Hermes Lindy 26 CM Bag Handmade In Taurillon Clemence Leather Silver Hardware 09 Mauve Pale

Mauve Pale is a dusty lilac that lives somewhere between grey and pink, and it is the most quietly interesting neutral I have carried. On grey days it looks almost stone; under warm light it blushes. One bag, two moods, no effort.

The Lindy 26 is my favourite size for this sort of colour – twenty-six by eighteen by twelve centimetres, softly folded at the top, with the two rolled handles and the shoulder strap. Clemence’s grain stops the pastel from looking flat or sugary; there is real texture in the surface, and it keeps the bag from reading as a novelty.

Inside: a compact wallet, a phone, keys, a pouch of lip products, and a folded tote for shopping. The interior is open, which suits the relaxed character; the exterior pockets take the phone so I am not rummaging at the till.

Honest notes: pale leathers show dark transfer from denim and from newspaper – newsprint still exists in my life – so I relegate this bag to lighter outfits. The silver hardware also shows smudges more on a pale bag than on a dark one, though a microfibre cloth handles both in seconds.

For spring weddings, lunches and travel days when you want softness rather than black, it is the one I reach for. It also pairs beautifully with navy, a combination I stumbled on by accident and now repeat at every opportunity.