Forty years of carrying my whole life on one shoulder, and it took a gallery cloakroom in Bendigo to show me I did not have to
Forty years of carrying my whole life on one shoulder, and it took a gallery cloakroom in Bendigo to show me I did not have to
Six things two handbags get right that forty years of one heavy carry-everything bag 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 carried one big brown handbag with absolutely everything in it. Purse, glasses, the other glasses, a cardigan, two umbrellas, a packet of mints from roughly the Keating years. This spring, in a cloakroom queue at the Bendigo Art Gallery, I watched a woman walk straight past all of us with a little bag across her body, and a month later here I am, writing a letter about handbags.
Hers was the Evelyn, a small caramel saddle bag. I have the Evelyn now too, and the Minerva, a soft grey shoulder bag, for every other day of the week. 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 I 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.
Handbags, if you have looked lately, come in two piles. The first pile is the big sensible one that holds the whole house and leaves a dent in your shoulder by lunchtime. The second pile is the dainty little evening one that holds a lipstick and a key, and nothing you actually need on a day out.
A bag big enough for everything, or a bag small enough to enjoy the day. I stopped accepting that a woman has to choose, and these two are the proof I was right to.
The Evelyn out the front of a grand old building in the sunshine. It stays across me all day.
It stays with you, and your hands stay free
This is the thing I noticed first. Lyn and I took the train up from Southern Cross for the big spring exhibition, and at the door they ask you to hand in your large bags. So there I was in a queue of women surrendering their handbags, mine included, while a woman called Noreen, a retired bank teller from Castlemaine, walked straight past us with a little caramel saddle bag across her body. Nobody stopped her, because there was nothing to stop. She had her glasses and her purse on her all morning, and I spent the morning patting my pockets for the cloakroom token.
On the train home, on the seat beside me instead of under it.
“I wear it across me at the markets and I have both hands free for the coffee and the change. I do not know why I waited so long.”
Gwen T., KynetonA proper saddle shape that looks like it cost far more
The Evelyn has the classic saddle-bag lines, a rounded flap with a raised stitched border, a neat stitched panel below it, and one narrow strap down the middle through a small silver buckle. That is it. No logos, nothing shouting. It is the sort of bag you assume somebody has had for twenty years and looked after beautifully. The strap is adjustable, so mine sits right at my hip without hitching up when I sit down.
The two of them on the good armchair, which Graham says is now a handbag chair.
“My daughter asked if it was vintage. I told her it was, in the sense that I am.”
Margaret H., MaldonSmall, but it holds what you actually need
I was sure a bag that size would be useless. The boutique says it has plenty of room inside for your essentials, and that is exactly right. My purse, my reading glasses, my phone, my keys and a lip balm all go in, and the flap comes down over the lot. It comes in two sizes, 21 × 11 × 19 cm or a touch larger at 25 × 11 × 20 cm, and both are the same price. I went with the smaller one, and I have not missed the two umbrellas once.
“I took the bigger size so my glasses case fits. Everything I need and nothing I do not.”
Robyn A., HeathcoteThe everyday one is light on the shoulder
The Evelyn is for going out. For the shops, the chemist and picking up the grandkids on a Thursday I wanted something bigger, but not my old monster. The Minerva is a soft, slouchy shoulder bag with one rolled handle and little gold-tone rings, and the boutique calls it light to carry, which it is. It sits snugly under my arm, and by the end of a long morning my shoulder has nothing to say about it. Forty years of my old bag and I had forgotten that was possible.
Down our street under the jacarandas, Minerva on my shoulder, nothing digging in.
“Light, soft and it sits nicely under the arm. I carry it every day now and forget it is there.”
Lorraine K., EchucaEverything has its own place inside
My old bag was one big cave, and I spent forty years with my arm in it up to the elbow at every till in Sydney. The Minerva has a divided inside, so my purse lives in one part and my glasses and phone in another, and a zip runs along the top to keep it all in. I reach in and my hand finds what it is after the first time. The girl at the chemist actually commented on it.
On the hall table, ready to go. Keys and sunglasses in the dish, everything else already inside.
“No more tipping my bag out on the counter. I know exactly where everything is.”
Pat S., DaylesfordPlenty of colours, and plenty of bags
The Evelyn comes in caramel, khaki, dark brown and black. The Minerva in caramel, grey and black. I chose the caramel Evelyn because it was Noreen’s and I am not too proud to copy, and the grey Minerva because it goes with every cardigan I own. The collection itself runs to nearly forty bags, from little crossbody bags to proper weekenders, and I spent a whole evening on the sofa choosing while Graham watched the cricket. Lyn has already put in a request for her birthday.
The afternoon they arrived. Graham asked if I was planning to leave him and take both.
“Bought the Evelyn for myself and the black one for my sister. We look like a matching set at the club.”
Joy M., InglewoodThe Evelyn and the Minerva, against the bag you have been carrying
You can buy a handbag 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.
Handed in at the cloakroom, or dragged round all day
A sore shoulder by lunchtime
One big cave you rummage in at every till
Too heavy and too sensible for a day out
Nobody has ever asked where you got it
A little saddle bag that stays across you, hands free
A light everyday shoulder bag
A divided inside, everything in its place
Classic shapes that look like they cost far more
Asked about in a cafe in Bendigo
About the price
I will be straightforward about the price, because it was the thing that made me suspicious. The Evelyn is $71.95, in either size, and it was $144.00. The Minerva is $87.95, and it was $176.00.
The boutique says the spring sale 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 both together for one department store handbag that I then carried for forty years, and my shoulder can tell you how that went.
If you are still carrying your whole house on one shoulder and handing it in at every door, this is where I would start. I have not been to a cloakroom since.
Dianne
The Evelyn & Minerva Bags
- ✓Evelyn: small saddle bag with an adjustable strap, worn across the body
- ✓Two Evelyn sizes, 21 × 11 × 19 or 25 × 11 × 20 cm, same price
- ✓Minerva: light everyday shoulder bag, $87.95, was $176.00
- ✓Minerva has a divided inside to keep things tidy
- ✓Caramel, khaki, dark brown, grey and black
- ✓Free delivery across Australia
Spring sale on now. The popular colours are already going.