Woman Bags

They say to dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Easier said than done, especially when the job involves you morphing into a hyper-realistic version of a high-flying marketing executive who somehow manages to jet-set between the world’s fashion capitals.

In hindsight, this sounds suspiciously like whatever Emily does in Emily in Paris (you can see I’ve researched this exceedingly well). And the current state of my closet would only ever resemble that of Emily’s had hers been curated by an aspiring TikTok budget-influencer and not Patricia Fields, i.e., sans the Prada and the bangs. In even hinder sight, the Emily in Paris wardrobe is a fantasy for most real marketing executives; hence, the budget version is probably the only one there is. But hey, a fella can dream, right?

Now, of course, as a handbag-lover (and an ardent hate-watcher of Emily in Paris), it’s tempting to walk into my job (if you can call college a “job” in the first place) with a sleek shoulder bag in tow, à la Emily. The only snafu? Said mini-purse will barely fit my actual study materials, let alone the rest of the miscellaneous mishmash I have on my person at any point. And therein lies the problem we all face with our work bags.