If you like Chloe Straw Bag 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: Eric Javits's Mini Cherie Straw Bag at $356, and Ulla Johnson's Paloma Tassel Flap Bag - Orchid at $790. The first is the easy entry point; the second is where the money goes. Unlined canvas is lighter but shows every mark; treat it before first use. A strap drop under 22cm will not clear a winter coat. 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, Eric Javits's Globe Straw Bag ($319) 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 14 brands, $39 to $4490, all in stock when this was written. We would not buy all of them, and neither should you. Faherty's Straw Stripe Crossbody - Rainbow Stripe at $39 is the low-risk way in, and Oscar de la Renta's Butterfly Embroidered O Minaudière at $4490 only makes sense if this is a category you already use constantly. On chloe straw bag specifically: the difference between the top and the bottom of this list is real but smaller than the price gap suggests. 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: one considered purchase beats three hedged ones.