Women's Everyday Crossbody Bag: How to Choose Size, Strap and Pockets

Choose an everyday side bag by what leaves the house with you: for a phone, cards and keys, a 1 liter bag is enough; add a small tablet or sunglasses and you want 2 to 4.5 liters; with a 9.7 inch iPad and a water bottle, 4 to 6 liters. Then check that the strap is long and adjustable for wearing across the body, that there's a zipped pocket for valuables, and that the fabric repels water.

Side bags are the easiest bag to get wrong: you buy on looks, and a week later the phone doesn't fit the front pocket or the strap is too short to wear across your body. Here's what actually matters on a normal day, with examples of bags we have in stock right now.

How big should your side bag be?

Side bag volume is measured in liters, like a backpack, just with much smaller numbers. The simplest way: lay out on the table what you carry on a normal day, and pick the matching row.

Look at the depth, not only the volume. A slim 4 cm model sits close to the body and disappears under a coat, but a thick wallet won't fit. At 10 cm deep a bag already takes a regular wallet and a big phone, and still doesn't feel like a big bag.

On the shoulder or across the body? The strap decides

For everyday use it's far more comfortable to wear a side bag across the body than on one shoulder. Your hands stay free, the bag doesn't slide off when you pick up a child or the shopping, and it stays in front of you, in sight, on public transport or at the market.

• Without a long, adjustable strap there's no crossbody carry. On the Venture Signature, for example, you can shorten it for the shoulder or lengthen it to wear across the body.
• On the MiniSling the strap switches from right to left, handy if you change shoulders during the day.
• The Astrola Pro, designed for women, turns into a compact backpack. Useful on days with a lot of walking.

Which pockets actually help day to day

More pockets doesn't always mean more order. If you carry a tablet, look for a padded sleeve in its size: the Astrola Pro and the Crossbody fit a 9.7 inch iPad, The Amp Quantum an iPad mini. For a wallet and keys, an inner zipped pocket is better, like the hidden compartment in the Bonanza Medium, which also has three outer zipped pockets.

A front pocket for quick access saves opening the main compartment every time you need your phone or transit card. And if you listen to podcasts on the way, you'll like a headphone opening, like the one on the MiniSling.

Weight and fabric: what you feel after a full day

All day on the same shoulder: here every 100 grams counts. In the bags we have in stock, the empty weight runs from 70 grams (Venture Signature) to 500 grams (Crossbody, with its padded iPad sleeve). In between you'll find bags like the MiniSling, which holds 4.4 liters and weighs just 290 grams.

As for fabric: most of our side bags are made of water-repellent fabric, which keeps the contents dry in light rain or when coffee spills. Water-resistant fabric, like on the Astrola Pro, suits you better if you walk a lot in winter. We explained the difference in our guide water-repellent or water-resistant, and it applies to side bags too.

When a side bag isn't enough

If you go to work with a laptop, books or a lunch box, a small side bag fills up fast. There are two ways to go:

• You can stay with a side bag, just a bigger, padded one. We wrote a separate guide on choosing a 15.6 inch laptop bag for women.
• Or switch to a backpack, which spreads the weight over both shoulders and suits a long day better. See our guide to a women's backpack for work and everyday, and if you're torn between the two, side bag or backpack for work.

And there's no reason to choose just one. A backpack for workdays, and a small crossbody for evenings and holidays, when all you take is a phone and a wallet.

Before you order

On the women's side bags page, check each product page for the measurements and weight, and compare them with what you laid out on the table.