How to choose a handbag for everyday use.
How to choose a handbag for everyday use? That’s why 95% of women between the ages of 15 and 75 are guided by:
Capacity. Few people go out of the house without taking only a purse, phone, keys. We are used to taking a lot more items, and we should place them in a bag.
Size. It should be as compact as possible because we are women first, and any attribute of our bag should be small and elegant.
Price. Of course, economizing on a bag is a terrible decision. And you hardly want to give for an everyday bag a month’s salary: there are many other, no less interesting and necessary ladies’ weaknesses, also requiring expenses.
Universal form-color. It’s a hassle to move the contents every time you pick up your clothes in the morning or decide at lunchtime to run home to change clothes because you’re going out on a date in the evening after work.
Durability and ruggedness. While no one is planning such a purchase for several seasons, not one of us will be happy about a shoulder strap that got torn at the most inopportune moment, a jammed zipper, or frayed handles. But you don’t come to the nearest store with a list of these requirements, throwing all these requirements on the salesperson, wishing to choose the best option. And if so, you need to choose it by yourself. And it is better to do it not in person, but in front of the monitor. The variety of options can scare even an experienced female shopper if there is no commitment to a particular manufacturer.
Table of Contents
Form Factor
The rectangle shape is the most common shape of the bag and the sales figures confirm it. It does not matter if it is vertical or, on the contrary, horizontal: the number of models is about 50/50. The shape is always classic; no backpacks, shopper bags, or bags-bags are not suitable for everyday use. The exception is if you prefer an appropriate clothing style, and the surrounding people allow a deviation from the classic canons of the primary bag.
The second, no less important component is its hardness. Solid sides not only protect the contents (it’s essential for people traveling by public transport in rush hour) but also look more respectable, even if the model costs too cheap. Just do not buy a handbag-box: it is yesterday’s day. Finally, the third component that allows you to make the only correct choice – pay attention to the rounding of corners: it should not be at all or minimum is acceptable. Not only does it “eat up” useful space, but it also looks too funny. Although this feature is not in the trend of this season, there are many similar models in the assortment of even the most famous manufacturers.
And of course, quite exotic variants, like completely round, triangular, or handbag-bag, are not suitable for the role of an everyday bag. Leave them for going out or for a more appropriate occasion.
Color
The classic white bag is for summer, and a black one for the cold season, which our grandmothers used to wear. Many famous fashion designers allow the breaking of this rule only in favor of beige and gray shades.
But many people rightly consider such a meager choice a relic of the past, preferring to enlarge the color palette suitable for the main handbag. So if you are not 55+ and your status and position do not oblige you to adhere to strict norm-rule, be sure to inspect the choices:
Brown: from the light to dark chocolate shade;
Blue: soft blue color for summer and a dark one for the cold season;
Light shades of pink or pistachio;
Muted red, burgundy, even dirty purple;
The light or dark shades of green color;
While very young ladies can disregard the rule that the main bag should be monochrome: the realization of fantasies is not limited by anything.
And as for the rest, there is only one recommendation: avoid bright, screaming colors, and everything will be harmonious and appropriate.
Roominess and size
No one will argue with the fact that an everyday bag should be big on the inside and small on the outside. But how small? It would be impossible to give a single recommendation to fragile girls, whose height is one meter sixty on heels, and tall ladies. A large bag in the hands of the first girl will look as ridiculous and funny as a tiny reticule on the shoulder of the second one. So stick to the golden rule: height divided by 4. It is not just a boundary, after which the choice will look grotesque and even aggressive, but the “golden mean.” So it is a definite plus for the stores, where the description of the model you like shows its dimensions.
However, when considering how to choose a handbag for everyday use, the everyday bag is interesting not because of its size, but because of its contents. It’s not an uncomfortable evening gown, which you can wear for a few hours, but a bag that you will carry every day. Therefore, an everyday handbag should have:
Comfortable handles: even if you sit in the office or drive the car;
A shoulder strap: it may not be the only option: the chosen model has long handles;
Comfortable, but with secure external closure: the zipper is out of competition;
several compartments: no one needs a “mush” of contents;
interior pockets, including those with zippers;
Finally, do not choose the option with the size “just right”, even if you liked it. Plus, what exactly do you still think is necessary for the usual version: first, it’s needed for the contents, not how it looks.
