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.
Could this be the first trend to pay homage to the Queen? Those boxy Launer handbags have been everywhere in the past month. The Queen’s signature snap-closure bag had accompanied her for most of her reign but achieved an extra aura of magic this year when a marmalade sandwich appeared out of one during a platinum jubilee tea with Paddington Bear. Even in the very last known photo of the Queen, taken in front of the fire at her home in Balmoral two days before her death, the Queen has a black handbag over her left wrist as she rests on her walking stick.
Open a glossy magazine now and you will see Kendall Jenner with the boxy Jimmy Choo Varenne Quad, which has a foldover closure and traditional gold-chain strap. To wander into a Celine boutique – where the Trapeze design once pioneered a craze for bags in unusual, angular shapes that rendered them instantly identifiable even at a distance – is to be seduced by the understatement of a boxy Triomphe, all sleek calfskin and pebble-smooth contours. All around this month’s fashion shows, influencers were proudly toting Loewe’s new-season update on its bucket bag, which has been streamlined into a shallow oval profile and given a new firm posture and practical tab fastening.
The high street has taken note: head to M&S for a classic faux-leather top-stitched style with gold hardware (£35). Bags like these do not date. They will be as desirable in five years’ time as they are now. Until recently that would have made them less of a must-have, but now that many people who spend on fashion do so with one eye on resale value, it makes them more compelling rather than less.
The resale economy revolves around classic blue-chip styles and brands. The gold standard is the Chanel 2.55 or Gucci’s Jackie bag, both of which have held their value. The rise of resale as a key factor to be considered when spending money on clothes and accessories has put a new lens on what looks desirable. Suddenly all the cool kids want a ladylike handbag. And so do I.
Hair and makeup: Carol Morley at Carol Hayes Management. Model: Mei Mei at Body London. Bag, £79, johnlewis.com. Jumper, by Iris & Ink from theoutnet.com. Polo neck (underneath) £30, boden.co.uk
