Shoulder bags are a tough category for me: I like classic shapes—or interesting twists on classic shapes– with minimal adornments. And  designers seem to love nothing more than to junk up a shoulder bag. Also, it can’t be too small: even just  if I’m leaving the house just for a few hours, I do not travel light. This hobo by  Pour La Victoire is plenty big—and in fact bigger than I usually go—but its shape is quite sculptural and clean, which keeps you from looking all shleppy when you’re carrying it.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a more classic take on the hobo shape than this one.

I am wild about JW Hulme, which commenter Sarah pointed me to after I posted about the difficulty of finding a good saddlebag. Is this not perfection?

Also from JW Hulme: this bucket shape, which is very old school and European and I’ve-had-this-for-years.

This Steven Alan bag wins the versatility sweepstakes. I could see wearing it to work every day, and still thinking it was cool enough for running around on the weekend.

I am not nuts about a lady bag—they’re just not so much my thing. But this one from DVF is refined enough for when one needs something on the grown-up side, but still so playful in the blue.

Doctor’s bags can be cute, but they always feel so unwieldy to me: this one has such a nice, soft shape, though.