Most people judge a soft bag by stroking the fabric and checking how it looks on the shoulder in the shop mirror. That’s fair enough, but the bits that decide whether it’s still in one piece next year are the small metal parts. Strap rings and zips do the hard work. When a cheap bag gives up, it’s nearly always one of those that goes first.
The Zip
Everyone uses the zip a dozen times a day without thinking about it, so it’s the first thing to try. Pull it open and shut a few times, round the corners as well if it has them. A good zip moves along smoothly with hardly any effort. One that catches in the shop is going to be a nightmare in six months, usually when you’re stood at a till trying to get your purse out.
Chunky teeth are what you want to see, whether they’re metal or a thick plastic. The thin coil zips found on a lot of budget bags split easily once the bag is packed full. The little pull tab matters more than people think too. If it bends when you squeeze it between your fingers, it’ll snap off eventually. On soft fabric, look at where the zip is sewn in. The stitching should run straight and close to the teeth, otherwise the material creeps in and gets caught every time.
Rings and Strap Fittings
The rings that join the strap to the bag hold the whole weight of whatever you’re carrying. Phone, keys, a water bottle and a book soon add up. Nobody really looks at these rings, which is exactly why cheap makers skimp on them.
Turn one over in your fingers. A proper ring is cast in one solid piece. A cheaper one is a bit of bent wire, and there’s often a tiny split where the ends meet. It might hold for a while, but with the bag bouncing about on a walk to the station, that split slowly opens up. Then one day the strap just comes off. Soft fabric shows strain quickly too, so on velour handbags a poor fitting can pull the little tab it’s sewn to out of shape within a few weeks.
Clip-on straps have their own weak spot. Press the spring gate on the clip. It should snap back sharply. A lazy, slow spring won’t hold up for long.
Clasps and Snaps
Magnetic snaps are everywhere on soft bags, and some are a lot better than others. A strong one shuts with a satisfying click and doesn’t pop open until you give it a proper tug. A weak one gives up as soon as the bag’s a bit full, which isn’t what you want on a packed train.
Underneath the fabric, the snap is held by a small metal plate. Feel around it with your thumb. If it shifts about, or the material round it has already started to pucker, it’s going to rip through sooner or later. Good velour handbags usually have a stiffer patch sewn in behind the snap. It spreads the load out, and you can often feel it as a firm square under the soft outside.
Twist locks should turn cleanly with no wobble. If the edges of the metal feel sharp or rough, the parts were probably finished in a hurry.
The Weight and Finish of the Metal
Hold the bag and feel the hardware. Good fittings have a reassuring weight to them, and solid brass in particular is heavy and lasts for years. Plenty of cheaper bags use light zinc alloy with a thin layer of gold or silver colour on the outside. You’d struggle to tell in the shop. A few months of use and the colour starts rubbing off at the edges, where your fingers touch it every day.
Look at the surface under the shop lights. It should shine evenly. Tiny bubbles or little pits in the finish suggest it was rushed. All the metal should match as well. A gold zip sitting next to a slightly more brassy ring usually means the parts came from different places.
Feet on the bottom are a nice extra on bigger bags. Soft bags slouch when they’re put down, and the feet stop the base sitting on a dirty floor. They need to go right through the base with a backing on the inside, not just be pushed in. Small velour handbags like clutches tend to go without, and that’s fine, but on a large tote a few solid feet stop the corners wearing through.