Hermes Lindy 26 CM Bag Handmade In Taurillon Clemence Leather Gold Hardware k1 Rouge Grenat

A dinner reservation is the Lindy 26’s natural habitat, and Rouge Grenat is its evening dress: a deep garnet red that looks black in candlelight and wine-dark in daylight, with none of the loudness of a primary red.

In Clemence, the colour has a matte, velvety depth, and gold hardware completes the warmth. The bag itself is twenty-six by eighteen by twelve centimetres – my phone, a cardholder, keys, a lipstick and a compact all fit, and there is just enough spare room for a phone charger.

The shape does the rest: you can fold the top over your arm as a clutch, wear the strap long across a coat, or shorten it to sit under the shoulder. The exterior pockets take a phone in one and a key in the other; the clasps have the satisfying click I associate with the Lindy line.

Two honest observations. The soft base means the bag will not stand up on a chair – on dining chairs it wants to hang or rest against you. And dark reds like this show nothing except light wear at the clasp, which after a season looks quite dignified on mine.

If your evenings outnumber your structured handbag occasions, this is the size that will actually get used. Lunch to gallery to dinner: it has done all three in one afternoon, which a bigger bag in a brighter red would have made conspicuous.