Towny Cow bag

It’s really easy to be dazzled by the latest trend or seduced by a particularly shiny bit of bling, but choosing a handbag that will last past Christmas is a serious business. We’ve all done it, shelled out for a bag that just didn’t deliver – perhaps it wouldn’t stay on your shoulder, wasn’t big enough or simply looked out of place in your wardrobe.

Obviously, I spend a lot of time thinking about handbags, creating handbag and just loving the good ones. Here are just a few of the things to ask yourself before you get your purse out and part with your money.

• Is the bag so gorgeous that you would want to hand it to your daughter in the future – or after you have finished with it at least?
• Is it stylish and timeless? – beware anything the screams on-trend for only one season or is completely covered in logos. Classic and iconic works for ever but not if you chose a bag with too much bling or OTT motifs.
• Is it well-made? We are not talking a cheap bag knocked up in 10 seconds. If you want to keep it, make sure the seams are well-constructed, there are lots of pockets and an inside that is lovingly designed and as beautifully put together as the outside.
• Will it be too heavy or hurt to carry? Bags that induce back ache really are a no no. Check the weight and think about what you have to put inside. Bags like the Chloe ones are wonderful to look at but, heck, the padlocks are so heavy you could do your shoulder an injury
• Is it versatile? Think about your average day and ask if it works for all the scenarios. Most of us need a handbag that will take them from the office to dinner and carry all their essentials – phone, make up, wallet, plus loads of random items – remember our article on what us girls keep in our handbags. Could your new purchase handle all those things?
• Is it big enough or small enough for that matter? if you can’t fit in your everyday stuff and have no room for extras – like throwing in your iPod, iPad or Kindle then it’s a no no.
• Slouchy or structured? Slouchy is great for a more casual approach and can be flexible if you tend to overfill your handbags but a structured handbag will hold its shape longer.
• Will my handbag make me look good? Don’t buy something that doesn’t fit your style both life and fashion. You will regret it.
• Finally close your eyes and feel the bag – does it feel good? Does it make you think yuuuummmmm? If it does then it’s for you.

If you get it right, you’ll have a friend for life.

Get a good hide in - a VV Amore classic bag

As a handbag designer, I’m involved in every part of the process but one of the most magical things about making bags is the sourcing of the products that I use to create them – leather being the main one.

I use a number of different suppliers but my favourite is a warehouse in the east end of London. It is a treasure trove of beautiful leathers just stacked high and low over 5,000 sq ft of a warehouse

The smell when you open the warehouse door is absolutely amazing. It’s like the smell of a thousand new car interiors or thousands of leather jackets all piled high in your wardrobe

I normally try to get there first thing in the morning when no one else is around so that I can lose myself in the total range. Amazing new leathers arrive there daily.

There is the leather I always purchase for the mainstays of my range, but I am always looking for new things and this warehouse never disappoints.

Piles of soft lamb nappa in every colour under the rainbow, suedes galore just stacked up on shelves, lovely shiny patents in another corner and whole skins of cows in many different brown and black shades heaped up in the middle.

There is a fabulous sample area with beautiful printed leathers. The astonishing range of finishes and designs includes tartan and roses. They are all special orders so you have to take at least six to ten skins.

This season python and snake skins are very popular which is just as well as our VVA exotic handbags and our slouchy python are right on trend for us. But then, what would you expect?

The warehouse is even selling brightly coloured crocodile skins which are lovely but a little exotic for most tastes.

Bringing a little colour...

Black or navy depending on your outfit, brown for the country and cream for the holidays, tiny and shiny for evening… These are the rules I remember reading once for how to make sure you have the right handbag whatever the occasion.

Certainly over the years I’ve had my fair share of smart and suitable bags. They were very grown-up and appropriate.

However, eventually I realised something was missing from certain aspects of my life – and that thing was colour. I love strong vibrant colours and the energy they bring.

While a handbag is rarely going to solve any problems, a bright and beautiful bit of arm candy can give a day just the right kind of lift. And even if the occasion calls for sensible neutrals, a bit of va-va voom about the lining peps up the mobile phone hunt a notch.

Now I can’t imagine going back to a daily diet of subdued black and browns. I choose handbags in lush shades that cheer me up and make me smile. My current favourite is a warm juicy orange in soft, soft leather although I do have to be careful that I don’t find myself absent mindedly stroking it gently.

A word of warning though, from someone who learned the hard way, if a splash of colour brings a ray of sunshine… a bigger, brighter splash of colour doesn’t necessarily mean a bigger ray of sunshine. In the coloured handbag stakes, less is definitely more.  Too much colour all at once can leave you looking like an off-duty CBeebies presenter which is not a good look in a grown woman.

I can’t promise a pink, green or leopard print bag will change your life, but it might just put an extra spring in your step.

I’m in handbag heaven and you can come to!

If I were Divine Empress of the Known Universe for a day, I’d make splendid handbags available on the NHS to all women – particularly those over their ideal weight or who have to perform tricks to cover up grey hair.

Here’s why:

Handbags are loyal and dependable. They won’t stand you up or put you down.

Handbags have a secret side reserved especially for you. Getting intimate with a fabulously frivolous pink print lining will make you smile whereas getting intimate with a real person is often troublesome and trying.

Handbags are flattering. They match your mood or clothing du jour. A good one will perk up even the most perfunctory I-just-picked-it-off-the-bedroom floor ensemble into something special. And if you get a big one you can hide behind it.


Handbags cheer you up. When the world is conspiring and it’s raining on your washing again. A beautiful bag is a little ray of leather sunshine on your shoulder. (Leather sunshine!?)

Handbags are calming. Inhale the hide-y scent and stroke it’s butter-soft sides and tell me you don’t feel better.

Handbags are a last bastion of femininity. In my boy-dominated house, my bag is about the only place they won’t go. Especially as I’ve told them that miniature crocodiles live in the bottom of it. Yeah. Crocodiles and tampons!

This week I came across VV Amore where Queen of Handbags Sarah creates the most wonderful examples.

After hours of drooling and dithering between the Towny Babe, Towny Cow and Vintage Flower, I placed my order. Bliss.

Sarah started VV Amore when she couldn’t find the perfect, yet practical, bag of her dreams. She knows you need pockets, adjustable straps, strong clips and plenty of space.

She also created bags that look different without having to change to a different bag. And, in a stroke of genius that left me weak at the knees, a bag with a matching mini bag/purse that you could swap the shoulder straps onto.

So I urge you to take a stroll through the avenues and pathways of a world of harmony made so by Sarah’s heavenly handbags.

What lovely words from In A Bundance!

Check out www.clydelife.com and here is our advert:

Family in background watching the football with another 300 million viewers – what is that like. This football is not helping my handbag sales!

Sold 3 bags to friends of friends this week which is great as they were all handbags that I needed to remake so that I can improve the photography on the website. Mattie, my website designer and guru photographer has built a tent and revolving handbag stand that we can use to make our photos look a 1000% better!  Trouble is my samples are looking a bit worn so I have decided to bite the bullet and remake them! It will take time though.

Uni was cool, so much bag talk. Hazel at www.accessory-addict.blogspot.com has made some great new jewellery and the handbags that are coming out of the course are cool. Holly is doing a great job assisting us! I have completed all the patterns and cut out one of the smaller handmade handbags which I am going to make up. I will put some photos up so you can all see what it turned out like!