I have carried a handbag that was too small and a shopping bag that was too ugly for forty years. This is the first bag I have ever written a letter about.
I have carried a handbag that was too small and a shopping bag that was too ugly for forty years. This is the first bag I have ever written a letter about.
Six things two printed tote bags get right that forty years of handbags and green shopping bags got wrong, written down by a customer, not a shop.
Dianne Prescott · Customer · Epping, Sydney · 5 min read
I am 64, and for as long as I can remember I have left the house with a handbag on one shoulder and a green shopping bag in the other hand, and usually a plastic one as well for whatever did not fit in either. This spring, on a cruise-ship day stop at Burnie in Tasmania, I watched a woman do an entire day ashore with one bag over her arm and both hands free, and a month later here I am, writing a letter about a tote bag.
Hers was the Isla, sunflowers and blue butterflies on butter yellow. Mine is the Grace, cream magnolias on navy, and I went back for an Isla as well. They are from Thompson Sydney, a small Australian boutique that has been quietly making lovely things for women our age for a few years now. I ordered the first one the week we got home, fully expecting to send it back. I did not, and I wrote to the boutique to tell them why, and they asked if they could put my letter up for other women to read. So here it is, the six things these get right.
Day bags, if you have looked lately, come in two piles. The first pile is the handbag, which looks nice enough and holds your purse, your phone and nothing else, so you end up carrying a second bag anyway. The second pile is the green shopping bag, which holds everything and looks exactly like what it is, a shopping bag you got for free at the checkout.
A bag that looks nice, or a bag that holds your day. I stopped accepting that a woman has to choose, and these two bags are the proof I was right to.
Along the boardwalk at Burnie, the ship out in the bay. One bag, and a hand left over for the rail.
It goes over your arm and leaves your hands free
This is the thing I noticed first, and it is the thing I would tell you if I only had a minute. It is a simple open tote with two long handles, long enough to sit over your forearm, so the bag hangs at your side and both hands are free. Rhonda, the woman from the cabin across the corridor, held the rail getting back on the shuttle bus while the rest of us were still juggling a handbag and a paper bag of cheese.
The Grace, over my arm on the front steps, on the way to the bus stop.
“Over my arm, hands free for the grandkids and the gate. I do not know why I carried a handbag for so long.”
Judith W., StanleyYour whole day fits in it
The listing says big enough for your purse, phone, keys and a few extras, and I tested the few extras. On an ordinary Saturday mine takes my purse, phone and keys, a water bottle, sunscreen, my sunglasses and a cardigan for when the southerly comes through, with room on top for the bread. Rhonda had a wedge of cheese and a jar of honey in hers by lunchtime and it still sat neatly on her arm.
Everything that used to need two bags, laid out on the kitchen table before it went into one.
“Purse, phone, keys, my library books and a cardigan. I have stopped taking a second bag anywhere.”
Margaret T., WynyardThe print is full of detail, and people notice
The Grace is three big cream magnolias with orange-gold centres on deep navy, with green and copper leaves and a slim copper branch running up through the middle. The Isla is two great golden sunflowers with blue butterflies dotted all over the butter yellow. Up close there is a lot to look at, and the listing promises plenty of compliments. It undersells it. Mine has been asked about at the chemist, at the bowls club and twice in the queue at the bakery. Graham says leaving the house with me now takes twice as long.
On the back of the kitchen chair, where it lives between outings.
“Three women asked me about my magnolia bag in one morning at the markets. I have never had that with a handbag.”
Sue R., PenguinIt is printed to order, so it arrives fresh
Each bag is printed to order once you buy it, which the boutique says is why the colour arrives so bright. It also means the colours may vary slightly from the photos, which they say plainly on the listing and which I appreciated being told. Both of mine arrived looking exactly like the pictures to me, the yellow as sunny as Rhonda’s and the navy deep enough that the magnolias almost glow.
The afternoon the second one arrived. Graham asked how many bags one woman needs.
“The colours on mine are so bright and fresh. It looked even better out of the packet than it did on my screen.”
Lorraine B., DevonportTwo sizes, so you can choose your day
Every design comes in two sizes. The 38 × 35 cm one is the lighter everyday carry, for the shops, the library or lunch. The 43 × 40 cm one is for fuller days out, a day trip, a picnic or a day ashore with everything you might need. I have the bigger Grace for days out and the smaller Isla for errands, and between them I have not touched a green shopping bag since the cruise.
“I bought the small one for the shops and went back for the big one for days out with my sister. Both get used every week.”
Heather J., LatrobeThere is a design for every woman you know
The two I chose are only the start. The collection runs to more than sixty designs, from flowers and birds to cats, dogs, sheep and sea turtles, and I spent a whole evening on the sofa choosing while Graham watched the cricket. The listing calls them an easy gift idea, and I can vouch for that. Graham’s sister Lyn is getting one for Christmas, and I already know which.
Both of them on the hooks by the front door. I pick whichever suits the day.
“I bought one for myself and then three more as presents. Every one of them has been a hit.”
Pam D., DeloraineThe Isla and the Grace, against the bags you have been carrying
You can buy a day bag almost anywhere. I know, because I have owned most of them, and given the rest to the op shop. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
A handbag that holds a purse and nothing else
A second bag for everything that does not fit
Green, plastic or plain, and identical to everyone else’s
One size, whatever kind of day you have planned
Nobody has ever asked where you got it
Two long handles that sit over your arm
Purse, phone, keys and the extras in one bag
Sunflowers and butterflies, or magnolias on navy
Two sizes, 38 × 35 cm or 43 × 40 cm
Asked about at the bakery, the chemist and the bowls club
About the price
I will be straightforward about the price, because it was the thing that made me suspicious. The Isla and the Grace are both $58.95, in either the 38 × 35 cm or the 43 × 40 cm size, and they were $118.00.
The boutique says the spring sale price is about making room for the summer stock, selling directly, with no middleman taking a cut, and that at this price they are barely making anything on them. That is their arithmetic, not mine. What I can tell you is that I have paid more than that for a handbag that never held my day, and I bought two of these.
If you are tired of juggling a handbag and three plastic bags every time you leave the house, this is the bag I would put over your arm instead.
Dianne
The Isla & Grace Printed Tote Bags
- ✓Printed tote, printed to order for you
- ✓Isla: sunflowers and blue butterflies on butter yellow
- ✓Grace: cream magnolias on deep navy
- ✓Room for your purse, phone, keys and a few extras
- ✓Two sizes, 38 × 35 cm or 43 × 40 cm
- ✓Free delivery across Australia
Spring sale on now. The popular designs are already going.