India, Sept. 21 -- I have made the same handbag mistake more than once. I would see a spacious tote, imagine everything I could possibly need fitting inside it and think, "This is the practical bag I need". Then I would actually start carrying it and realise there was another problem I had completely ignored: the bag itself had weight.

A large handbag can look wonderfully useful when it is sitting on a shelf. Once you add a laptop, charger, water bottle, makeup pouch and all the other little things that somehow find their way into my bag, that spaciousness can turn into bulk very quickly.

I have also made the opposite mistake. I have fallen for small handbags because they looked cute, only to realise that being able to fit my phone and ...