Vintage black handbag with gold push-lock clasp

A black handbag with a gold ball clasp

Press the two balls together and the frame springs apart, so the bag opens wide across its whole top edge instead of down a zip. Nothing catches, nothing has to be tugged. Because the frame is rigid, the opening keeps the same straight line whether the bag is full or empty.

The gold runs the full width of that opening. Against a bag that is otherwise entirely black, it does all the decorating on its own.

The ribbing carries on round the back

The ribbing does not stop at the front panel. It runs without interruption across the front, round both sides and over the back, so the bag looks the same from any angle on a shelf or a chair. Only four elements stay flat and unribbed: the handles, the little tabs anchoring them, the frame itself and the band around the base. Set the bag down and it rests on an oval footprint wide enough to hold it steady.

What 22.5x18cm actually holds

Think phone, cardholder, keys, a lipstick and a folded pair of sunglasses. The measurement worth checking is the 10cm of depth, which is what lets a small bag take a round object rather than only flat ones. Gallantry also list 8cm of clearance under the handles and 0.46kg for the bag itself, before anything goes in it. To place that against other shapes, here is what else sits in the handbag aisle at this size.

Hand-carried, or clipped onto the long strap

The handles are firm enough to stand up on their own, which matters more than it sounds when a bag lives on a restaurant table. The thin strap is a separate piece: two gold clips, two side rings, off in a second. Take it off for dinner, put it back on for the commute, and the bag reads differently each time. If that is the deciding factor, it is worth seeing how a long strap changes what a bag is for.

Dust settles in the grooves

Fine ribbing gives dust somewhere to sit. A dry soft brush worked along the pleats, never across them, lifts it without prising the folds open. A frame bag also keeps its mouth square as long as nothing heavier is stacked on top of it, so give it its own shelf rather than the bottom of a wardrobe pile.