As my boyfriend was going away on a business trip and would miss my upcoming birthday :( he kindly took me out shopping for an early birthday present. There was no guessing game there; we went straight to the Prada store in Westfield and got me a gift that I had been lusting after for months; the much coveted Prada Double Bag.

I’ve always been a Prada gal. I love the elegant simplicity of the brand compare to the sometimes flashy OTT designs of other rival brands out there. To me Prada defines elegance and femininity to a tee and I’ve always admired how they’ve kept true to their simple design.

I had my mind set on getting the black colour with red interior but once we got to the store I did get a little swayed because they were a few colours available and all of them were gorgeous. In the end though the shop assistant did affirm my original preference and I ended up getting the black one because it’s just the most practical and even though black can be plain, the red interior does spruce things up a notch. I had also never owned a plain black bag before and my collection of handbags are mostly colourful so black seems to be a good choice.

The Double Bag comes in three sizes; large, medium and small. Because I wanted a holdall functional bag, the small one was immediately ruled out. The medium and the large are visually ‘very very’ similar and I could hardly tell the difference in size. I would say the medium one is a bit more boxy and structured (and a teeny bit smaller) while the large one looks more like a shopper tote. The medium also comes with a shoulder strap that you can hook to the inside of the bag and strangely enough, just because of that it is more expensive. The price in a way decided it for me and I went for the large one because I know I will never use the shoulder strap that comes with the medium bag and what’s the point of getting a bag that is ‘technically’ smaller but is more expensive because it comes with a feature that I won’t use.

Inside the bag there are 3-ish compartments. I said 3-ish because the middle compartment, which has a magnetic closure, is very small and will only fit a phone or a small coin purse or a small wallet. But that doesn’t really bother me much because the other two compartments are very roomy and I will be able to fit everything I need in this bag, even my Macbook.

Overall I can not be happier with my gift. I absolutely adore this bag because it is very functional but still a fashionable piece that is classy and timeless and I know I will cherish and enjoy for many years to come. The one downside is that this bag does get quite heavy and if you put too many things in it can really strain your arm and shoulder. So for me this is not a bag I would take with when I want to go out and do some serious shopping the whole day because the idea of having to carry this bag plus all the shopping bags would kill me. But it is great for jus day to day, going to work or going out for lunch or dinner.

Is there a handbag that you currently have an eye on?