Show Us Your Purse

■ Who? Donna Johnson, co-owner of Postcards Home and R.D.ZINE

■ Location: Postcards Home showroom at World Market Center

■ Handbag: Ralph Lauren tote

■ Are handbags status symbols? For those who believe that they are, they are. For me, they are a statement of your style, personality and especially lifestyle. I tend to buy if the purse color, style and function suits my lifestyle. But, every so often I just buy what I love to look at, touch and envision. I especially like a crazy color, like chartreuse that really doesn't appear in my wardrobe anywhere, but just seems to add the punch to whatever you choose to wear with it.

■ What does this bag say about you? This bag is kind of a mix of casual and somewhat classic. ... I am a mix of casual and, yet, I also like the dress-up part of life.

■ If someone found your bag and looked inside, what would they think of you? I like to be prepared for most anything and I also like the very spontaneous, fun part of life. My purse reflects the ability to jump on very short notice and do something unexpected.

■ What's the most important item you've carried in your bag? It might have been when I got my driver's license at the age of 16. While testing with the instructor I ran into a ditch and panicked. He allowed me to retest, and I felt a very big sigh of relief the day I walked out of the DMV with the all-important card in my purse.

■ What's the strangest item you've carried in your bag? Hmm, I think maybe it was a wet swimming suit wrapped in a Ruby's napkin when we were at the beach. Not that strange, but unforgettable.

■ Tell us about the first special bag you owned. My Aunt Berneice made the strangest little bags out of the bottom of a Clorox bottle with a crocheted drawstring top attached. She presented me with one that was out of hot pink yarn on top. Quite tasteless, but so exciting to feel I had arrived at age 9.

■ Knockoffs: Love 'em or hate 'em? I cannot admire someone who tries to capitalize on another's idea exactly as done as an original. I believe that is so anti-creative, not to mention a total lack of integrity. Usually knockoffs are of such poor quality that they don't last long enough to matter and a real designer is on to another new original creation. Out with the old, on with the new.

■ Image is: ... who you believe you are. If what is on the inside matches what is perceived on the outside, we can feel balanced and confident that we are being true to who we really are.

■ What's in your bag? Emergency jewelry, iPhone, Tootsie Pop, Chapstick, eyeglass holder, flip-flops, Cheerios.