The Case For One Very Large Bag

The case for one very large bag is a case against three medium ones. A tote that holds a laptop, a scarf, a book and a spare cardigan replaces the work bag, the weekend bag and the day bag, and carrying one heavy bag is still easier than juggling two. It is also the only shape that goes from the office to dinner to the train home without looking wrong in any of the three.

 

Leather is the version that lasts, and the variable is structure. A soft unlined tote collapses when half empty and takes odd shapes. A structured one stands up and protects what is inside but weighs more before anything goes in it.

 

MICHAEL Michael Kors' Laila and Bembien's Mira are the compact end of the eight below. Tory Burch's Perry has three compartments, which makes it the one to pick if you hate digging. STAUD's Port is suede and softer than it looks. St. Agni, Liffner and Lié Studio are the quiet end of the group, all clean lines and no logos. Mansur Gavriel's soft suede is the least structured of the eight, and the one that looks best slumped on a chair at dinner.

Woven bags are not only a July thing. A dark raffia or a tight crochet tote looks right with a camel coat and a chunky knit, and it weighs a fraction of a leather tote the same size. The trade is durability. A woven bag has a working life of a few seasons rather than a decade, and a snagged strand cannot be repaired.

 

What separates them is hand work. A hand crocheted bag takes days to make, and you can see it in the tension of the stitches, which stay even all the way around instead of loosening at the handles.

 

MICHAEL Michael Kors' fringed crochet fan tote is the easy entry. Marlies Grace's crocheted tote and STAUD's Palm raffia are the casual pair. Emm Kuo's Humuhumu and Cult Gaia's Amun are the sculptural ones. Zimmermann's ruffled raffia is the romantic one, Proenza Schouler's fringed bucket is the one with movement, and The Row's woven mini is the smallest thing here and the one I would carry with a long dark coat.

The bag inside the bag is what makes the single large tote workable. Without it, a phone and a key live loose at the bottom under a scarf. With it, the evening bag is already packed and the tote can go to the coat check.

 

The requirement is narrow. It has to be small enough to disappear inside the tote and finished enough to carry on its own at night. That rules out a fabric pouch and argues for a structured clutch.

 

Bembien's Chéri mini clutch is the smallest and the easiest to lose inside a tote, which is the point. BTB Los Angeles' Leia is soft suede, and Veronica Beard's Anchor raffia is the one that matches a woven tote. Emm Kuo's Akumal is the playful one. Cult Gaia's clear acrylic and Jimmy Choo's tortoiseshell are the two that read as evening objects. SIMKHAI's metal shell and Christian Louboutin's Bettina zipped pouch round it out.

One large bag and one small one is a better system than three bags, and you feel it most on the days that start at a desk and end at dinner. The tote should be the hardworking one and the small bag the special one, because the tote takes the abuse and the clutch is seen up close.

 

Skip suede for the big bag in winter. It is the material most likely to meet sleet and a wet umbrella, and the least likely to recover. Smooth leather and coated canvas both survive that.

 

Treat the woven bags as a few seasons of pleasure rather than a forever piece. Raffia wears out and no amount of care changes that.

 

So let the clutch be the special one and let the tote work for a living. If you want to keep browsing, I also put together Lady Dior Bag and The Case for Buying One Good Bag a Year.