Thursday night is the opportunity to indulge in our love for the handbag when the Center for Women holds its fourth annual "It's in the Bag" purse auction at the City Gallery at Waterfront Park.

The event brings women from all over the city together to kibitz, snack and, best of all, look at purses made by their mothers, sisters, friends and co-workers. More than 100 purses made by local women will be auctioned with proceeds benefiting Center for Women programs.

For the past four years, the auction has continued to grow, fast creating a must-see, must-participate buzz. The first auction was held at the (now closed) Tippy Stern Gallery at Fountain Walk.

"We expected 100 people, and 300 showed up," says Jennet Robinson Alterman, director of the Center for Women. "There were 50 purses. We've now grown to over 100 purses, and we expect over 500 people. This year, we have expanded to both floors at the City Gallery. We've doubled the space and doubled the bags."

The CFW project is a true story of community involvement. Women from all over Charleston participate not only by attending the event, but also by volunteering to create the bags to be sold.

Z93-Jamz radio personality Deja Dee made a purse for the first time this year. It was through her work as director of the Miss Black Teen Charleston Scholarship Program that she became aware of the center.

"The center has a program that teaches women trying to get back into the work force how to dress for success," she says. "This program gave the delegates a chance to learn about self-esteem, leadership and how your outer image can affect these things. So besides being aware of all the programs offered there, firsthand experience allows me to be excited about anything the center is doing."

Dee's purse, called "B-You Bag," has the affirmation "I'm Gorgeous" that was inspired by this lesson in self-esteem.

"We forget to be our own best cheerleaders sometimes," she says. "I wanted to do something that encouraged positive self-affirmations."

Mariel Conway, a senior at the Charleston County School of the Arts, also is a first-time purse contributor. She began making duct tape purses after seeing one in Asheville that was out of her price range. She knew she could make it herself and now has made about 20 of them. The one she made for the auction, "Purple Power," is the first one in which she has mixed fabric with duct tape.

Conway says her mom, Jill Conway, who has volunteered for the center, recruited her to do the purse. She said she had a good time, and it gave her the chance to try something new.

For many women, creating a purse is more than a way of helping out the center. It's about expressing themselves in a way they may not get to do in their day-to-day lives.

Christina McAlhaney is an estimator at Brantley Construction and secretary for the local chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction. McAlhaney's creativity came to light at a luncheon Alterman attended where McAlhaney had provided some decorations. Alterman asked her to create a purse and the result is her "Imagine" bag.

"I wanted to keep the women-in-construction theme, as well as relate to the Center for Women, giving women the tools to be in charge of their life," she says. "The association's symbol is a rose, so that's why the rose is there, and I added the word 'Imagine' to imagine the opportunities or imagine the possibilities. If you can imagine it, it can come true."

"It's fun to go to the event and see all the bags that started out so similar and to see what people do to make them completely different," she says. "You walk into the room and see this creative outlet and all the people who are there. I met some great people last year."

Walker's purse, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Skirt," is made from an old pair of jeans. "My brother, said 'You can show people what to do with their too-tight jeans!' "

Claire Kramer, photographer and fund-raiser for the Charleston Housing Trust, used her purse, "Scenic Chic," to remind Charlestonians how special and beautiful the city is.

Kramer used a photo she had taken of The Battery, manipulated the color a bit to match the color of the purse, printed it on fabric and attached it to the purse creating a one-of-kind Charleston souvenir.

"When I took the photo, there seemed to be only tourists on The Battery," Kramer says. "It made me wonder if, as locals, do we appreciate this beauty?"

For Annette Sandford-Lopez, director of the health club and spa at Charleston Place, making the bag was a team experience. She worked with co-workers Kirstin Demer and Sarah Spears in conceptualizing the purse, then Demer and Spears spent hours perfecting it. "We were thinking about how we would convey what we are about at the spa, graciousness and elegance and relaxation and sophistication. After much brainstorming, we decided to focus on the ginkgo biloba leaf, which is our logo," she says.

After about 30 tries and many yards of fabric, Demer and Spears got it right and hand-stitched the two-dozen fabric gingko leaves onto the clutch bag, titled "Elegance of Spa."

"The gingko leaf itself portrays longevity, strength and mental clarity, which is what we are all about," says Sandford-Lopez.

These women's purses and many, many more will be available for purchase at "It's in the Bag" on April 7.

You can get a sneak preview of all of the bags starting Monday by logging on to the Center for Women's Web site at www.c4women.org.

WHAT: It's in the Bag, Center for Women Purse Auction

WHEN: April 7, 6-8:30 p.m.

WHERE: The City Gallery at Waterfront Park

COST: $20

INFORMATION: www.c4women.org