7 tips to keep hats and purses looking great

Keep your hats and handbags looking their best with these seven tips.

1. Rub a cut potato across the surface of your dull leather handbag, give it a buff with a clean, soft cloth, and voilà, it'll look good as new.

2. To clean stains and spots on a suede purse, first lightly rub the spots with fine-grained sandpaper or an emery board. Then hold the purse 15 centimetres (six inches) away from a tea kettle or pan with steaming water until the stain gets a little warm. Make sure the steam doesn't saturate the bag. Brush with a suede brush or toothbrush. Repeat the brushing once the suede is dry.

3. If you've recently replaced a tall wooden stepladder, use the old one to store purses in your closet. This is especially helpful if you're short of shelf space. To make the ladder prettier, cover the steps with adhesive shelf paper or glue on decorative fabric swatches.

4. You've found the perfect hat at a yard sale, the type that's worn with the brim low on the forehead, but it's just a little too big for you. Go ahead and buy it anyway, then wear a sweatband under the hat to fill in the extra space. If the sweatband is too thick and makes the hat too tight, try a stretchy, thinner model (surely one will work). Just remember to take the band and the hat off at the same time or you'll reveal your little secret.

5. Over time, straw hats lose their crisp, shiny look. You can spruce up yours in time for the rodeo or Easter parade. Spray it with a light coating of hairspray and let it dry. Be sure to spray in a well-ventilated area or outside.

6. Ever notice that the brims of hats in hat shops don't ever touch the shelves? Milliners know that brims resting on shelves will flatten out, so they over-stuff the crowns with tissue paper to let the hats rest on the paper instead. If you don't have leftover tissue paper, use bubble wrap, dry-cleaning plastic, plastic grocery bags, old socks, panty hose or a discarded sweater as stuffing.

7. You're not losing it when you lose your keys in your purse, and you are not alone. Who doesn't lose her keys in a handbag now and then?

Here's a simple solution to the problem: Attach a key line. Measure your purse from the bottom to the base of one of the handles and then add 10 to 15 centimetres (four to six inches). Now cut a piece of dental floss, fishing line or a thin corded ribbon to that length. Thread your keys onto the line and knot the end. Place this end with your keys into your purse and wrap the other end around the base of the handle, knotting it tightly. Now, whenever you need your keys, just pull out the line. You won't have to fish for them anymore!

We all know one can't have too many hats or purses! Keeping them in good shape prolongs their use in a world where fashions come, and go, and then come round again. These great hat and handbag tips will help keep you in style no matter the season.