How-To

A Comprehensive Guide to Choosing the Perfect Bag

Occasion Bags Featured Image

A bag is the most important accessory you carry as opposed to others you wear. It is an extension of one’s personality and its exterior/interior serves a dual purpose of style and storage respectively. It is important to strike a right balance between the two so as to not compromise on comfort. That’s the baseline. Period. The right bag, not only enhances your outfit, but helps you stay organized, in turn giving you a sense of control. In general, there are 5 parameters to look at – size, color, storage, occasion and material. Presenting below a simple, curated guide of choosing the perfect bag according to occasion, with each occasion defining the remaining 4 parameters:

The Work Bag

The office-going woman needs oodles of confidence to stay on top of the game in corporate matters. She needs a perfect blend of form and function to help her stay uncluttered. Work bags are something we (usually) do not change on a daily basis. The nature of their long run necessitates paying due attention to the durability factor. They must be able to withstand the daily wear and tear. Leather is a material that fits the bill perfectly here. Structured bags with soft leather are the ideal for a professional setting. For those looking at more environment friendly alternatives, there is poly-urethane and other faux-leather materials. Lookout for bags with multiple compartments and pouches to accommodate common official staples such as stationery, phones, money wallet, gadgets etc. A word of caution here: unless you carry a small laptop or netbook, avoid using a handbag these bulky gadgets. A backpack is better here for ergonomic reasons as the weight is distributed across the body.

Colours must be subdued in work bags. That’s not to say tan and black are the only choices. Opt for mustard, teal, blue, olive – just ensure they are not too loud and in-the-face. Yes, neutral shades would go with a wide range of outfits and you wouldn’t need to worry about colour co-ordination during those time-strapped weekday mornings, not to mention the dreadful task of moving your stuff in and out of bags, which is a common trigger for misplaced items.

For size you must be guided by the things you want to carry. It should neither be too small that it is overstuffed each time, making it look clumsy and ill-managed. Nor too big that lugging it around become a drudgery, beating the foremost factor we laid down – comfort.

According to us, Hidesign is the choice of brand to go to for work bags. They have a huge selection of genuine leather bags in rich, saturated hues – you can check their latest work bags collection here. These days there’s even The Leather Boutique and they offer customized fit for your tablet.

Work Bags
Top: Hidesign, Bottom: The Leather Boutique

The Casual Bag

Just throw all rules to the winds! There is virtually no end to your experimentation with casual bags. There are the slings, hobos, bowlers, baguettes, totes, satchels; for material, there is fabric, faux leather, leather, suede etc. You can carry just about anything that suits your mind and is in step with your clothes. You would still want to be organized with essentials such as your phone and keys at the minimal. We repeat this at the risk of sounding clichéd but for us the most important factor for a handbag are definitely comfort and organizing capability. After all, storage is the primary purpose of a bag, isn’t it?! There is an almost endless supply of casual bags right from the established brands to the startups. But our foremost recommendations here would be Baggit and Lavie. Let us add here that there are some good work bag options in Baggit & Lavie as well. If you are looking for creative and eco-friendly alternatives, do check out Needle Doodle, Clean Planet, that have already been covered in these pages.

Casual Bags

The Party Bag

For the party bag, function takes a back seat. Instead, bling, embellishments, sequins taken center stage. The go-to materials here are silk, brocade, or any rich fabric. Clutches are usually preferred as party bags as they are small in size and you do not want anything large and bulky to come in the way of socializing and merry-making. If you dress ethnic, your ensembles would themselves be on the heavier side. Do remember to let your outfit and bag complement each other in terms of pattern and color – if one is doing all the ‘talking’, let the other be ‘muted’. To help you stay hands-free, you can choose clutches with detachable slings. Too many recommendations in this category, many of which are already covered on this blog – LovetoBag, Crazy Palette, Niche, The Purple Sack, Cupidity & Avec Amour.

Party Bags

The Travel Bag

This bag needs to be rugged, durable and easily portable. Wheeled backpacks are your best bet here. Again, you need to look for adequate compartments and separators to segregate clothes, lingerie, gadgets, eatables etc. The travel bag must be adequately organized as the stuff to carry would be more considering you’d be out for longer durations. You’d lose time and patience, trying to locate a charger at the bottom of a week-long heap of clothes, for instance. Duffel trolleys are also an option but they usually have lesser sections compared to backpacks. Travel bags are easy candidates for getting dirty as they may be tossed around at multiple instances; hence we recommend darker colors so that minor dust marks are not readily visible. If you are flying, it is important to keep the tare weight to a minimum as there would be baggage restrictions on most airlines.

Travel Bags
Both bags available at Snapdeal.com. This duffel trolley even has a sling option.

A few other pointers to help you with your purchase:

• When you invest a handsome amount in leather bags, you want to protect it at all times. The bottom is particularly susceptible to damage, as we set them down anywhere and everywhere. Hence, metal feet will keep your leather protected fairly enough.

• There is a sixth parameter TheFrisky suggests to take a look at: handles.

“Have you ever bought a shoulder bag that kept slipping off your shoulder? Or a purse with small handles only to realize you hate having your hands full?”

The handles must go with the load you are carrying and the size of the bag. I have always had a problem with rolled leather handles – the longer I carry them, the more they seem to painfully dig into my shoulders. I prefer flat, padded straps any day.

• And a seventh parameter – your body type. There is a whole lot of research on the type of bag you should choose according to your body shape. Essentially the shape of the bag should complement your structure – according to SheKnows the tall and thin should opt for a short, slouchy shape or bags wider than their height, petite women should stick to bags with small frames, plus-sized women should opt for thinner, not smaller, bags.

• And lastly, take the time to explore a good number before you invest in your bag – you are putting in your hard earned money after all. There are loads and loads of options both online and offline. With the social media explosion in recent times, brands are just a tweet or post away; they are so much closer to consumers now. Follow them on social media and keep an eye out for sales and offers they announce from time to time. During the year-end and Christmas time just gone by, it was literally raining offers!

Hope that provides you with a good start in your hunt for a perfect bag! For any other queries, BagsLounge too is just a comment, post or tweet away! 🙂

About the author

Vidya Gupta

Mother to three lovely boys and wife of a banking professional, I am extremely passionate about a host of topics, bags being one of them. For the record, the others are - makeup, travel, photography, in no particular order. Here I share my perspective on the Indian as well as the international bag-scene. As a youngster I would spend most of my money on bags and carry one according to my outfit. It is this love that I express through this blog. Needless to say, any suggestions for improvement, even healthy criticisms, are highly encouraged. Hope you enjoy your stay here and find something useful to help you on your next bag purchase!

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