Right and Wrong With Bags

First, I want to apologize I didn't write lately. My computer was sick. But I made new bags which I will upload later. In the meanwhile, the new topic:

What can make a bag, or destroy it? Is that a secret? Can you tell what's wrong with a bag by just looking at it? It's easy to make mistakes. So how do we know if our bag is what we expect a bag to be? What to do? What not to do? I'll try to answer the question.

Originality is great, but that's not what will promise the success of the bag as a bag. Original can seem very tacky and too much.
I believe fabric choice is a key. Or one of the keys. But that's not all. You can get a great fabric, a real nice one which everybody will approve of, but if you don't use it right, it won't matter. Take your time to really understand the fabric and find the combination. Combination of fabrics, of pockets, of decoration, etc. For example, you can't (or I wouldn't recommend) use golden rings for the straps if your fabric is in the wrong color or has a scrambled print, if you know what I mean. Same with fabric combination. But that's not true for all the bags. Sometimes I spot a bag that has a combo of fabrics that I would never ever consider as a match, but what do you know? It's brilliant! It's hard to explain. I find it hard to explain that to my brain and eyes. You can never be prepared to these things. It's like a little surprise. So the wrong thing is not always wrong.

People tell me that I have an eye to this stuff. That I know what works. But you know what? That's not all my eye. It's also an intuition. My intuition is very self-aware, you might say. Not only with fabrics. It also works well when I need to make a pattern, and I can see if the size is too big or too small - before I cut - very easily. Sometimes I don't listen to my intuition and, no matter how loud it screams at me, I screw up and need to do it all over again. So what I'm saying is, trust not only your eye, but also your heart. The best things come from there.

Now, there is such thing as style. Everyone has their own style. There are bag makers that their taste in bags is a little… absurd. And I don't mean it as a wrong thing. Quite the contrary. Having your own style is so important, or else all the bags in the world would look the same, and that's boring. But if you settle on a style, even if it's absurd, stick with it. Make it yours, and not anyone else's. You can shake the world with your inspiration, and it might work.

But it's not all about the fabric combination, but also, let's say, the handle/s you pick for your bag. You can't make a small bag, w/o much of a mass and then attach two heavy and long straps to it. Imagine that. So wrong. It's wrong in a way that the bag might not handle the weight, or in a decorative way, design wise. It doesn't look good, it doesn't live in the long run.
Also, there is the women/men factor. A bag that a woman will need is not what a man will need. Men don't want girly bags, obviously. And they don't need a pocket for their make-up. Know the needs of the other side, the buying side.
If your bag is pretty deep and you want to add an inner pocket, don't make it too deep. The bag itself needs room, but that doesn't necessarily mean the pocket needs room. Those are some examples. That was a little confusing. Any question? Ask.

januarbags@gmail.com