Melanie Paris Camel Patchwork Handbag

A camel patchwork handbag with all its texture on the front

Turn it round and the pattern disappears. The plain camel synthetic runs across every other face, so every worked surface faces forward. On that single face the four materials meet along diagonal seams, and not one of the joins is straight. The seams are the only decoration on that side: no stitching detail, no hardware and no logo plate. Among other bags that keep their pattern to one face, few concentrate it this tightly.

A single wide handle, and a strap that comes off

The handle is one band rather than a pair, held by two looped keepers, which stop it rolling into a cord on the shoulder, and wide enough to sit flat. The top edge of the bag dips a little in the middle, so the bag settles against the body instead of standing square, and the soft synthetic gives rather than holding a shape of its own.

Both rings are bare once the clips are released

Two clips hold the strap, one at each round gunmetal ring. One pull on each clip and the strap lifts away with its buckle, and the bag is back to a single handle.

A printed lining, and nothing in the way

Unzip the top and nothing divides it. One zipped pocket is stitched to the lining wall, its zip running the same way as the opening. The back of the bag carries a second zipped pocket, running flat across the back, so a card or a key never has to go into the main space at all.

The braid on the right-hand edge

Run a thumb down the right-hand edge and the chevron is the only thing you feel; everything else on the front is smooth. The braid is a shade lighter and pinker than the body of the bag, which is what makes it read as an edge rather than a stripe.

Camel is the easy part of the wardrobe

Camel takes most colours without argument: navy, olive, burgundy, warm greys. The pale triangle is what stops it reading heavy in daylight. If a pieced front is more than you want, the quieter, plain-faced pieces from the same label come in the same shapes.