Best Size Kelly to Wear Crossbody?

[ChloeClad]

Hello dear H lovers! I am calling for crossbody advice, please!

Last week I bought a pre-loved 32cm Kelly (Retourne) and a Sangale Cavale strap in the 105cm length with the intention of wearing it crossbody. Problem is, I’m not crazy about the look - on ME. The 32 looks a little small on me (I am 5’ 7” and 185 lbs) but I am hesitant to go up to a 35 or 40cm because I feel like the corners of the bag will get in my (or others’) way and/or the bag will simply look too big to wear crossbody.

Have any of you enjoyed wearing a 32 or 40 Kelly crossbody or are they simply too big and unwieldy? Will you kindly share your experiences and observations and advice. Thank you!

 

[allywchu1]

don’t like carrying them crossbody...

 

[neverfull3]

I wear my 32 crossbody. 35 is heavier.

 

[HavLab]

For me I'm not a fan of Kelly cross body. I prefer to carry a larger K such as 35 either on the shoulder with the bag resting sort of behind my hip or hand carry.

 

[QuelleFromage]

Anything bigger than 32 the handle can get in the way....depends a lot on whether you are long- or short-waisted, strap length, height.

 

[MYH]

I think k25 is best crossbody

 

[ChloeClad]

Thank you for your helpful replies, ladies. X

 

[Random Walks]

There is a difference between “if you can wear it cross body” and “you look good as well by wearing it cross body”. The former one purely depends on the size, strap length, handle and etc. The latter will also be affected by the style of the bag. I feel kelly is too elegant to wear cross body (casual style) for fashion purpose. It looks better as a shoulder bag or hand/arm bag in my view. Of course, being able to wear it cross body for certain situation is always a plus. In this sense, size smaller than 32 should be ok.

 

[craielover]

A 32 would be quite heavy to wear crossbody for a long time.

 

[tramcaro]

Anything bigger than 32 the handle can get in the way....depends a lot on whether you are long- or short-waisted, strap length, height.

Agree with @QuelleFromage, I like the Kelly in its usual length strap, but when I wear cross-body with that length, I fear that I ruin the handle.

 

[ladysarah]

I tried mini kelly 20, 25, 28, 32 with various straps, ( wide and thin and various lengths) directly from Hermes. I tried them shoulder and cross body. ? I think by that time, my poor SA was getting quite stressed as I was parading around the boutique to test them. It had to be done... )
my own verdict is that none of the Sellier styles work that well with strap, - it does depend how you dress as well. The Sellier structure makes it quite cumbersome and they are best hand carried.
For strap use, Only the smaller sizes in retourner looked good on me.

 

[Giuliana]

Kelly 25 or Mini Kelly II. Kelly 28 sort of works, but 32 is too uncomfortable on me (5’7” 118lbs) because of the weight and the corners stick out too much.

 

[QuelleFromage]

Overall, smaller retourné Kellys are probably better for this look. You don't want a sharp-edged bag hitting at your hip from the perspective of either style or comfort. It's really a question of styling it properly (as with, basically, anything!).

 

[bagnut1]

@ChloeClad - I have only K35 Retournes so my experience is limited to those, but I wear them crossbody about half the time. I like a big bag and even though I am somewhat shorter than you I prefer the convenience of having the crossbody option over any concerns that it might look a bit big on me.

There was a great thread last year on this topic - perhaps some inspiration is here: https://forum.purseblog.com/threads/is-the-bag-wearing-me.985053/

 

[Chl2015]

Can someone also model a 28K Sellier for crossbody? I want to wear Kelly across the body but not sure if I should get 28K or 20K.