Sweet & Candy bags: illustrated bags for women, from backpacks to shoulder clutches

Backpack, handbag or crossbody: choosing how you carry it

Once a bag becomes an everyday bag, the way it sits on you counts for more than the print on it. A backpack keeps both hands free on a long day out. Short handles make the handbag the dressiest shape here. The crossbody sits across the body and slips under a coat without adding bulk, and it turns up round, softly rounded or squared off like a small satchel. Worn high at the waist or across the chest, the bum bag stays out of the way entirely. The carrying position is the one thing you cannot change later.

Sweet & Candy prints, from ballet to butterflies

The illustrations fall into a handful of recurring worlds. Dance and music run right through the collection, with a ballet dancer, a stage performance, a piano and a violin. Animals appear as a cat, doves and butterflies, plants as tropical foliage and a field of flowers. Everyday scenes take over elsewhere: a train journey, a shopping trip, a dressing table. And a small girl carries a story of her own, either as an astronaut or out walking her dog. The print, not the shape, is what separates two bags cut from the same pattern. For shapes beyond this brand, the shop also lists bags worn across the body.

Wearing a two-tone bag

The pairings repeat from one bag to the next: pink and black, red and black, blue and camel, taupe and pink, or several shades of brown on a single bag. Against a plain outfit, the bag carries the colour on its own. Against a print, pick up one of its two shades somewhere in your clothes and let the second stay quiet. Colour is listed as a product characteristic, so the exact pairing can be checked before ordering. The wider bag range is there for comparison with plain models.

Looking after a printed bag

A barely damp cloth deals with dust and light marks on a print; go over it afterwards with a dry one so no rings are left behind. Materials vary from one model to the next, and the product page says what to know before anything more thorough. Store the bag upright and loosely padded so it holds its shape, out of direct sunlight, which dulls bright colours over time. If you would rather carry the weight on your back, the shop's backpack selection covers the other shapes on offer.