If you like Fendi Peekaboo but not the price or the ubiquity, the useful move is to match the shape and the material rather than hunting a copy. A convincing alternative copies the proportion and the material, not the logo or the hardware. The details that give a cheap version away are lining, edge finishing and the weight of the fastenings. Leather darkens where your hand sits, which is not damage; it is the bag settling. The groups below run from the decision that matters most to the ones you make afterwards.

What decides this is capacity, closure and strap drop. Everything else is preference. Two from the first group show the range: Veronica Beard's Raffia Anchor Clutch at $350, and Strathberry's Mini Tote - Tan/Natural Raffia at $425. The first is the easy entry point; the second is where the money goes. A strap drop under 22cm will not clear a winter coat. Unlined canvas is lighter but shows every mark; treat it before first use. A higher price mostly buys materials and finishing, and occasionally it buys nothing at all.

Match the bag to the day, not the outfit. One structured bag does more work than three soft ones. From the second group, Cult Gaia's JAALA NANO CROSSBODY - ROSEMARY ($658) is the one that earns its place, because it works in more than one context without being restyled. The third group is smaller and deliberately narrower, bags, for the decisions you make after the main one. None of this needs the whole group. One piece from each is usually enough.

There are 20 bags here from 12 brands, $350 to $2500, all in stock when this was written. We would not buy all of them, and neither should you. Veronica Beard's Raffia Anchor Clutch at $350 is the low-risk way in, and Khaite's Augustina Hobo in Midnight Pebbled Leather at $2500 only makes sense if this is a category you already use constantly. Read as a set, they get you close to Fendi Peekaboo without any single purchase being compulsory. Nothing here is included because it is famous, and price is not used as a proxy for quality anywhere on this page. If you take one thing away: if you would not buy it at full price, you do not want it on sale.