A Reader’s Note
I Have Not Carried a Handbag to the Shops Since July. At 56 I Finally Worked Out Why That Felt Like Such a Relief.
On the small daily nuisance none of us ever complains about, the dress that quietly ended it, and what two real pockets turn out to be worth.
My handbag has been hanging on the back of a kitchen chair since July. Not because I stopped going anywhere. Because I stopped needing it.
I want to be clear that this is not a thing I ever complained about. Nobody complains about carrying a handbag. You just do it, every day, for about forty years, and it sits on your shoulder while you look at the tomatoes and slides down your arm while you are trying to pay and gets put on the floor of a cafe where you then forget it.
It is not a problem. It is a small daily nuisance, which is worse, because a problem you would have solved.
What changed is that I bought a dress with pockets in it. Real ones, set into the side seams, deep enough to hold a phone and a set of keys without the weight dragging the whole thing sideways.
I was not looking for that. I bought it because it was a plain cotton day dress in a colour I liked. The pockets were a detail on a list. Three weeks later the handbag was on the chair and it has stayed there.
The five things that make it different
It is called the Esme, from a small Australian label, Wattle & Reed. When I went looking for why it works, I found they had already written it down better than I could, so I am going to let their words carry the next part.
Two real side-seam pockets, not decorative ones.
We set two real pockets into the side seams at hip level, deep enough to take a phone, a set of keys and a pair of sunglasses at once. Most dress pockets are a gesture — shallow, sewn into a facing, useless past a tissue. That is the whole difference between a dress with pockets and a dress you can leave the house in empty-handed.
A raised waist seam that does the shaping for you.
We put the waist seam just above the natural waist, where it gently defines the narrowest part of the bodice, and then let the skirt gather away from it into a relaxed A-line. That order matters: the shape is made at one seam and the fabric leaves you alone from there, so nothing pulls across the waist or the hips and there is nothing to hold in.
A true mid-calf midi, which is the length that goes everywhere.
We finished the hem at mid-calf, a true midi well below the knee. Shorter and it becomes a dress you think about every time you sit down; longer and it becomes an occasion. At this length the skirt moves properly when you walk and reads as ordinary at a market at nine in the morning and considered at a long lunch.
Sleeves that cover the upper arm, with no weight to them.
We cut the sleeve to follow the line of the arm loosely and finish partway down the forearm. It covers the upper arm — the part most women tell us they would rather keep to themselves — and because the fabric is light and matte it adds no warmth doing it. Covered without reaching for a cardigan, on a day that does not allow for one.
Five colours, S to 3XL, and they tell you to size up.
The fabric is soft and matte with a lightly textured handle. It comes in warm khaki, soft blue, mint green, dusty rose and a gentle off-white, and we make it from S to 3XL, which is AU 8 through 26. The chart says to take one size up from your usual, because the raised waist needs the room. It is meant to fit the woman, not to make the woman fit the dress.
That is their part. Mine is shorter: I took the green, one size up as they said, and I have worn it more than anything else I own since.
What actually changed
It is a smaller thing than it sounds and it is also not. Both hands free at the shops. Nothing sliding off a shoulder while you are trying to find your card. Nothing left under a cafe table.
My husband asked, about a month in, whether I had lost my handbag. I said no, I just have not needed it. He thought that was an odd answer, and it is, until it happens to you.
It is not just me
Wattle & Reed are a small Australian label with nearly three thousand customers now. The Esme is new, so I cannot tell you how many of these have gone out. What I can tell you is what the reviews across the shop keep landing on: that it arrives quickly, and that it is what it said it was.
Before you choose a size
This is the one thing I would not skip. The size chart advises taking one size up from your usual, because of the raised waist seam — the bodice is cut to sit above the natural waist and needs the room. I almost ignored it. Do not.
| Size | AU | Take this if you usually wear |
|---|---|---|
| S | 8–10 | AU 6–8 |
| M | 12–14 | AU 10–12 |
| L | 16–18 | AU 14–16 |
| XL | 20–22 | AU 18–20 |
| 2XL | 24 | AU 22 |
| 3XL | 26 | AU 24 |
Why it is $79.95 right now
It is listed at $199.95 and sells for $79.95 in the spring sale. I do not know how long that runs, and this is a page that would like to sell you one — weigh it as you should.
What made the sum work for me was not the discount. It was that I have worn it more often in two months than I have worn anything else I own, and that the handbag is still on the chair. That is not a figure I can put on a page, but it is the one that mattered.
Esme | Cotton A-Line Dress
$199.95 $79.95
Spring sale — 60% off- Two real side-seam pockets, deep enough for phone and keys
- Raised waist seam, then a relaxed A-line that skims
- True mid-calf midi length
- Sleeves to the mid-forearm, coverage without weight
- Five colours · sizes S – 3XL (AU 8–26)
- Free shipping & 30-day money-back guarantee
Questions I had too
Are the pockets actually deep, or is it a gesture?
They are set into the side seams and hold a phone, keys and sunglasses at once. That is the entire reason my handbag is on a chair.
Will an A-line make me look wider?
The shaping happens at the raised waist seam, above the natural waist. From there the skirt gathers away from you rather than tracing you, so it reads as one line rather than following your shape down.
What size should I take?
One size up from your usual. The chart says so and it is right — the raised waist needs the room. Check the table above before you order.
What are the shipping costs?
There are none. Wattle & Reed offer free shipping on all orders, without exception.
What happens if I change my mind?
Thirty-day money-back guarantee, so you can return your order. You will get a tracking code by email when it is dispatched.
30-day money-back guarantee
Wear it, wash it, live in it for a full thirty days. If the size is wrong or it is simply not right, send it back for a full refund. Shipping is free on every order.
Your two options
P.S. The handbag is still on the kitchen chair. I have started to think of it as a piece of furniture.
P.P.S. If you take one thing from this, take the size up. It is the only part of ordering this that people get wrong.
About the writer. Marion is 56 and lives in Geelong.
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