and serving spoons, because there never seems to be enough of these for parties.”
She also keep clothing in the car. “An unbelievable number of jackets, not worth dry cleaning and too crumpled to wear,” she explains.
Janet Orsi, who runs her own fashion public relations company, has a car library of motivational tapes. “The Psychology of Achievement” and “Word Power” are two of her current favorites. However, she sees a dark side to the purse-on-wheels life style.
“It can be a trap. You take on more and more because you find you have the capacity to do more in one day. First it’s a car phone, then a car fax. Suddenly the car begins to drive you!”
Some commuters would say that sounds like the best of all possible worlds.
