In December, my Matt and Nat bag and I will have been together for a whole year. Ordinarily this wouldn't be of much significance, as previous purses had been wallet transportation and little more.

But this . . . this bag is different.

Green. Perfectly shaped. Perfectly sized. Willingly accomodates most items I try to squeeze into it without fuss. Perfect little handles that fit neatly in the palm, or hang on the arm for convenience. Made of the silkiest pleather you will ever feel. I didn't even realize it wasn't leather until months after buying it.

Everywhere I go, people love the bag. The only way a bag could get more attention is if there were a baby bunny peeking out of it. People ask me where I got the bag, how much I paid for the bag. People can't believe how much I can fit in the bag.

The bag has gone to Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Quebec City, Tokyo. This bag has seen the world with me, tucked under airplane seats, peeking out of other bags, sitting on the train between Tokyo and Makuhari.

The bag is equally at home with a jean jacket as it is with an ivory peacoat, lunch grabbed from Wendy's or chic French cuisine. Basically, it's perfect.

But here's the thing . . . when you use it everyday for everything and take it everywhere, it starts to show a bit of wear and tear. Nothing serious, really, just some wear on the handles. But it's making me realize that the perfect bag isn't going to last forever.

Finding its successor seemed like a fairly simple pursuit, but so far it hasn't been. Everywhere I look, the bags are good, but not necessarily worthy of taking place alongside THE bag.

It's actually gotten to the point that I am tempted to buy another of the same style just to ensure that I will have one even when the original finally gives up the ghost.

I think that's part of the appeal of Matt and Nat bags. Each one feels rare and entirely unique, and they're hard to come by. I don't know if that was strategic on their part, but I think it's working in their favour.

Well, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to drool over more handbags.

NEW!

A successor has been found! Go see!