Ask The Expert
Handbag Heaven
The quest to find the perfect handbag can be a real mission and a half. Invest wisely and you can banish the frantic search for years to come! Debbie has some words of wisdom on finding your signature classic bag.
Hi Debbie,
I'm always buying cheap-ish handbags but I get bored of them easily or they go out of fashion. What I'd really like is a classic leather handbag - an investment bag! Nothing obscenely expensive but something that I can use for all occasions and that will last forever. Any ideas?
Thanks.
UKTV Style's Agony Aunt replies:
Hi there,
It's fascinating the way handbags have come to the fore in our wardrobes. Not so long ago, most women had two, maybe three handbags in their collection. A solid everyday sort of bag, an evening bag and perhaps a smaller, girlier bag - somewhere between day and evening - to wear with 'posh clothes'. I had a fabulous brown leather sac that I saved up for, and bought with great joy at Harvey Nicks. I toted it around for years, until it finally fell to pieces, leaving me utterly bereft. For 'posh days' I had a pretty Chanel look-alike with a little gold chain; and if I had to venture out in a long frock, I'd grab the pretty silver evening bag that I inherited from my grandmother - now hugely fashionable once again - and vintage to boot!
A cursory glance into my wardrobe these days, however, reveals a guilty addiction. The shelf where bags are supposed to be confined is now full to bursting. They spill over into areas previously reserved for belts or jumpers. They explode out of shoe racks, and lie in drifts on the floor. I am, in short, a bag-aholic.
The reason for this is two-fold. Firstly, bags have become so cheap! Shops like Oasis, and designers like Liz Claiborne have revolutionised the handbag market, so you can pick up a designer lookalike on the high street for so little money, that you have to think of good reasons not to buy.
Secondly, of course, it seems we now need a different bag for every outfit. So I, and I suspect many other handbag junkies, have ones in every colour and material from leather to velvet. We have pretty hippy ones, smart ones, business-like ones and preppy ones. And the problem is that most days begin with a frantic scramble to match the bag to the clothes and more often than not, end with me stranded somewhere without my purse or keys - which are languishing back home in some other bag.
So, like you, I am beginning to think that an 'investment' bag is the answer. A solid, reliable, beautiful, expensive bag in a colour that will go with everything, is definitely the way forward.
I'm always buying cheap-ish handbags but I get bored of them easily or they go out of fashion. What I'd really like is a classic leather handbag - an investment bag! Nothing obscenely expensive but something that I can use for all occasions and that will last forever. Any ideas?
Thanks.
UKTV Style's Agony Aunt replies:
Hi there,
It's fascinating the way handbags have come to the fore in our wardrobes. Not so long ago, most women had two, maybe three handbags in their collection. A solid everyday sort of bag, an evening bag and perhaps a smaller, girlier bag - somewhere between day and evening - to wear with 'posh clothes'. I had a fabulous brown leather sac that I saved up for, and bought with great joy at Harvey Nicks. I toted it around for years, until it finally fell to pieces, leaving me utterly bereft. For 'posh days' I had a pretty Chanel look-alike with a little gold chain; and if I had to venture out in a long frock, I'd grab the pretty silver evening bag that I inherited from my grandmother - now hugely fashionable once again - and vintage to boot!
A cursory glance into my wardrobe these days, however, reveals a guilty addiction. The shelf where bags are supposed to be confined is now full to bursting. They spill over into areas previously reserved for belts or jumpers. They explode out of shoe racks, and lie in drifts on the floor. I am, in short, a bag-aholic.
The reason for this is two-fold. Firstly, bags have become so cheap! Shops like Oasis, and designers like Liz Claiborne have revolutionised the handbag market, so you can pick up a designer lookalike on the high street for so little money, that you have to think of good reasons not to buy.
Secondly, of course, it seems we now need a different bag for every outfit. So I, and I suspect many other handbag junkies, have ones in every colour and material from leather to velvet. We have pretty hippy ones, smart ones, business-like ones and preppy ones. And the problem is that most days begin with a frantic scramble to match the bag to the clothes and more often than not, end with me stranded somewhere without my purse or keys - which are languishing back home in some other bag.
So, like you, I am beginning to think that an 'investment' bag is the answer. A solid, reliable, beautiful, expensive bag in a colour that will go with everything, is definitely the way forward.
