I am a 30-year-old market researcher and I need to dress reasonably fashionably for work. I keep reading about these amazingly desirable “it” handbags that women are buying and I wonder whether I really need such expensive bags to look the part. Women are often told that they cannot risk economising on bags and shoes but how, I wonder, can most of us afford them? Can you suggest any reasonable options?

It is, I agree, a conundrum that the hot handbags of the day often appear to be swinging on the arms of women who one would have thought should be spending their money in more sensible ways. But as I have often remarked, fashion isn’t about being sensible. If it were, it would be a dull thing.

A writer in The New Yorker recently recounted going to a literary launch and noticing that on the bench were “more than a hundred thousand dollars’ worth of bag, lined up like Porsches outside a nightclub”.

One cannot say ’twas ever thus: it is a relatively new phenomenon, thought to have been started by Silvia Fendi Venturini when she launched the Fendi baguette in the late 1990s.

I think that the prices charged for some cult bags (£2,000 these days is not unusual, and Marc Jacobs’s Tribute bag for Louis Vuitton, a wonderfully witty amalgamation of past cult classics, costs €35,000 — about £24,000) make them objects not for those who can just about scrape together £2,000 or €35,000 but for people who have thousands upon thousands of pounds or euros at their disposal.

This is, however, the demographic that is growing faster than almost any other, and the luxury goods companies are merely catering to their needs.

Be that as it may, it leaves all of us with the problem of what to do if we want to feel halfway fashion-savvy but do not think it feasible or decent to spend more than a monthly mortgage repayment for a handbag.

Conventional fashion advice has it that if you can’t afford to keep up with the rat race that buying “cult” handbags can suck you into, you should either save up for a classic that will last for ever (the Birkin, the Kelly, etc) or buy very cheaply at the other end of the market.

Personally I think going for one bag, no matter how legendary, is a bit unadventurous for somebody as young as you (and I would find it dull to have only one bag, even if it were the Kelly).

There are middle-of-the-road options that keep the fun and interest alive, so this week I set myself the target of finding some attractive, fashionable bags that cost less than £250. Though they do not have cult or “it” status, they would all nevertheless be a pleasure to own.

First, let me give you some broad general advice before homing in on the specifics. Certain brands are worth looking at — Russell & Bromley has some surprisingly on the button designs. Jaeger has its Lulu bag, which is particularly desirable for the summer. It’s white (white and quilted are the big themes for the coming season) with a delicious black ribbon tied through one side, but at almost £400 it is over the budget I set myself for you.

But the store has other good designs. Furla is a name to conjure with for those with your dilemma. It’s always worth looking at the designer labels at Debenhams, where John Rocha and Jasper Conran have come up with some cute little numbers. Lulu Guinness does quite a lot at less than £250.

Now to the specifics. Karen Millen has a good-looking orange (another colour for the coming season) leather bag with the slightly heavy, chunky look that’s in vogue, and it sells for £165.

At Russell & Bromley the white leather version shown here with the chain handle (a lot of homage to Chanel is going on this season, what with the quilting and the chain handles) costs £225. Jaeger has an adorable Mia bag, which comes in snake-printed leather, white, green or various other colours priced from £150; the snake-printed version is £199, as drawn by David Downton.

And lastly, I’d like to introduce you to a young company that calls itself Angel Jackson (angeljackson.co.uk), whose Polanski bag featured here costs £155. The bag makes more than a nod to Bottega Veneta’s woven creations which, though beautiful, come in at about five times the price.

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