THE PUZZLING SEARCH FOR THAT OFFICE BAG
My university Prada factory scrap bag turned my perfect office catch.
The other day on my biweekly zoom with my fabulous mentor Jessica Gaspard, based in our headquarters in One World Trade in New York, we swapped our usual chat about career goals to career bags. Having been adjusted with portable laptops during the covid pandemic to enable remote working, the previous office clutch had to be replaced with something more spacious. To her (birthday) surprise her husband had managed to find her the perfect Gucci office bag. I came to realise I needed to upgrade my daily tote bag and this led to my puzzling search for the perfect office bag.
The requirements I set were pretty standard: a bag that was going to work with every outfit, fit my laptop, a notebook (I know old school but cant help but scribble), it should be made of a durable material to survive the tube, have a long enough handle to hang over the shoulder and ideally a removable strap to extend to a cross-body and last but not least look feminine and good. Turns out these were quite difficult demands, something I find very contradictory by hearing that we are overrun of things in the fashion world, surely there must be something fit for business? Excited by the challenge I took off into the fashion sphere searching for this critical new addition to my wardrobe.
My mentors Gucci Birthday Surprise Office Bag.
Sadly my birthday was way passed and I pondered on where to find bags? Online! Imagine scrolling through the endless opportunity of quiet viewings without any shop attendants trying to influence you on your initial ideas. However this initially brilliant idea had some flaws soon to be uncovered. After a couple of exciting online discoveries, I released that to be meet the practical demands; we actually need to test this product to see if the laptop REALLY fits.. After all a bag purchase can be a proper investment.
Embarking on my next lunch break on this mission I hit the very dangerously (read expensive) Bond Street and very soon I fell for Saint Laurent’s beautifully and equally perfectly named: Sac du Jour bag. It had the perfect shape, the perfect crossbody but to my utter despair it didn't fit my laptop! Next size up was a weekend bag and way too big. Sadly but to my wallet's relief I left the shop empty handed.
Please find below my shopping guide of what I discovered during that day:
THE OFFICE BAG SHOPPING GUIDE
This perfect bag features side snaps with accordion sides and snap buttons. Also fabulously decorated with a detachable branded padlock - the only thing is the size. Personally I wished it was 10cm longer..
This handbag, a re-edition of an iconic Prada bag of 1995, is characterised by its elegant geometric silhouette with distinct, minimalist lines. VERY chic!
Spacious handbag in sturdy, grained imitation leather with two handles and a zip at the top. Very economical and does its job.
Even if Celine keeps on changing designers.. This bag is and will forever be a fabulous and spacious addition to your wardrobe.
This bag in tumbled calfskin is an elegant masterpiece with generous dimensions making it a good versatile bag.
This Large Intrecciato leather top handle bag with braided strap is a classic forever. Quite pricey but would pass onto generations and generations to come..
The Frayme tote bag is a bold vegan style, taking classic brand codes and reenergising them with a modern visual narrative. Your perfect conscious everyday bag.
Tote bag in embossed animal print fabric. Inside zip pocket and shoulder straps.Perfect basic and fun addition with your initials.
Central ribbing and tubular handles characterise this elegant bag; it features an internal pouch and an adjustable and removable shoulder strap.
I wish this bag was made with mushroom leather a note to accessory designers!
This timeless tote bag is not only a fabulous addition to your wardrobe but most likely to the next generation to come as-well.
As for me, nothing that day did fit my laptop, or was it that I forced my Smythson equally large notebook simultaneously into it? Only God knows.. My solution? Arriving the following weekend at home to find my mum begging me to go through my extensively large box of: clothes, occupying space that she urgently needed for herself. After loosing my debate on how fashion trends are circular, I discovered my long forgotten Prada university bag.
As a fashion student in Florence, I had saved up, taken the train to the Prada Factory a place relatively unknown to most as normally the tourists head to the more famous The Mall outlet place. The Prada Factory on the other hand offers default and not produced items for vaste discount. Then and there I saw my perfect office bag. It was worn but still in good shape, had space enough for two notebooks AND my laptop and it was very happy being saved from the attic and re-installed into my daily life.
Note to Miuccia (Prada) you should produce this model, the British Vogue offices are going mad about the bag!