When we think about how to choose a handbag for everyday use, we should consider whether we can put a laptop in it and if it has a separate pocket for it because the work of many ladies is inseparably associated with this technique. Few people would want to take a briefcase individually. If you need to carry a folder with document papers: but in the foreseeable future, it will not be possible to refuse it.
Material
Leather: natural or with the prefix “eco”. When thinking about how to choose a handbag for everyday use, suede handbags are suitable for going out, and the textile variants of all colors, textures, density can be considered with young girls only. The ones who go with the same purse as to the studies, carrying notes-textbooks in it, as well as to teenage events or romantic dates.
Exceptions to this rule are dense fabrics or material with leather imitation. As a variant where it is combined with leather. But since successful models are very few, then you should not be seriously engaged in the searching. Unless you come across an attractive option.
Details
Details that are so inconspicuous and insignificant at first glance, make your everyday handbag to be an actual handbag. A bag that surprises not only its owner but others who see it.
Texture. Smooth, lacquered models, and those where the relief is very insignificant, are about 80%. While the remaining fifth part comprises all other bags, one way or another is suitable for the everyday bags’ role. Lining. We think about it in the last place, and in vain, because the very purpose of the main bag implies intensive use. We guarantee that today’s economy turns out that you will have to throw out almost a new handbag and start all the tortures of choice all over again.
Besides, it’s the lining that your colleagues will see if you take the contents out of the bag’s depths. So if you look great, dress smartly, and buy only the best accessories, your handbag should also be in perfect order.
Drawing. It’s worth rejecting: leave this option for beach or weekend use. Every day, on the contrary, should be inconspicuous and not attract everyone’s attention.
Fittings. Few people think about it, believing that the manufacturer could not use low-grade fittings. And then it turns out that the zipper runner fell apart, not served up for more than a month, and the rings on the shoulder strap were decorative and could not withstand even the minimum load. The most effective way is to find and read the reviews about the brand and the model you like.
Avoid toxic gold elements, logos names of famous couturiers in the fashion world (of course, if you do not buy a genuine one). All this looks cheap, vulgar, and tasteless, like a fake from a garage sale near the subway station.
The quality of production, the accessories used, and the way the bag was made are also important. Is it necessary to say that the cut, all the seams, the quality of the gluing of individual elements should have only 5 points? Standard quality is not necessarily inherent only to expensive, image-oriented models. Nowadays, there are a lot of brands that offer decent products at very affordable prices and there are many pieces of advice on how to choose a handbag for everyday use.
Decorative elements. Feather and fur pompoms, trinkets, pendants, rhinestones: the list is endless. But if you can take them off and leave them at home, then the elements of decoration may become an unsolvable problem. So if you are not sure about your taste, choose the variant with no elements, and you won’t be mistaken.
Print. The most popular, like snake or reptile leather, is still in fashion. It’s timeless, and it is out of fashion: most famous designers would confirm this. They use just these patterns for their collections.
Leopard, zebra, giraffe, or jaguar skin patterns are less popular. But they are also used with enviable frequency. It is because they allow even such a monotonous thing as a rectangular lady’s bag with a minimum of external elements to achieve the key thing – to look excellent. And that means that such a functional item will become a bold point in the holistic woman’s image. And everything is at hand at the same time.
So summarizing from this article about how to choose a handbag for everyday use , an everyday bag should be:
The rectangular shape of medium size with straight or slightly rounded corners;
made of genuine/artificial leather;
with comfortable handles and a shoulder strap;
pockets inside, and preferably one or two outside;
plain, classic white/black or other discreet, not bright colors;
with a minimum of decorative elements or without them at all;
quality fittings;
well-made.
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