Hermes Evelyne 33 CM Bag Handmade In Taurillon Clemence Leather Gold Hardware 65 Vert Moyen

Medium green is the most underrated colour in a wardrobe: a neutral in winter, an accent in summer, and on a bag this size endlessly useful. My Vert Moyen Evelyne works with camel coats and cream knits and, unexpectedly, with a great deal of black.

The leather is Taurillon Clemence, bull-calf with a soft, irregular grain that takes dye deeply, so the green has real depth instead of flatness. It is a folding bag, not a rigid one. After months of use mine stands just well enough on its own and slumps when set down, which I have come to like.

Thirty-three centimetres across and thirty tall translates into a surprising amount of room. I have carried a thin laptop sleeve, a charger pouch and a folded jacket at once, though the bag then hangs heavy and you feel it on the shoulder. For ordinary days it swallows a book, a bottle and a cardigan without complaint.

Gold hardware against green is an old pairing, and this bag shows why: the warm metal lifts the mid-tone and makes the front panel glow in evening light. One caution, deep greens show dried water spots along the lower edge, so a quick wipe after a wet commute keeps the surface even.

Two seasons in, the colour has deepened slightly where light hits it most. A quiet bag that still says something, which is exactly my kind of green.