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Updated: Nov 11, 2021 74 Comments · by

Gift Idea: Quilted Purse Shapers

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handbag-shapers-container-store

Readers recommended these purse shapers in our last discussion on closet organization, and I think they're a great solution to the problem of having purses that get slouchy if you don't stuff them with papers when they're not being used. I like the quilted look because it feels more luxurious, and these come in a variety of sizes. They are a little pricey at $14.99 to $29.99 (at the Container Store), but I think that's one of the reasons they make a great gift idea for the women in your life who may be handbag fanatics.

Stay tuned for some of our favorite products to organize your closets! As of 2024 we love this hanging organizer for storing tights, this hanging organizer for small jewelry storage and this hanging organizer for larger necklace storage. This legging organizer also looks great!

(And if you give one of these to someone who ends up not liking it — and returning it — there's a ton of other stuff they can get at the Container Store.) These are well priced for a gift for a colleague or a mother-in-law, for example, and they have great reviews. Quilted Purse Shapers by Innies

Psst: Here are some of our favorite products to store jewelry:

Sales of note for 9.30.24

And some of our latest threadjacks here at Corporette (reader questions and commentary) — see more here!

Some of our latest threadjacks include:

About Kat

Kat Griffin is the founder, publisher, and editor-in-chief of Corporette. You can read more about her here.

Comments

  1. sports br@s

    Speaking of shapers, I’m noticing that a lot of my new ones come with light padding / shaping. I like the look (I have monster hips, like a t-rex, and appreciate a bit of balance up top). And I like having less-obvs headlights. Not sure how well the shapers will hold up / nuisance factor.

    Thankfully they aren’t like the workout wonderbr@s they had a few decades ago.

  2. KateMiddletown

    Ya’ll – save your sealed air bags that stuff gets mailed with and use them. FREE.

    • sports br@s

      Yes — I stuff my bags with other bags. I do this with suitcases, too. All free space = storage.

  3. Tipping Help

    It’s that time of year…could use some guidance on two special circumstances:

    I pay my dog walker $40/week (two 30- min walks). I love her and she’s the only reason DH and I are able to have our dog. Seriously – massive, massive life saver with our often unpredictable schedules and last-minute changes to plans. I would give her a gift of gold if I could. We’ve used her for 12 months.

    We pay our house cleaner $120 1x/month. She does an OK job at best, and cancels/reschedules a lot, which doesn’t work for us. After addressing this multiple times since consistency was a condition of hiring, we want to fire her (decided in November) but opted not to do this around the holidays. It absolutely feels wrong to give her $0 tip. We’ve been using her for 12 months, also.

    We’re in HCOL, northeast suburb of major city (ie: Boston/NYC).

      • Anonymous

        +1

        They have been your cleaners for 12 months so tip appropriately (cost of one service) but don’t feel guilty about letting them go in January. You’ve raised the consistency issue and it hasn’t been addressed.

    • Anon

      I would tip your dog walker $100. I live in the Boston burbs. Typically I do cost of a week of service- so $40 to dog walker. Cleaner…I tip my biweekly cleaners-who are very good but not AMAZING LIFE SAVERS the cost of one cleaning ($100).

      If your dog walker makes your life easy, let her know. Thank her. If $100 isn’t affordable to you, maybe do $50-$100. We spent $40-50/ week on our dog walker and tipped him more generously than our baby’s daycare provider (they each got $100, plus a card and we threw in some doggie treats for our dog walker’s own dogs). Our dog walker was an incredible gem and would do anything for the dog. After 6 years he ended up adopting our dog (age 8) when we needed to rehome her due to extenuating circumstances. $100 wasn’t a lot more to us in the grand scheme of things and it made a big difference to him.

      • Tipping Help

        Thanks! Any chance you’re in the northern ‘burbs (Reading/Lynnfield/Wakefield/Melrose corridor) and have a lead on a reliable house cleaner? I’m in the market for a new one…. :-/

    • Anonymous

      That is not a lot to pay someone to clean an entire house with one month worth of dirt. Very low is you are in HCOL area.

      I would still tip her as she is underpaid and then let her go.

      • Anon

        Seriously. People expect amazing quality for peanuts. You wont get a top notch cleaner for 120, sorry you just won’t. Especially monthly. Most high quality cleaners only do weekly appointments with some special exceptions (like snow birds or extra cleaning for parties). Anyways that’s the sad state of the service economy we live in.

  4. Frye v. Justin

    I’ve had Justin boots that have lasted forever (15+ years). I consider them worth the investment. Style-wise, I’m looking at a pair of Frye boots (campus stitching or a pair made with distressed / vintage leather, I forget the exact term). How do they compare to Justins in terms of longevity (and fit, if noticeably wider / narrower, etc.)?

