Small and perfectly formed

Ah bags, my favourite subject.  How many hours of my life have I spent thinking about, talking about, looking at, saving for and of course, loving bags?  Many, far too many probably.  However as this trait shows absolutely no sign of abating I thought I'd tell what I'm loving at the moment and recommend some good investment buys.


Most recently, small (ish) cross body bags are really ringing my bell.  After years of using bags large enough to fit all my childrens' rubbish in, and the child herself in some cases, I am (THANK GOD) back to only having to worry about my own shiz which I find, without sounding like too much of a dick, rather liberating.


Cross body bags are super practical, don't give you back/shoulder/arm ache and look cool and chic to boot.  If you're considering sizing down to a cross body I'd say look at simple styles in classic colours - most of us need our bags to last longer than one season, much longer.  Below are a few that I like and own. Whilst some are more reasonably priced, a couple are on the more expensive side - I bleedin' love a posh bag.


If you're buying for the first time, the Gucci Disco is an excellent place to start.  It's not cheap, granted, but I guarantee you will use it endlessly.  I have one in red.  It's THE perfect size - large enough to fit the essentials without them getting squashed but small enough to look neat and feel compact on the body - and looks great with smart and casual outfits.

The bag I seem to reach for just as much as my Gucci is my Anya Hindmarch Gracie in black.  It's a past season style but you can pick them up on eBay at really reasonable prices.  They are made from beautifully soft leather and have an elegant, timeless style.  The black has neutral pewter hardware so if you're super fussy about matching your bag hardware to your jewellery, it will "go" with either.

 


Now, the Chloe Drew has been popular for a while and whilst I'm not usually crazy about a chain strap, I love how chic the strap is here.  They're on the smaller side and the shape would possibly limit how much you could get in there but they come in a huge selection of colours and they're all absolutely beautiful. My choice?  The grey - it's just divine with the gold hardware.

This Coccinelle is the grey bag that I do own (currently pimped with Anya Hindmarch rip off stickers from Topshop).  It's infinitely useful and great quality despite being on the cheaper end of the scale.  I bought this as I couldn't justify £800 or so (who can?!) for a Celine Trio.  Instead I found this at Bicester Village for a fraction of the cost.  With a detachable strap and pale gold hardware it's perfect for evenings too.  Coccinelle do variations on this style every year - they're brilliant little bags.

My most recent purchase is this little gem, the Aurora Willow.  Very similar to the Coccinelle, I couldn't be more pleased with it - it's gorgeous quality, comes with the option of personalisation and is a very reasonable price.  It's perfectly understated and they come in loads of colours with more dropping for Spring shortly I'm told.  The red is beautiful.

Still with understated, the APC Half Moon would be so useful.  Perfectly sized and perfectly chic, I adore how minimal it is - these lovely little bags are now firmly on my radar.

And I'll finish with a burgundy cross body bag conundrum that I'm currently having (not a sentence I ever thought I'd write.)  I've rationalised in my head that I "need" one and can think of little else.  If you wear a lot of black, grey and white (which I do) a burgundy bag (or oxblood if we're gonna talk fash-un) will lift your oufit beautifully.  The obvious choice, if money was no option, which unfortunately it is, would be the YSL Camera. 

I mean they're just delicious aren't they?  Back in the real world where I have a mortgage to pay and children to feed, it's not gonna be mine.  Cue much research until I thought I'd found a suitable and much more husband-friendly alternative in the form of the Cloud bag from Cambridge Satchel Company Cloud.  I was however, thwarted at the final fence as the very minute I made the decision to click 'buy', it went out of effing stock.  Back to the drawing board I went and several try ons later it was between the Blossom Pochette from Mulberry and the Gotham from Marc Jacobs.  The Mulberry was too small so the Marc Jacobs won and as is the way of the world, as soon as my eBay auctions finish, I had planned to buy it. 


However, it looks like the Cloud is now back in stock and like the muppet I am, I'm completely unable to decide between the two....