This may seem like bold talk, but casual clutches are a totally under-appreciated and under-carried type of handbag. Please allow me to use the brand new Mulberry Alexa All In One Clutch to explain why.
On the surface, clutches may have a rather singular purpose: to look cute and unobtrusive with a nighttime outfit. But really, a good one can be so much more than that. Depending on your lifestyle and the size of bag you carry normally, this thing could do double-duty as everything from an oversized wallet to a tampon-obscurer to a place to neatly organize your travel documents. Or it could be all three of those things at once, plus act as a clutch on the weekends. Bags like these have many talents, even if they’re only marketed one way.
Without question, the best thing about this design in particular is that Mulberry chose to use the Alexa flap as a functional element of the design and not just a way to make this bag look like its other successful bags. The flap opens up to a compartment with card slots and room for cash, which means that if you’re one of those people who stuffs everything in her wallet, there’s an entire extra compartment for you to do that without constantly having to search through piles of receipts for your credit card, driver’s license or valet ticket.
Or if you’re the type of person who likes to run to the grocery store unencumbered, the main compartment would make a great spot for a phone and car keys. Or for those sensitive times of month, it would negate the necessity of fishing in the bottom of your purse for that last tampon that you just know you have. Or if you’re traveling, stick your boarding pass, passport and driver’s license in there for easy access at security and your gate.
Or, you know, you could use it as a clutch if you’ve exhausted all your other ideas. That’s always an option, I guess. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $495.