    I’m a bit worried that all of the cool high schoolers have them and I won’t really like them (or that I won’t really like them AND they will last forever, taunting me into the future). But I can see really liking them.

    I’ve had my Justins longer than my husband. I want the Fryes only if they are keeper-level boots (not just a boot fling).

    • AZCPA

      I don’t feel like they are keepers. I’m an Old Gringo girl, and I’ve had Justins as well, and it’s just not the same caliber to buy Frye.

  5. SD

    I decided to start buying excellent versions of things I LOVE and never again buy an ‘affordable’ thing that is simply adequate, because the former means I’ll have a smaller closet of clothes I feel like a boss in. I have pretty classic tastes and don’t care for trends, so seems like a wise decision…
    I just bought a real camel hair coat for $700 and a stunning dress that will be appropriate for anything from meetings/conferences to weddings on sale for $300. Subsequently had a full on panic attack about spending that much money on clothing. I specifically earmarked a good amount of money towards upgrading my closet, but it’s still a lot of money that will take a while to replenish.
    How can I go about this intelligently and not have panic attacks??? Has anyone else done something similar?

    • Anonymous

      Think of use value…the coat will likely get daily use for years. $300 for a wedding/mtg/conference dress sounds great, especially when a bridesmaids dress (one time use) can easily be $300.

    • Torin

      Does your CC have price protection? When I buy big ticket items like this I keep an eye out for sales for the next 30 days and if it goes on sale I use the price protection on my CC.

    • Meredith Grey

      just know that some of us out there are wishing we were you!! (me anyway!)

    • Mindy

      I have the panic attack.

      And then as time passes, I remember that the panic goes away as the cost per wear goes down (a lot!). Repeat.

    • samesies

      This happens to me. I feel like I am always weighing whether it is the right choice for me to ‘upgrade’ my wardrobe this way. Cost per wear combined with getting things you love is the key. If it’s good quality, but you don’t love it, it won’t feel worth it. I got my last wool coat 8 years ago for what was (for me) a lot of money. Wore it almost every day in winter for 8 years. Worth it. Better use of money than the 3 other less expensive coats that I like well enough, but wear rarely because they go with less things/ don’t sing to me. Get one ring for $100, rather than 5 cheap rings that tarnish… I’d take a look at your possessions that you don’t wear that often, figure out why, add up the cost, and you’ll probably feel better.

  6. Cooking Newbie

    If you were only buying one piece of cookware (I’m trying to take the plunge into Le Cruset or Lodge etc.), what piece would you buy? A dutch oven? French oven? I have no idea what the difference is, or what’s the best size to get.

    Thanks all

    • Lodge!

      We had a thread on this last week (big sale at W-S on both).

      Consensus was that Staub is prettier; Lodge just as good. Big vote for enameled cast iron.

      FWIW, I started with the Lodge chicken fryer (deep fry pan with lid that you can use as a skillet). I don’t fry chicken, but it is excellent for making a great steak.

    • CountC

      I use my 5 quart LC dutch oven for almost everything. Even if the amount of food doesn’t require that large of a cooking vessel, I like the high sides because I am a messy cook.

      • Torin

        +1

        I think if I had just the dutch oven and a couple of cookie sheets for roasting I could probably cook about 90% of what I make on a regular basis.

        • CountC

          Same here! I use most of my other kitchen items (crock pot and food processor, I am looking at you) to make the dog’s food.

      • Bonnie

        Me too. If you’re not picky about color, I’ve seen LC at Marshalls/TJ Maxx.

    • Anonymous

      I vote for a French oven from a reputable brand. You can always buy Lodge pans/skillets – they are not expensive.
      My 6-qt Staub Essential Oven is the most expensive piece of cookware I own, but I use it very often.
      Caveats: I cook for 4 including a teen boy, and the family is OK eating leftovers, so large size works for me. Additionally, the lid fits my 12-in Lodge pan!
      BTW, Staub is on sale at Williams-Sonoma. I don’t know if it’s just for today or longer.

      • not teresa guidice

        I can always, always remember Staub b/c it was the name of one of the original RHONJ.

    • DC Anon

      Lodge Logic cast iron enameled dutch oven. I’ve owned Le Creuset in the past and the Lodge dutch oven is equivalent quality for a fraction of the price.

    • LAnon

      I love my Lodge enamel dutch oven. I got it to make a specific recipe for a special meal, and now I don’t know what I would do without it – I use it probably 2-3 times a week. It was not super expensive and is such a workhorse. I like the enamel because it’s much easier to care for than exposed cast iron. I have the 6 quart size; usually I’m cooking for 2-4 people. I would err on the side of being a little larger than you typically need, because that typically is not a problem and then you can use the extra space when you need it.

