The bag that does not close
Bags are being carried deliberately unfastened this autumn. Yes, really — and no, you do not have to put your phone in one.
This one is going to divide you, and that is rather the point. The idea started with people who own very expensive bags leaving the hardware undone — a Birkin carried with the straps hanging rather than fastened — and it has now gone all the way through to designers cutting bags that are not really meant to close at all.
Before you dismiss it: there is a reason it reads the way it does. A fastened bag looks guarded. An open one looks like somebody who is not worried about anything, and that unbothered quality is the whole of what is being sold. It is an attitude trend wearing a handbag, which is why it looks wonderful in a photograph and gives every sensible woman an immediate sinking feeling.
So here is the honest version. You do not have to choose between the look and your bank cards. Most of the bags cut this way have an interior zip pocket, and the sane way to wear the trend is to treat that pocket as your actual bag — phone, cards, keys go in and stay in — and let the open part carry the things it would not matter to lose sight of. A scarf, a book, sunglasses in a case. The bag looks full and relaxed, and nothing important is loose.
Two practical checks before you buy. Hold it at your side and tip it gently forward: an open bag with a wide mouth empties itself at that angle, whereas one that narrows towards the top does not, and from the outside they look identical. And be realistic about where you go. On a train platform or in a crowd, fasten it — no trend is worth that afternoon.
How to wear it
- Fill it enough that the opening holds its shape. A half-empty open bag looks lost rather than relaxed.
- Carried in the hand or under the arm, not on a long cross-body strap where it swings and gapes.
- One soft, unstructured thing per outfit — an open bag with a slouchy coat is a lot of drooping at once.
Sources
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