Hermes Evelyne 16 CM Bag Handmade In Taurillon Clemence Leather Silver Hardware 3Q Rose Sakura

Rose Sakura is a pale, barely-there pink, and in Clemence it reads softer than in any printed photo. Some pinks ask you to lean into them; this one sits gently next to whatever you are wearing, including denim, which surprised me most of all.

The small Evelyne suits the colour. There is something honest about a tiny pink bag that does not try to be serious, and this one is genuinely useful. The body spans eighteen centimetres across and sixteen up, with a five centimetre gusset; the strap adjusts to sit crossbody or on the shoulder; silver hardware keeps the mood light.

I carry a phone, a keyring, a thin cardholder and a tinted balm. On a picnic day, the bag takes a phone, keys and a handkerchief and stays out of the way. It has been to lunch, to the market and to a wedding where I did not want to bring anything larger, and it has never let an outfit down.

An honest word about pale pink: it is more robust than people expect, since Clemence’s grain hides smudges, but it will not survive a wet, dirty handprint forever. Mine has one faint shadow near the strap edge from a rainy taxi queue, which I notice and nobody else does.

For a small bag that lifts an outfit without shouting, Rose Sakura is exactly right, and I reach for it more than any other small bag I own.