      • Anon

        Second this. I will also say their customer service is excellent. I had the enamel start to chip in mine, when it was about five years old, and they replaced it for me for free.

    • Anon

      I would buy an appx 5 qt Dutch oven from Staub or Le creuset. That is the standard size. Then if you really like braising a good second pan is a 3qt braiser . It is my most used pan (I have the Staub 5 qt and the Le Creuset braiser )

  7. checking on our feds

    Federal employees, how are you doing? What is the atmosphere like in your offices? It seems like the past few days have been one horrifying revelation after another–I hope you are managing okay.

    • anonymous

      Can you tell us specifically what you mean? Honest question– I’m a fed but no one in my office has said anything (we collectively all remained silent before/during/after the election, for which I’m appreciative). There were shutdown murmurs, but there always are. Is there something else I should know about? (Or do you just mean the state of things in general– if so, we’re collectively silent about that, too)

      • a-non

        I recently visited DC and all my friends (Feds and non-Feds alike) talked about was the election and how anxious and nervous they were. Not about their job security necessarily, just the general state of the country and government and the uncertainty.

        • Anonymous

          I’m also a fed. This definitely happened in my office, at least among people we knew were like-minded. It was just about everyone.

    • Bonnie

      In my agency, there is a rush to set certain projects in motion and fill slots before the changeover.

  8. Paging nip/tuck

    I had breast reduction surgery years ago. Then, more recently, I had children, and it turned out that for several reasons, all of them a result of the surgery, breast-feeding would not work for our family. It wasn’t the end of the world, but I do wish that I could have had the opportunity to breast-feed. I also found that my breasts swelled up during pregnancy and after giving birth, and then they shriveled a bit. So if I could do it all over again, I would wait until after I had children, and then get whatever aesthetic and medical improvements I thought were appropriate, probably along the lines of a lift and reduction. I’ve met a few other mothers in my local moms group who had the same experience of early surgery, subsequent breast-feeding problems, and regrets about timing. My therapist, whom I started seeing following the birth of my first child for postpartum anxiety mainly relating to inability to breast-feed, has also told me that anecdotally none of her patients who had breast reduction surgery were able to breast-feed effectively. Obviously, she is more likely to see people who can’t breast-feed than people who can, so her perspective may be a bit skewed but, nonetheless…

    Not that this would necessarily apply to your situation, but in case you hadn’t considered it, I just wanted to flag it for you. Good luck whatever you choose.

    • Anonymous

      OTOH, if size is an issue, I cannot imagine the agony of them getting larger and more sensitive. I might see this as a feature and not a bug. But it’s your agony and I don’t think that agony is needed to have healthy children. I don’t think that the BF people want a martyr for the cause.

      With BF, I’m thinking it’s 50% cuddle/nurture/a mom who’d BF might be a mom who’d do a lot of other things to benefit her child (like if were were told formula is better, a mom who’d chose that might chose other beneficial things). Also with BF, I wasn’t sure how beneficial reheated pumped milk was vs comes with cuddle, right from the spout milk was. It may not be something that it is possible to study even (and I did BF / pump when I was back at work).

      My sister, who is tiny, was able to BF two enormous children, so I’m not sure where the magic lies.

      • Anon for This

        As a large breasted person (34J), “agony” might be overselling it for most women.

    • Anonymous

      Did your surgeon discuss this issue with you before reduction? Was it something you could weigh at the time?

      • Paging nip/tuck

        I was in high school and miserable about how large I was. Surgeon mentioned the BF risk, but my siblings and I were formula fed, and I though of BFing as sort of gross. So I didn’t factor the risk into my decision. I went into the whole process with the wrong mindset, and I think because my parents were MDs, the surgeon trod very lightly (didn’t want to discourage a procedure his colleagues had instead). for me, the BF issue wasn’t so much the milk supply as the fact that I got injured much more easily and healed much more slowly because of all ththe scarring and reduced blood flow, plus my n1pples were too floppy for my kids to latch onto well (which impacted both their intake and my injury), and then the milk had a hard time making it to the outside because a lot of the pipelines had been severed, so to speak. Different women have different BFAR issues, but this was what I experienced. With my first kid, it was really hard for me to accept that I couldn’t BF effectively, and made the first few months of parenthood really sad. With my second, I was much more prepared and in some ways relieved (and less hormonal overall, not sure whether that was a cause or effect of not BFing/pumping).

