Krystine Vermeer: Handbags That Encourage Ladies to Be Original, Be You!
One thing that handbag designer and Illinois resident Krystine R. Vermeer prides herself on is crafting unique, one-of-a-kind creations that perfectly reflect the personality and taste of woman who carries them. Her business is fittingly called The Purse-onality Shoppe.
“Every bag that I make is a one of a kind original – absolutely no exceptions at all,” explains Vermeer. “Each bag is unique in its own way. Unless it is a very special order I usually only buy a maximum of one yard of each print of fabric. That also ensures the individuality of each bag.”
Vermeer, who has been designing and making handbags for just over two years, said that she got the idea to make bags while she was pregnant. “I literally owned almost 75 handbags, and then after finding out that I was pregnant with my third child, a girl, I knew that I wanted – I needed – the perfect diaper bag,” reminisces Vermeer. “So I looked everywhere and I mean everywhere, and the best bag that I found should have been named ‘the you’ve got to be kidding me’ diaper bag! It belonged right next to the black plastic diaper bag that you get at the hospital for free. I am not exactly a cartoon character diaper bag mom, so I made my own. One bag became two and so on and so on.”
Vermeer said that her most unique creation was a bag that was covered in more than 200 tiny flowers. She looks for inspiration for her designs everywhere. “My girlfriends once scolded me for saving a napkin from a restaurant because I liked the print layout,” laughed Vermeer. “That’s a pretty sad habit, but I like to think of it more as a healthy addiction.”
She also gets inspiration for her designs from the people who buy and carry her bags. “I think one of my strengths is letting people explain what they want, taking their words and the picture that they have in their mind and turning it into a bag,” said Vermeer. “I seem to have a pretty good knack at creating with just a few words about someone i.e. young, retro, blue, and fun.”
Vermeer said that the started to sell her creations when a friend of hers suggested that she try to sell them at craft shows. Today, she sells her unique designs at 15 shows per year; a website: www.thepurse-onalityshoppe.com; and at home parties.
Vermeer works with 10 major designs but will be cutting these back to six designs in the near future. But with all of the style variations and fabric combinations that she uses, Vermeer still says that she can create endless possibilities using these six patterns.
She also sells her bags for a good bit less than her competition. “My theory was that I could have charged $60 per bag like a lot of others do and make one person happy or I can charge $20 per bag and sell three times as many with three times the number of happy clients. That’s the way I choose to do my business.”
