Everyday or Evening: Which Bag You Actually Need

Most people own four versions of the same bag and nothing for the one evening a month when that bag does not work. It is worth being honest about which gap you are actually filling before you buy.

The everyday bag

This one has a job: hold a phone, a wallet, keys, a small bottle and whatever else the day adds, and survive being put on the floor. What matters is the strap, the base and the opening — not how it photographs.

• Strap — wide enough not to dig in, long enough to cross the body if you want it to.
• Colour — black, tan and cream go with more than they don't.
• Opening — wide enough to find things without emptying it out.

Ours are in everyday bags — basket-woven leather, bow flaps, chain straps.

The evening bag

This one has a different job, and capacity is not it. A phone and a lipstick is the whole brief. What it has to do is look like it was chosen rather than grabbed.

Beaded and pearl bags do that because the work is visible — thousands of beads set by hand catch light in a way a printed fabric cannot. They are also more fragile, which is the trade, and they are worth keeping for the nights that deserve them.

Ours are in evening bags. These are brought in a few at a time rather than held in stock, so they are priced on enquiry — message us and we will tell you what is available.

How to tell which you are short of

Open your cupboard and count. If you have four bags and all four would work on a normal Tuesday, you do not need a fifth everyday bag. If you have one beaded clutch that goes with one outfit, that is the gap.

If you only want to own two

A black or tan everyday bag with a comfortable strap, and one beaded clutch in ivory or black. Between them they cover almost everything, and neither goes out of style in a year.

Anything you are not sure about, message us on WhatsApp at 0311 445 9443 — we would rather answer a question than take back a parcel.