Forty-five years of purses and I never once wrote to a shop about one. This is the exception

Six things the Tamar gets right that everyday bags get wrong, from a woman who doesn't review handbags.

Diane Pelletier · Customer · Ottawa, Ontario · 6 min read

Let me be clear about who's talking. I'm Diane, I'm 63, I live in Ottawa with my husband Gilles, and I've carried a purse for forty-five years without ever once writing to a shop about one. What I have done is wear out a lifetime of them: stiff ones that scuffed, floppy ones that swallowed my keys, cheap ones that looked cheap by the second month. So this isn't a review. It's a woman who was wrong about a bag, saying so.

The one I'm writing about is called the Tamar, from Sylvie & Odette, a small shop that's been quietly making everyday things a little lovelier for women our age. I first saw it on the shoulder of the woman two sites down from us at the campground — every single day, with every sweater she owned. When the shop later asked if they could share my letter with other women, I said yes, as long as I could be completely honest in it.

It's a caramel bag with a wide woven strap, teal with little gold patterns running through it, like something you'd bring home from somewhere interesting. Next to it, my sensible black purse looked like a garbage bag with handles. Keep reading.

Here's what forty-five years of purses taught me. They come in two piles. The fancy pile: stiff, precious things that scuff at the corners, hold nothing, and need looking after like a third grandchild. And the practical pile: floppy dark sacks with open tops, where everything you own sinks to the bottom and hides.

Stiff and precious, or floppy and bottomless. Those were my choices, and I'd done my time with both.

The Tamar is the first bag I've owned that's neither. Having carried it every day since it arrived, I can tell you it comes down to six things.

1.It doesn't look like its price

It looks like something with a story behind it. The finish is soft and gently grained — that vintage look people assume you picked up years ago and took good care of — and it sits with a relaxed slouch instead of collapsing. Two women at church have assumed it cost several times what I paid. I've stopped correcting them.

2.The strap is the star

Most purse straps are an afterthought: a thin dark strip that digs in before you reach the end of the block. This one is wide and woven, teal with a gold pattern running the whole length, so the weight spreads out and your shoulder never complains. It adjusts with a little brass buckle and clips off at two brass hooks — which also makes it the one bag on any coat rack that nobody mistakes for theirs.

3.It zips shut, all the way across

I don't know when purses decided an open top was acceptable, but I never agreed. The Tamar closes with a proper zipper across the whole opening, so nothing spills when it tips over in the car, and on the bus downtown my hand can rest on the strap instead of guarding the top. It's a small thing that turns out not to be small at all.

4.The inside is on your side

Inside, it's properly lined — in a light colour, so you can actually see what's in there — with pockets that give everything a home. My glasses have a spot. My keys have a spot. My phone has a spot. Nothing sinks to the bottom to hide under a rain bonnet, and I've stopped doing the sidewalk excavation every time my phone rings.

5.It holds a full day out without turning into a sack

A cardigan, an umbrella, a paperback, my glasses, my wallet, and a bag of yarn from the market on the way home. It takes all of it, and because the shape has some backbone, it still looks like a handbag at the end of the day instead of a garbage bag with a strap. Empty or full, it keeps its shape.

6.It goes with everything, and it earns its keep

Caramel, it turns out, goes with every coat and sweater I own — which is more than I could ever say for black. It does church, the farmers' market, the campground and a birthday lunch without switching bags, and it also comes in black, green and cream for women more sensible than me. My old purses lived in the closet taking turns. This one hasn't been put away since it arrived.

The Tamar vs. the purses you've been buying

You can find a purse for fifty-odd dollars anywhere. I know, because I own the evidence. Here's the difference, laid out plainly.

About the price

The Tamar is $64.95 CAD.Was $132.00 CAD

I'll pass on what the shop told me: this is the last run of them, being cleared to make room for the fall stock, and once it's gone, it's gone. Their words, not mine. What I can tell you from my side is that a markdown like that is usually when I start asking what's wrong with something — and weeks of carrying it every day, I haven't found anything.

And I don't trust perfect scores, so I read the reviews before I ordered. They're sitting at 4.2 stars, which sounded like real people rather than robots, so I kept reading. The same six things I've just walked you through came up again and again, in other women's words.

If you've got a market morning, a church coffee, a weekend at the cottage or a bus ride downtown anywhere in your future — and your current purse is a garbage bag with handles or a precious thing you're afraid to use — this is the one I'd put on your shoulder myself, while the caramel is still there. Stop dithering and go have a look.

Diane Pelletier

About the writer

Diane Pelletier is 63 and lives in Ottawa, Ontario, with her husband Gilles. She is a customer, not a fashion writer, and she was not paid to write this letter.

Tamar | Vintage Bag

★★★★☆ 4.2 out of 5

$64.95 CAD$132.00 CAD

• Soft vintage finish that looks far pricier than it is
• Wide woven teal and gold strap, soft on the shoulder
• A proper zipper all the way across the top
• Light lining with pockets, everything within reach
• Caramel, plus black, green and cream
• One size, no decisions to make
• Free shipping across Canada · 30-day returns

See the Leather Bag Collection

Last run being cleared. Once it's gone, it's gone.

This page is an advertisement for Sylvie & Odette. Sylvie & Odette · Free shipping across Canada · 30-day returns.