  9. Anonymous

    Kind of threadjack from the breast reduction breastfeeding comment…has anyone been overweight and had a breast reduction done?

    I was obese and am now overweight for my BMI. I’ve lost about 70 lbs in the last year and a half, and weight loss seems to be levelling off. I’ve always had large breasts, as do many of my family members (my aunt had a reduction done). I wasn’t overweight/obese till my early 20s, and growing up and in college I was a 34 or 36DD (I probably had larger breasts but never had a professional fitting done). At my largest, I was 44 or 46H. Now, I’m 38K, and I have been looking into a reduction. I contacted surgeons, none of whom want to operate on me while I’m still overweight. I’ve been told they will reduce as I lose weight. (1) I don’t think I’ll lose significantly more weight (2) its very uncomfortable during exercise. I wear 2 bras, professionally fitted, as well as a workout top with a built in bra (3) its moderately uncomfortable during the day, with tension in my shoulders. I’ve been fitted at 2 different professional stores, so I think I’m wearing a properly fitting bra. I also have narrow shoulders, which doesn’t help.

    Any suggestions? Either on a reduction while overweight, or tips to deal with my discomfort?

    • Anony

      Check out skinnymeg – she may provide more info on this as she just had her breast reduction done in the last year or so (I think).

    • Paging nip/tuck

      I was 20 or 30 pounds overweight when I had my surgery. I subsequently lost some weight (like 10-20 pounds), but my breasts stayed basically the same size. Depending on how overweight you are, though, and how your body stores fat, and what happens with your weight in the years following the surgery, YMMV.

      Could you set a timeline with a surgeon to see what has happened with your weight loss? In other words, what a surgeon be willing to operate (or at least consider operating) if in, say, six months, your weight has stabilized and you are still uncomfortable with your breast size?

      • anon

        +1 about stabilization. Also, could you ask to go on the smaller side of what’s recommended so if you gain weight in the future it won’t be as much growth?

    • Nudibranch

      If you think you still may lose more, you might want to wait a little longer. Over the course of my weight loss journey last year, I went from a 46H to a 34 E. The breast weight went down consistently with the rest of the weight loss, but there was a BIG reduction at the end. In fact, that was one reason I decided to stop there. ( I was planning to go for another 10 lbs, but decided I didn’t want to get any smaller up top.)

  11. Nelly Yuki

    Any real life reviews of Third Love? I have only heard reviews from bloggers and podcast hosts.

    • Anon

      I ordered my first one about three weeks ago – quick service, and I do love the bra. I’ve always had trouble getting bras to fit correctly – apparently no one with a rib cage my size has breasts as small as I do. Unfortunate combination. I love the one they sent, and am definitely keeping it, despite the fact that it’s more expensive than I am really comfortable with.

      • Torin

        This is always my problem too! It’s also frequently a problem buying tops, sweaters, dresses, etc.

    • Torin

      I love their t-shirt bras. Very comfortable and luxe feeling, and the shaped cups hide headlights without adding a bunch of padding (which I don’t personally like). I’m really picky about my bras and these are as close to perfect for me as any I’ve tried in some years.

      I tried the strappy t-shirt one and did not like it at all. The elastic on the straps dug in to my ribs after a couple of hours even though it didn’t feel tight.

      Haven’t tried any of the other varieties so can’t comment on them.

      For reference, I wear a 34A or B depending on bra style, so no idea if they’d have good support for a bustier woman.

    • anon anon armani

      Sure wish they would offer non-wired bras. Those items are quickly becoming unicorns. Due to shoulder and wrist issues I cannot put on/take off the athletic type bras either. I have one bra … and it gives unib@@b but I feel lost. All the usual online vendors … this is the one bra I’ve managed to wear successfully. A warner’s no less. It is a regular item, not a sports bra. I was hopeful with Third Love. Not. Bummed. It’s also really depressing to go into bra boutiques and Nordstrom and simply be told “look on line.” Especially one boutique very high end which I had frequented for years until the no-wires became necessary.

      Just venting.

      BTW the purse shapers are great. I live in a warm climate, we have the thermostat in the house up in the high 80s when not home during the day, purses are on top shelf of a closet … and I would always worry about using the plastic air-filled packing materials. Problem solved with these items via the Container Store. And it is one thing to switch from purse to purse. High recommended.

    • Sloan Sabbith

      Got one and it doesn’t fit. I need to return it. I think it might be fine in a half size bigger, but that’s going to mean one cup is a size or a size and a half too big (one cup is an A or A and a half) and the other fits fine (it’s like a B and a half?). Ughhhhhhh. But the bra is super soft and comfortable. It just doesn’t fit on one cup in this size.

