Boston - October 30, 2007

Town and Country

Shara Porter Handbags

Your mom did what she could to disguise your farm-girl roots: etiquette lessons, cotillion classes, manicures. Still, roosters and tractors won out over curtsies and clean nails.

May as well embrace that inner agrarian with a purse by Shara Porter. She scours thrift stores for vintage handbags and wallets, painstakingly restores them, and brands each piece with a rustic print. You might find a ladylike evening bag in pink silk stamped with a single tire, a gray envelope clutch with the imprint of a moose, or a structured Jackie O style purse embellished with a wrench.

The artist’s knack for thrifting and transforming objects, as well as her love of natural images, imprints an effect of quirky sophistication.

Leaving you anything but rough around the edges.

Parlor, 1248 Washington Street, South End (617-521-9005 or shopparlor.com). To see styles, go to sharaporter.com.