Bag me about it

Let me tell you about the relationship between a woman and her bags: it’s indestructible. If you think a woman’s attachment to shoes is absurd, then you’d probably find her obsession with bags disturbing. A woman is practically Velcroed to her tote. She may not buy one as often but when she does, it’s a carefully selected one. After all, she trusts it to carry her entire life — mobile phone, MP3 player, PDA, credit cards, cash — plus her favorite shade of lipstick, so it’s always important to purchase a perfect one.

For a woman, bags are almost like security blankets. While shoes can pinch and traumatize your toes, bags are the allies that, aside from carrying essentials, keep you a little bit more organized than your mother thinks. Plus, it’s a wonderful shield when some random dude on the street develops a fixation on the plastic buttons of your piqué shirt.

Bags made a woman feel so good once she dedicated her life to producing them. Bag designer, Anya Hindmarch, credited with the tied ribbon insignia on her whimsical designs, is Britain’s very own bag lady. The first winner of the Designer Brand of the Year award at the 2007 British Fashion Awards opened her first bag shop at the age of 19 and never looked back since. Often citing classical architecture as a source of inspiration, Hindmarch’s bags often take on a rectangular structure. This season, she has two-toned envelope bags, patent bucket totes and structured shoppers.

Another brand that never fails to make a woman look and feel good is Givenchy. For 60 years, the fashion house founded in 1952 by designer Hubert de Givenchy has been dressing up women, including Hollywood royalty Audrey Hepburn and the world’s most beloved First Lady, Jackie Kennedy. Now designed by Riccardo Tisci, Givenchy still evokes a certain brand of nostalgic fashion.

This season, Ricci has pasted black and white graphic op-art style patterns on his clothing. To complement the dizzying geometry, Givenchy has bags defined by straight lines and edgy shapes. There’s black patent rectangular envelope bag that resembles a modern-day picnic basket and a huge white trapezoidal tote that’s meant for every woman who feels negligent when she only brings her wallet and keys each time she steps out of the house.

Women also love Chloe. Especially those who think showing off designer knowledge with an overabundance of logos borders on tastelessness. Chloe is all about subdued luxury, soft and tactile, but weighed down by recognizable hardware: a lock, grommets, metal closures.

Bags have always been a girl’s thing. We can’t let them go. We feel conspicuous not carrying one. By the time we start carrying our little fanny packs at the age of three, we become hooked. Bags and a woman: this is a lifelong thing.

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Anya Hindmarch, Givenchy and Chloe bags are available only at Adora Department Store, Greenbelt 5.