wOw Scenes: What We Keep In Our Purses

The contents of a woman’s handbag? Often the absolute necessities. Lesley Stahl, Liz Smith, Judith Martin, and Mary Wells open theirs below

• Lesley Stahl: "I put everything I can in my purse, so when I travel (which is constantly), if the airlines insist on checking my suitcase (which I consider a catastrophe), I have what I need with me. So – there's lot's of makeup ... ADVIL ... eye drops … pens. There's nothing sexy or romantic here. I'm afraid this is totally utilitarian. Like most of us, I try to cram in as much as I can. My handbag is a portable makeup cabinet, drugstore ... and reporter's desk: passport and press credentials – always with me. There have been times when I've had to go right from the office to a plane with no chance to go home and pack. When I do get to pack for a trip, I throw my Kindle (an electronic book reader) in the bag. It has the daily New York Times, Wall Street Journal on it, as well as Time and Newsweek. I like pouches. Otherwise I'm rummaging all the time! Green for lipstick; red leather for the BlackBerry; red silk for the phone. And there's always gum and a little bottle of perfume. Maybe I am a little romantic!"

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  New York Times, Wall Street Journal on it, as well as Time and Newsweek. I like pouches. Otherwise I'm rummaging all the time! Green for lipstick; red leather for the BlackBerry; red silk for the phone. And there's always gum and a little bottle of perfume. Maybe I am a little romantic!"">

• Julia Reed: "My ancient and overstuffed (but not, alas, with money!) black Gucci wallet. My Whitney Bank checkbook. My friend the decorator Richard Keith Langham stole one of them once — not to forge a check but because he, like me, loved the orange color. When I first opened the account in New Orleans almost 20 years ago, they were the only checks that were free (and most people opted to pay for the subdued blue or gray-green or those goofy illustrated ones with pelicans and sunsets). Now you have to pay for the orange ones too but I don't care. I think they are the chicest checks ever and I love my bank. There are still real live people in it who you can actually talk to on the phone. My keys on my beloved silver key chain, featuring a whiskered catfish head, made for me by my dear, dear friend, the writer and jeweler Helen Bransford. "My mostly shattered iPhone (the iPhone store was out of rubber cases the one day I bothered to go), which still miraculously works, though I'm waiting to find a shard of glass in my ear any moment now. My antique-looking Nokia 'hurricane phone.' I got it after Katrina, and its provider, Cellular South, somehow comes through — everywhere — when all other networks are down. "Chanel lipstick in Jamaica and Trish McEvoy gloss in Pretty or Simply Glamorous. Shisheido powdery foundation compact in natural light ochre. Clinique Moisture Surge eye gel — it can go on over makeup and is a must for long plane trips. Notebooks — an orange leather Hermès for random stuff that was a gift from my brilliant dermatologist Pat Wexler, and my trusty black Moleskine (I buy them in bulk) for specific projects I'm working on. One of the thousands of linen or cotton handkerchiefs my grandmother owned. I am allergic to everything and my nose is always running. A Revlon emery board — a ragged nail drives me crazy. Black ultra-fine-point Sharpie (my favorite pen) and black Flair. "Most of the time, this stuff is in a black canvas and leather Hermès tote, but when I need to go a tad upscale, I transfer it to my other favorites from Lambertson Truex and Bottega Veneta. Cinnamon Altoids, or the insanely excellent ginger ones when I can find them. My black leather Tiffany datebook. I know I have a calendar in my iPhone and I use it, but I am still a pen and paper girl. Emergen-C. I swear it is the reason I rarely get sick no matter how bad I act, how little sleep I get or how many planes I'm on."

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• Judith Martin: "This is the local version. I have to dumb down for travel, because those dear old silver pieces wickedly set off security alarms, and guards love to show me how much my eyeglass case looks like a weapon in their machines. However, the real nostalgia item is the Filofax case, in which I now keep the iPhone. The most essential item here is a book: It serves as etiquette protection against annoyance while being kept waiting."

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• Joni Evans: "My iPhone would have been in this photograph, except that I took this picture with it."

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• Mary Wells: "This is the story of my life. I am only missing the pictures of my girls. I used to carry a heavy small album of family pictures and set them all over the cheesy motel rooms I spent so many nights in. Most big businesses had their inner behind-the-scenes workings in the sooty parts of towns and motels were treats in a way. Crawl into bed. Look at pictures of the family. Turn on the telly. Tell yourself you will solve the problem early in the morning, so go to sleep! Then give up, sit up, try to solve the problem. For a while I was being photographed for magazines left and right and a sweet young man came mornings to put on false lashes, lash by lash. He was also a kind of security man. There were always a lot of drunks stumbling around in those motels. I don't usually tell about these things. But that is one reason I always carry an angel. When my door was banged on by a couple of drunks one night the angel in my bag growled like a dog and they went away. I know I am an imaginative woman but that really happened."

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• Liz Smith: "My three essentials — cash, lipstick, a key in the pocket. I dislike carrying purses."

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