‘It is nigh-on ergonomically perfect. It is relatively flat, so the weight sits against your body, rather than tipping you over to one side’
The second most important thing about the saddle bag is that it is terrifically fashionable right now. The best thing about it is that it’s a dream to wear, because it is a bag designed to be carried.
This sounds a ridiculous thing to say – surely, all bags are designed to be carried? – but it’s not, sadly. Many trophy handbags are designed exactly that way round: as trophies first and handbags second. They are beautiful objects to be sighed over and stroked – the handles are an afterthought. The thing is, you don’t notice this when you experimentally dangle the bag, stuffed with tissue paper, over your shoulder in a shop. You will, however, notice it the next day, when it becomes evident that the bag, now heavy and full, won’t stay on your shoulder without you hunching your shoulders up to your ears, or can’t be relied on to stay closed, and has to be clamped under one arm. Or that internal pockets have been sacrificed to a clean-lined minimal design, which leaves you scrabbling around for your lip balm in a very non-clean-lined-and-minimal fashion.
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