Melanie Paris Double-Sided Wallet in Almond Green

The zip that runs right around the almond green wallet

Most long wallets give you one way in. This one gives you two, and the back face is the quicker of them: the zip starts in a corner, travels the whole way round and comes back, so the compartment falls open with one hand while the other is still holding the basket. No flap to lift, no stud to press.

What the almond green wallet measures

Both faces belong to one body, so nothing has to be decided at the counter: the wallet turns over in the hand and the other side takes over. Flap, zip-round, cork: the same shelf carries all three, and the other wallet formats on the shelf show how differently the same job gets done.

Why the two cognac straps never need undoing

The straps sit in their dark metal buckles and stay put, because they are decoration. What actually holds the flap is a metal press stud tucked under its point. One press and the flap lifts. It closes quickly, though it grips less firmly than a zip, which is exactly why the coins belong on the other face.

The card column and the clear window

Under the flap everything is the same soft green: card slots stacked one above the other, flat pockets to either side, and a clear window set low in the column.

The fan print behind the window

That window is where the wallet gives itself away. Behind it sits a fan motif in dark green, burgundy and sand, the same cloth that lines the zipped compartment and its central pocket. Closed, the wallet says nothing about it.

Choosing which face of the wallet shows

Lying flap-up in an open bag, the shimmering panel catches whatever light there is; turned over, the plain face reads as a block of soft green and nothing more. Almond green sits easily beside cream, denim and grey, and the cognac of the straps keeps the whole thing from looking cold.

Mélanie Paris signs a fair share of the accessories here, and the rest of the Mélanie Paris line-up is gathered on one page.

A long wallet is not always the right shape for a small bag. When the bag is tiny, a flat zipped coin purse slides in where this one would not.