What kind of handbags should I own?

How many bags do you own? (the ones under you eyes don’t enter the counting).

Probably more than one. Maybe more than 15, if you were part of the bag addict group that fashion marketers had the brilliant idea to create in the early 2000’s. At that point they decided that the bag was not a lifetime item anymore but an “it-bag” that you should change each season. No matter if the bag, made of luxurious leather still looked as if it was new.

But luckily, consumers are not as sheep like as the industry hoped they would be and, even though P.Rs kept sending tons of bags to the stars so that they would display them in magazines, the bag hysteria (partially) vanished.

Nowadays, in occidental countries especially, people tend to go back to a more reasonable way of consuming fashion. They are bored of buying the item of the moment that will look outdated a few years after and prefer to buy timeless items they’ll keep their whole life.

In terms of handbags, I’ll say that it is cool to own different bags: one for each use.

– A big bag for going to work all day

– A middle bag for going out for a café or to the restaurant

– A small bag to keep only your essentials at a party

And then, for each of this categories, you could have one classic bag, that’ll match each and every outfit and one more creative bag that will twist your looks.

1. The “24h” handbag

It shall be big enough to contain all that you need for work (slate, notebook, papers, glasses, etc).

It is the one you’ll spend your entire day with, every weekday.

Therefore you first want to own one classic handbag that will match each and every of your outfits and will be solid enough not to get dirty or broken.

When you own that one, you could go for a second one which would be more fun, maybe with a color or a print.

A. The classic 24h handbag

It shall be in a very classic color and in a solid fabric.

My favorite? Thick black leather. It matches everything and ages well.

Brown leather or navy blue leather are also nice.

I don’t recommend beige, white or grey leather cause they get dirty. Well… if you behave like me at least ^^

Mansur Gavriel

Mansur Gavriel (probably my favorite accessories brand right now)

Some I like:

Minimalist wide black leather bag (high end with reasonable price)

Black satchel in bubble lambskin by Pieces de Résistance (high end)

Square bag in navy blue leather or in tan by Saint Laurent (luxury)

Super minimalist bucket bag in black leather by Clélia Tavernier (luxury)

B. The fun 24h handbag

Trendy taste

Trendy taste

Some I like:

Python bag with caramel (high end item). That print matches pretty much everything.

Zebra leather tote bag (high end item at low price). Same, Zebra, matches pretty much everything since it is black and white, neutral colors.

2. The small handbag

Just to go for a drink, to the cinema, to the restaurant, etc.

It shall contain your money, id and stuff like that, cellphone, keys, a bit of makeup, tissues, maybe glasses, etc.

A. The classic small handbag

Creators of desire

Creators of desire

Some I like:

Black woven leather handbag by Coralie de Seynes (great deal for an high end item!)

Square black leather bag by Florian Denicourt

Retro geometric bag by Coralie de Seynes

B. The fun small handbag

Doina-Ciobanu-the-addison-story-15

The golden diamonds

Some I like:

Small blue square bag (high end)

Cute hippy style bucket bag (high end item at low price)

Red suede bucket bag by Faustine (luxury item)

3. The clutch

For a cocktail or a night out. Only to keep your cell, your keys and your credit card.

I like having fun clutches cause they add something to your outfit as would a jewel or a designer pair of shoes.

And they won’t go out of style if you choose them as you would choose an artwork!

Nevertheless, if you wear a very eccentric dress, then, a classic clutch would be nice to balance of course 🙂

A. The fun clutch

Chiara Ferragni Olympia le tan

The blonde salad

Some I like:

Flower printed leather cross body clutch

Iridescent leather clutch

Dalmatien print leather clutch

Heart shaped clutch with american flag print (yesyes ^^)

B. The classic clutch

A perfectly shaped minimalist clutch can be the perfect dress partner for the evening

Square classic clutch with a bit of gold metal by Clélia Tavernier

 And you? What kind of bags do you own?

Cover collage: Gala Gonzales, Arty Filles

Comments
16 Responses to “What kind of handbags should I own?”
  1. Zardi says:

    Awesome stuff! Personally, I like leather clutch bags.

  2. Taylor says:

    Does anyone know the name of the LV bag in the top left picture? I’m in love!!

  3. Evelyn says:

    Hello Alois,

    I own quite a few bags, over the last 10 years I might have collected over 20! I didn’t count my most loved fabric grocery shopping bags into this number, this woud add another 10 or so.
    I never understood things like “bag envy” and “It-Bag” and “Bag addiction”. I always wear the ones I feel I like best, I need it to evoke joy and warm feelings simply to see and feel the structure, the surface, the fabric/leather, the colour. I know, I’m such a detail/surface/material lover!

    My recent addition to my collection is a quite big real leather doctor bag in a roughed, used look: it was joyous love at first sight, and even if it’s my most expensive one (130 €, it was originally 360 €!), I would have been willing to pay almost 200 for it.

    What I’ve been wondering about: I already know this post – did you re-lauch it with some slight changes?

    Happy greetings from Austria!
    Vivien_noir

  4. Melissa says:

    I’m afraid I own more bags than I should but except for one (which is my absolute favourite) they are all classic bags that I can still wear for a lot of years to come. I love matching them with my shoes, it’s a pity that my favourite shoes and bag are a horrible combination though.

  5. Marina says:

    Love it! Thank you for all the lovely info

  6. Camille says:

    Bonjour Aloïs,
    Je vous suis depuis un petit moment et j’adore vos articles !
    Côté garde-robe, j’essaie de tendre vers le minimalisme et vos différents sujets m’aident beaucoup à trouver les pièces indispensables et les meilleures façons de les associer et de les mettre en valeur.
    En ce qui concerne les sacs (que j’ai pour l’instant limités au nombre de 5), j’ai effectivement deux mini sacs : un noir et un vert émeraude, deux petits sacs : un noir et un sac cartable bleu canard et un grand sac noir. Ne manque donc plus que le sac 24 h original…
    Bon week-end !

  7. Clo says:

    Génial ! Très inspirant comme toujours.
    Hâte d’avoir un article sur la façon de porter et nouer ses foulards.
    Bonne journée !

  8. Vanessa says:

    Bonjour,
    Je suis egalement dans la meme mouvance.
    Mon 24h le tres (trop) vu VB ( taille L). J’ ai ete tres critique sur ce sac archi vu chez mais il est ultra pratique et je ne regrette pas . Toutefois, il reste un sac d’appoint ( un sac fourre tout).

    Toutefois je recherche le sac XL de ma vie : mon “it bag” a moi …je regarde souvent du côté de Céline mais les prix stratosphériques me freinent …
    Sac bandoulière : j’étais a la recherches un sac plus petit et celui de pièce de résistance est sublime
    quelle découverte !!!

    J ai egalement une pochette couleur framboise
    Tous mes sacs ont des couleurs douces … Rien de tel pour donner la pêche a la grisaille ambiante !!!
    Bonne journée

  9. Monica says:

    Excellent post, and it is indeed a relief that the “it”-bag hysteria seems to be calming down! I use just one handbag these days, the Celine box bag pictured in 2A in fact. I don’t carry many items with me day-to-day so it’s suitable as a 24-hour-bag, but is small enough to use as a clutch when I remove the strap 🙂

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