A small bag only works if you have been honest about the contents. A phone, a card holder, keys and one lipstick is a genuinely small bag. Add sunglasses in a case, a paperback or a water bottle and you need something else entirely. The most common mistake is buying the smallest shape available and then carrying a tote alongside it, which defeats the purpose twice over. The useful sizes sit between eighteen and twenty four centimetres wide with a base gusset of at least five, because that is what takes a large phone flat rather than at an angle. Below that you are into evening territory. Above it you are into a shoulder bag, which is a different and often more practical purchase for daytime.

The strap decides whether a small bag gets used. A fixed short shoulder strap looks best and is the least practical, since it cannot go across the body and slides off a coat. An adjustable strap long enough to sit at the hip crossbody is the version you will reach for daily, and a detachable one gives you both. Chain straps are heavier than they look and dig in over a long day. On closure, a zip is the only genuinely secure option, a magnetic flap is fine in most situations and a simple open top is a decision. Look at the corners too, because a small bag takes more abuse than a large one, knocking against doors and tables, and unpiped corners on a soft leather will wear through first.

We have gradually replaced the small bag collection with two: one crossbody with an adjustable strap in a mid tone leather, and one flat pouch that lives inside a larger bag and comes out on its own in the evening. That combination covers almost everything and it removed the drawer full of shapes bought for single occasions. On colour, we would argue against black for a small bag specifically, because a small bag is the one accessory that can carry a colour without the outfit changing. If you take one thing away, empty your current bag onto a table before buying a smaller one, because the contents decide the size and no amount of good design will make a phone fit sideways.