Oh, forgot to say the lack of a strap is the one thing that has me concerned about a Birkin purchase, because I do use them!
The strap on my Kelly is light, fairly slender and very easy to attach. I tend to put it on the Kelly every time I wear her and then hold the strap and the handle together when I am holding her, hand-held, which is 90 percent of the time. It is thin enough to carry at the same time as the handle with, I hardly notice the extra bit of leather in my hand. The shoulder strap otion is just so handy for that last 10 percent of the time, in a shop looking at stuff, opening/closing the bag etc, it's so useful and I also like the casual effect and extra interest it gives the bag, draped around it when I'm carrying it hand-held. Most of the time, I am dressed-down fairly casually anyway plus the Kelly is grained leather in a retourne style and in gold and large, 35 cm, so it is all quite casual for a Kelly (which can be a very formal bag depending on the style and colour etc)I do love both these styles & like that they come with a strap, but I'm wondering if these are cumbersome or if they're really usable. Of course, either of these are still a dream for me, but a girl can dream, can't she? I just want to be "ready" with my dream bag should DH get a sizable bonus. I just found out that there's an independently owned boutique in my area (cleveland, oh). Anybody ever been there?
Amy
I always leave the strap on my Kelly just in case. I also like how it looks even when hand carrying.