Little and large: make room for that second bag
Can’t fit everything into that micro cross-body? Forget scruffy canvas totes – you need a new and improved back-up bag, says Frankie Graddon
Take a trip through central London at rush hour and you will notice that there is a common sartorial theme that unites women (and many men for that matter), regardless of age, job or personal style: tote bags. Stuffed with gym kits, laptops, water bottles and books, the second bag has become a staple of the busy woman’s wardrobe, relied upon to house the overflow from our never-quite-big-enough handbags. Lunch box too large for your cross-body? No problem, stick it in a tote. Need a change of shoes? Add them in, too.
Essential though they might be, second bags tend to be lacking in the style department. Stashed under desks or squirrelled away in coat cupboards, they’re more often than not a scruffy outfit addition. But with myriad brands putting forward the case for carryeverything tote bags with oomph, the second bag is making statements of its own.
My own second bag collection (which at last count was in excess of 30) attests to this. Covered in naff prints and slogans and in various states of wear and tear, my cotton totes have been acquired more by accident than design, given as freebies at work events or pilfered from colleagues (yes, I am that annoying person at the end of the day asking “does anyone have a spare bag?”). The result? A waifs-and-strays collection of canvas that does nothing for my look.
Considering the cost per wear, a good quality second bag seems worth investing in. And yet, while I will happily spend a small fortune on the latest must-have bucket bag or a divine evening pouch I know I will wear only a handful of times, I have never been tempted to shell out on my everyday tote. Why? Because second bags are destined to be just that – the runner-up, an after-thought. And they simply are not chic. Or so I thought…
On its spring/summer catwalk, Loewe proved that enormous can also
mean elegant, showing a collection of outsized bags described by the house’s designer, JW Anderson, as “totemic”.
Super-sized leather totes with knotted handles swung from shoulders while raffia totes of epic proportions came with long straps for cross-body wear (good news for your osteopath). A version of the latter is currently available on Net-a-porter for £625, and though somewhat scaled-down from the jumbo catwalk iteration, is still big enough to carry the kitchen sink and then some.