The history of the Saddle Bag

Our Cardington bag is the longest-serving member of our Tusting handbag collection and has played a key role in our repertoire since we moved from tannery to leather goods maker some 30 years ago. We chose the name Cardington after the Bedfordshire village famous for making enormous airships, located just a few miles from our Lavendon HQ.

Saddle bags, or cartridge bags to some, have endured and been celebrated by almost every designer over the years, thanks to their compact and ergonomically perfect form that allows them to sit close to the body, their weight distributed in such a way that they don’t tip or swing about too much. It might seem like a trivial observation, but their curved edges not only look sweet, but are smooth against the body too, as opposed to any hard or awkward corners and edges and will not bang into you! Trust us, we have tried and tested a lot of bags over the years and it is the little things that make the difference. A bag that provokes hostility from its wearer really is a thing! Saddle bags allow you not only to be hands free but carefree.

As their name infers, saddle bags have equestrian roots, and are often associated not only with traditional saddles and horsemanship, but with cowboys too. Considering the influence of cowboy and prairie fashion over the years too, it is little wonder that they repeatedly make it onto the catwalk. These are bags that are so versatile that you can channel your inner Annie Oakley or more gamine Audrey Hepburn in equal measure, dressing them up or down as you please. Saddle bags are always fashionable, or rather, they never date and seldom look out of place. They transcend any age group too, making them as perfect for a first “serious” bag as for a major milestone gift. We often talk about heritage pieces for men’s bags, but the term absolutely applies here too!

Our Cardington saddle bags are practical AND elegant. Designed with an adjustable shoulder strap, they can be worn across the body or over the shoulder and offer up a simple design and silhouette. Hardware is kept to a minimum, keeping things paired down. A flap closure sits over a single and roomy main compartment, with a discreet slip pocket. The jacquard lining provides some internal polish, as does the key clip. An external slip pocket on the rear of the back is ideal for keeping your travel or bank card to hand and adds for an extra sense of security.

Choose between classic colours and finishes that you will use for a lifetime and hand on to your daughter, sister or friend if they don’t pinch it off you sooner. Our chestnut edition in smooth Bridle leather and our tan Atlantic are perennial favourites, and are second only to the fail-safe security of our black Pebblestone version. Compliments of the (Summer) season come with on-trend cashew, navy and lemon bags, tumbled for a pebblestone effect that provides texture and added softness.

Shop our Cardington saddle bag

Our love affair with the satchel is one of those interesting fashion moments where something vintage, that never really disappeared, gets a revival that turns out to be bigger than the original trend ever was in the first place. Those of us old enough to remember their little school satchel may think they know where the trend began, but in reality, the style goes back much further than that. Remnants and images of flap-over bags have been found amongst Roman remains and it is said that this style of bag became hugely popular in the seventeenth century. In more modern times, the Indiana Jones films have been credited with influencing the satchel revival.

So, what is a satchel?

With such a long heritage, it is natural that the style should have many interpretations, but all satchels tend to share a flap-over closure and a long shoulder strap of some sort. They are soft-form bags, with no wooden stiffening as found in old suitcases or box briefcases.

Always leather?

Well, the Roman ones seem to have been and although Indiana Jones carried a simple canvas satchel with no leather on it at all, our traditional old school satchels were always made from economical split leather.

Bovine leather starts off very thick and some of the back of the leather is usually shaved off to make the leather thinner, lighter, softer and more useable in leather goods. The bit that gets shaved off the back is the ‘split’ and, clearly, no longer has any grain on it. If the shaved-off split is thick enough, it can be coated with colour and used in its own right as a substitute to expensive grain-on leather. Thus, in an early triumph of recycling, those little school bags were made from a waste product! Many of the simple satchels available today stick to this tradition of using coated splits, or ‘satchel leather’, giving an un-lined bag made from this familiar, typically quite stiff, material.

Fashion or function?

Definitely both! The great thing about satchels is that they are generally hugely practical – what could be better than a great looking bag that is on-trend and yet doesn’t require a serious compromise in terms of usability? From cute little micro satchels to man-size messengers, the satchel comes in all sizes, so there is definitely something for everyone.

A passing fad or in for the long haul?

Twenty-odd centuries could hardly be described as a passing fad, and that would be because satchels fundamentally work as a design. Our own Clipper Bag, one of our very first products, has always – and continues to be – one of our best-selling styles. It is clear that we have an enduring love affair with the satchel and we think it is definitely here to stay for a good while yet.