Red Mandolin Handbag

A red hobo handbag with braided front pockets

Two things give this bag its character, and both sit on the front. Two buckled flap pockets face each other across the width, each closed by a strap threaded through a buckle. Below the strap, a tight woven panel covers the lower half of the flap. It reads as texture up close and disappears at arm's length, which keeps the front lively without making it busy.

The buckles and the studs

The fittings look closer to saddlery than to jewellery: square frames, a visible pin, and a round stud set above each buckle. Their aged brass tone is warm rather than bright, so it sits against the red instead of competing with it. Nothing else interrupts the front panel, which stays smooth from the pockets up to the curved opening.

On the shoulder

The handle is short and padded, fixed on each side by a round ring and a stud, so the bag sits high, close to the hip. Turn it round and you find a horizontal zipped back pocket, its pull finished with a small engraved plate. Seen from the side, the bag widens towards a rounded base, and that widening is what gives it volume once it is filled.

Styling a red this deep

This is a flat, saturated red, matt rather than glossy, and that makes it easy to wear. It holds its own next to camel, indigo denim and navy, and a single bag in this colour is usually enough to lift a plain winter coat. Cream knitwear brings out the warmth in the buckles.

A hobo suits an everyday routine, where a bag gets picked up and set down a dozen times without much thought. If you are still weighing up shapes, the rest of the handbag range makes the differences in volume easy to compare.