How to Carry a Kelly... or Not

[periogirl28]

So carrying a kelly open, the flap on its turn lock with sangles relaxed or at least one sangle fastened, and the sangles strapped on its turn lock underneath a closed flap were all discussed on this thread. To be honest, I never carry a kelly fully done, mostly on its turnlock with sangles relaxed. I am guilty also for carrying it open for convenience in short amounts of time. In my defense, I don’t carry a lot when I use a kelly, that’s what birkins are for.

Anyway, I saw this photo on google when you search “hermes kelly street style.” Anyone carry their Kelly’s this way? Sangles fastened without closing the flap?Rarely do I see people carry it this way and I wonder if carrying it like this makes a difference carrying the bag open. Would love to hear your thoughts!

I personally do not carry my Kellys like this but my SA understands that some people want easy access and especially in larger sizes, with a heavier load, carrying the Kelly completely open would definitely strain the handle attachments. This is because of how the entire body of the bag is constructed from one front panel of leather, attached to the handle. Thus she once said to do this only to reduce the overall tension and obviously not over long periods. She’s Dutch and was speaking from experience from her clients as they do wear their bags very heavily and in much larger sizes. I however, no longer use anything larger than a 28 now and it’s hardly weighed down by any contents.

 

[QuelleFromage]

Forgive me if this was discussed earlier and I somehow missed it…

I always thought I only liked sellier, but starting to realize I love the look of the retourne when it’s all “batwinged” out. Does anyone carry theirs like this regularly, or suspect any issues with it?

The only issue I would see (assuming it's a soft leather like Togo, Swift, Clemence, etc) would be creating more softness in the sides. Personally I think a soft retourné looks great. If you batwing your Kellys when carrying but cinch them up and lay them flat after use, the side structure would probably be preserved.
From a structure standpoint I can't see how batwinging a closed Kelly would hurt the handle, turnlock, etc., the way leaving the bag open and tilted theoretically does.
Personally I like the trapezoid shape so I don't fluff out the sides, but again, I do like the look especially on larger Kellys.