There’s a lot of ways that being a modern day pinup isn’t the most practical choice. There’s the long pointed nails that make pulling on your seamed stockings a challenge. There’s the need to carry hairspray, hair pins, a comb, a smoothing brush and a headscarf with you when you leave the house if it’s imperative your hair remain perfect for a full day.
There’s the petticoats, which not only make you an annoyance to some of your fellow passengers on public transport, but also make you a danger to yourself when you descend steep staircases, unable to see your own feet or the steps below you beneath the puffy, stuff circumference of your swishy skirt. It might be a fabulous life, but none of us can deny that it isn’t time- or detail-intensive.

There’s little ways in which I opt to adopt a more modern spin on the vintage aesthetic that makes my life easier on the whole. If I’m likely to ruin my tights or stockings at a particular event, I’ll choose a plain nude pair rather than a more expensive seamed set. I keep my nails short and unpolished rather than sporting a chipped, broken gel set within days of a manicure (I am a warehouse supervisor by day, after all.) And even though vintage purses and box bags are gorgeous, more often than not I carry sizable, practical handbags that can fit more than just my debit card and bare minimum makeup touch-up essentials. I like pretty handbags that can actually fit what I need in them, so I was really pleased to see Voodoo Vixen offering just such a handbag this season. Not only is it practical but it is downright cute, and that’s a combination I love.

Bag: Wrapped In A Bow bag C/O Voodoo Vixen
Cardigan: Burgundy Tootsie Cropped Cardigan from Doll Me Up
Top: Teal Pleasant Peasant from Doll Me Up
Skirt: Burgundy Ellie May skirt by Hell Bunny
Shoes: Old season Primark
Brooch: Vintage Sarah Coventry Starburst

Let’s start with the fact that this bag is teal, a colour I feel is massively under-appreciated and can be hard to find in clothing and accessories. I’ve recently been able to find a handful of clothing pieces in this shade, so knowing I can now match them perfectly with this handbag makes my colour-matching soul happy. Plus, this bag is just downright adorable. I first saw it back in early September at London Edge and added it then to my Must Have list so I’m pleased it made it into production. The quilting, the bow! It’s too much–and by that I mean it’s not too much at all and I love it.

I almost exclusively carry my handbags by their handles, but I do appreciate when a bag comes with a matching adjustable shoulder strap, which this bag does. Knowing I have the option to affix the strap and carry it on my shoulder is useful for days when I know I need to have my hands free or am carrying so much stuff that I don’t want to burden my forearms or wrists so extensively.

In terms of size, this bag hits my handbag-sweet-spot almost exactly. I love being able to carry all the things I’m likely to need when I leave the house, and maybe even some I probably won’t, but I don’t want to feel like I’m dragging around a tote that will make people question if I’ve literally packed the kitchen sink. When it comes to handbags, I like to look for a bag that can fit a full sized wallet, a small umbrella and a makeup bag with some room still to spare, but nothing so superfluous beyond that that it crosses over into being impractical. I’m a lady (ha!) not a pack mule.

Another one of the reason’s this bag is so practical is that it has a great offering of pockets and inner compartments. These days the two phone sized pockets and one zip compartment are the standard offerings in your normal high street handbag, and that might sound reasonable, but I swear it ends up causing me strife. I tend to find I fill the pockets/compartments to brimming point with my smallest most important items, leaving the large main inner body of the bag full of everything else that has been unceremoniously dumped into the remaining space. Consequently, the moment I need to locate my car keys, or umbrella, or perfume, suddenly my bag is a messy pit in which it is impossible to locate the one item I actually need. With this bag I can put my small important items into the zip compartments or pockets, but still have room to put other important items that need to be readily available into the smaller compartment created between the two zippered pockets. It’s not such a panic for me now to locate my purse at the till because my bag is much more organised on the whole. Basically, this bag seems kind of made for me, and I’m probably gonna need it to be made in red and black as well, kkthnx? No big deal.

The Wrapped Up In A Bow bag costs £35 from Voodoo Vixen but the discount code ‘vintage20’ will get you 20% off any order until March 17th 2017. Voodoo Vixen offer international shipping and have multiple global stockists.