  12. Anon

    Need some gift advice – I have two admin assistants that I oversee. In the past, it’s always been two older ladies, and I got them pretty typical admin gifts. However, I have a new one this year, and he’s a 26 year old single male. What does one get a young single guy? He’s only been here about two months, but he’s doing a great job. He’s definitely into sports, but I don’t know much else about him personally. Unwritten policy is not more than $10-$15.

    • anon

      iTunes gift card and some lottery scratch tickets? Or, gift card to sports bar?

    • Delta Dawn

      Does he drink (and, are alcohol related gifts ok at your office)? Someone gave my DH some whiskey stones a few years ago– he loves them. You freeze them and put them in your drink, like ice, but they don’t melt and water it down.

      • CMT

        I think this is a good idea even if he doesn’t drink coffee. He can get tea or a soft drink or a muffin or whatever.

  13. Anon

    PSA : huge surprise sale at Kate Spade. I bought a gorgeous tote bag for only $129!

  14. Anonymous

    I am having a problem with my towels. My boyfriend and I moved in together almost two years ago, and I immediately noticed that our towels were smelling more than my towels ever did when living with female roommates. His towels would start to smell like mildewy, wet towels after one or two uses (my towels would never smell like that until 2+ weeks of use, but never as strong). I chalk it up to him being a lot bigger and having more surface area to dry off, so his towels just collect more water after a single use than mine, even when I use it on my hair. I thought I corrected the issue by spreading his out to dry and washing them in vinegar, but now I’m noticing that all of our towels are starting to smell this way I use them once. They smell great after getting washed and dried, but its like the bacteria is still in the towel and starts smelling as soon as it’s wet. Has anyone had this issue? Any solution(s)? Officially crowdsourcing an answer because my mother’s suggestion was to buy nicer towels. I did, but they still stink.

    • TorontoNewbie

      I was really excited to learn on here a couple of weeks ago that you wash them once in vinegar, once in baking soda. That did it for us. Also – it might just be a ventilation issue. Is he crumpling them up in the corner/in a gym bag after a shower? Do you hang yours somewhere different? Can you hang them outside?

      • Anonymous

        I’ve never used baking soda. Are there specific instructions for the baking soda wash or a specific ratio for baking soda to vinegar? No crumpling issue, I hang his towel on the shower rod to make sure it dries completely. We can’t hang them inside because we live in an apartment with no balcony.

    • Anonymous

      I wash mine with vinegar and always in hot water. I also only buy white so that every few washes I can bleach them. Despite having poor ventilation in my bathroom, I feel like this has kept them from getting that stinky smell that my old towels sometimes got.

      • Anonymous

        That’s a bizarre thing to say…do you wash your sheets every morning too? Clean towel + freshly cleaned body, then hung to dry is about as sanitary as it gets. Don’t waste power and water!

    • Anonymous

      maybe it’s a guy thing. I noticed that my fiance’s towel does that too and we wash them together but mine never smell and his does (I can tell which is which because I got towels in one color and he got a different color before we moved in together.

    • pugsnbourbon

      Not sure if you’re still reading replies, but – I recently had issues with smelly laundry. A few steps that helped:

      -wash your towels once using only vinegar – I used a full cup per load.
      -wash them again using about half the detergent you normally would.
      -stop using fabric softener (liquids or sheets). I use those wool dryer balls – they’re not too noisy and they really do reduce static and make things fluffy.

      It may be an issue of residue on your towels, either from fabric softener or too much detergent. The more detergent you add, the more viscous the water becomes and the less clean your items are. Fabric softener kind of coats everything, so then bacteria can stick. Over time, this buildup becomes more noticeable as funky smells.

  15. numbersmouse

    Speaking of closet organization items, how does everyone store their scarves and shawls? I have small silk scarves, longer cotton and wool scarves, and wool and velvet shawls. At one point, I used an old bunk bed ladder, which I feel was the best solution, but fairly space-hogging. Then I used a bin, which was messier (also at some point my cat left a dead mouse in there ;_;), and now I have them looped on plastic hangers in my closet and I feel they’re taking up valuable hanging space. Anyone have better solutions?

    • Parfait

      I hang them on hooks on the back of my bedroom door, which works fine for me, but if you have a lot more of them than I do that might not be enough room.

  16. Qamar

    This article is best for the Ideas of the Gift. Therefore, the styles of Purses are adoring. Anyone can get any size according to the ease of itself. These Purses are legend and comfortable for holfing in hands. Visionary designs enhances the nature of Women. Eventually, Purse is wonderful thing for gift. But the material should magnificent and the variety of these kinds are superior.
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