Shane Watson Cross-body bags are over – big bags are back
MY POSITION on bags — might have already mentioned this — is utility all the way. Back in the Nineties and early Noughties, it was different because that was the era of It bags, when bags were (sounds a little mad now) the most exciting fashion item in town. But even then I pushed past the dinky Fendi Baguettes and made a beeline for the big Mulberry bags — usually a cross between a tote, a briefcase and a holdall — and always big enough to fit a pair of shoes and a Christmas turkey.
I do like a bag with a chain or some studs, something which will add zip to a plain blazer or sweater, but these days, 99 per cent of the time, my handbag consists of a book bag or a backpack, and fashion bags no longer register on my radar.
I’ll walk straight past them to the shoes and sunglasses, and not give them a second thought.
Well. After all these years of bag blindness, a couple of new developments have got my attention. On the catwalk at Miu Miu the models carried overflowing open suitcase bags tucked under their armpits. This doesn’t mean that we all have to grip our bags under our arms, but it sent a strong message that bags are going in the direction of roomy and useful, not decorative and darling.
At Loewe there were giant totes and squashy hobo bags — those crescent-shaped designs — that reached from armpit to hip; at Bottega Veneta all the classic styles in woven leather were blown up to XL proportions and filled with the bric-a-brac of everyday life.
And what was the centrepiece bag shape Phoebe Philo chose for her eponymous label’s first collection at the end of last year? A massive, extra-large open tote (the XL Cabas), of course.
THESE bags have a bag for life feel that you don’t get from a mini Lady Dior or a squashy clutch — particularly if you look for the ones that are big but not huge.
Good for the office, good for the weekend, good for the overhead locker on the plane, they have room not just for a toothbrush, but a washbag and a towel if that’s what you want to carry. (Though err on the side of caution — we don’t want any back injuries, and you can get those even from a Mulberry Bayswater. All that leather makes them heavy.)
Which brings us to the supersize bags on the High Street and what will actually work. For a simple, black, biggish but not giant hobo bag, Wolf & Badger’s black leather style is a good price (€106, wolfandbadger.com).
Also good value is Mango’s short strap black leather tote (€49.99, mango.com) and H&M’s glossy black hobo bag (€27.99, hm.com). This has a short and a longer strap, but you won’t use the long strap: the bag you want now you don’t wear hanging from your shoulder or across your body, it’s a ‘hook on and tuck under your armpit’ style, or you carry it by the top handles.
Bigger still, but perfectly manageable, is Cos’s padded hobo bag with a knotted handle (€150, cos.com) and Zara has a good hybrid cross between a hobo and a tote — it dips down in the centre all the better to wear over your arm (€25.99, zara.com).
These are all smooth and polished, and black. If you prefer something soft and slouchy, you might want to go for suede in a shade of brown.
Mint Velvet does a deep hobo-shaped bag with an adjustable strap in tan suede (€189, mintvelvet.com) which is still structured and smart, or H&M has a more relaxed, pale tan suede style which has a short leather handle and a braided panel at the base (€37.99).
At the far end of the slouchy spectrum in Zara they’re selling XL unlined wool bags on short leather straps (€49.95,
zara.com). They’re called maxi bucket bags, but look more like something a sailor would pack his belongings in circa Les Miserables. They look great in navy or grey but are maybe a bit too relaxed for our purposes.
Any of these — bar the wool sack — can be your forever bag. As and when you feel the urge to try something new, it will still come in useful for heavy lifting days.
And if you’re worried about what bag to wear to an evening event, then the answer is simple: keep an oversize clutch in your supersize bag and whip it out after dark.