For the past few months, my Instagram feed has been taunting me with pint-size handbags—teeny bucket bags with polished metal handles, petite crossbody iterations barely larger than a deck of cards, and miniature satchels that look almost too cute to wear. It's not just that they're out of my price range—although, to be sure, many are—but rather there's no way they'd fit even a 10th of the stuff I'm used to schlepping around. You see, try as I might, I am not a minimalist in this particular area.

At any given time, I have in my bag an iPhone, keys, an overstuffed wallet, whatever book I'm reading at the moment, six to eight lip balms/sticks/glosses, a notebook and pens, glasses (sun and optical), hand cream, headphones, gum, chargers, external battery… You get the picture. I organize everything into pouches, a handbag hack I learned from Eva Chen, whose habit of swapping out her bag almost daily is well documented (#evachenpose, anyone?), yet it's not exactly a light load.

As a freelancer, I do, at least, have the benefit of going straight from home to the gym most of the time, mitigating the need for hauling a bag of sneakers, leggings, and such to the office and back, but on the other hand, if I do leave the house during the day, I usually have to lug around my laptop and other assorted work supplies. And that's not even factoring days of previews and appointments at designer's showrooms, which usually result in an armful of canvas totes filled with lookbook freebies (don't get me wrong—not complaining!).

I'm hardly alone, either: In New York City, where almost no one drives and schedules usually take you from workouts to meetings to dinners and drinks, it's not uncommon to see women carting around three or four bags at a time. But in the interest of journalism—and, you know, not doing permanent damage to my shoulders before age 30—I decided to give the mini bag trend a shot… at least for a few days. I traded out my roomy 3.1 Phillip Lim Pashli (my faithful everyday bag) for a Furla Metropolis Mini Satchel, probably the teeniest crossbody in my collection. I won't lie to you: It was tough. Every time I left my apartment, I'd have to weigh the cost of bringing eyeglasses or sunglasses, Glossier lipstick or YSL tinted balm. I downsized to a card case and downloaded a slew of new podcasts to replace my reading material on the subway. Quickly, I learned that pockets are a must.

Do I feel ready to drop my rent money on a bag that might not even fit the next generation of iPhone? Maybe not. But I did feel freer—and literally lighter—without half my worldly possessions slung over my shoulder. And surely that's reason enough to snag one of the bags in my "Saved" folder, right?

Below, shop 15 mini bags we're coveting right now.

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from Celebrity Style and Fashion Trend Coverage | http://bit.ly/23q4gXi http://bit.ly/2o8ZTXs
via Who What Wear

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