At first I thought it was just me showing my age. I have found myself yearning for a Proper Handbag, you see. The sort of bag a lady would carry. I am tired of straw baskets, unmoved by novelty clutch bags. I want something sensible. I’m fed up with scrabbling in a bucket bag or a lumpy tote, and now yearn for structure and internal pockets. I don’t want a cross-body strap that rucks up my jacket, I want a bag to tuck under my arm in an elegant fashion. In other words, I want exactly the kind of bag I always thought I was far too cool for.
But it turns out that I haven’t aged out of lusting after It bags; rather, the It bag has grown up. This season’s most fashionable bags are the type that haven’t been fashionable in forever: the traditional handbag. A simple, streamlined shape designed to sit snugly between elbow and ribcage. A proper fastening, so that what’s inside is prudently safe both from prying eyes and light fingers. Big enough to fit a small umbrella but tidy enough not to overpower your outfit. The sort of bag that looks like it has hand sanitiser and tissues and a spare ponytail band inside, rather than the kind that you might use for, I don’t know, chunks of rose quartz or a retro Polaroid camera or whatever.
