The Best Briefcase for Women

A few weeks ago, an interesting subject popped up in comments — the briefcase. One commenter advised the readers that in her big city, “not a single woman lawyer I know under the age of 50 carries a purse.”  This led to a small debate between briefcase-carrying women and non-briefcase carrying women.

To my eyes, though, here in NYC it’s rare to see a briefcase. Most women I know carry a large purse (a hobo or some other shoulder bag), and then supplement that with a tote bag when it’s really necessary (sometimes filled with a laptop in a sleeve — never a computer bag).  Those frequently carrying files may switch to a tote/purse combo — but even then it seems like something I saw a lot more of a few years ago, before flash drives, remote log-ins, and other convenient telecommuting tools were invented.  I’ve even written about what your tote bag says about you.

Still, this is a perennial subject, so let’s talk about it. Do YOU use a briefcase? (And if so, please list your city!) What brands do you like best? For my own $.02, I’ve always been partial to the look of Tumi’s Villa line (pictured above: Tumi Villa Nivelle Business Case; see similar Tumi styles on Amazon and at Zappos ) or Dooney & Bourke’s Alto Bradley briefcase.

Here’s another question — have you ever had a briefcase made? One of my family members swears that she and all the other working women she knew had that done in the early ’80s…

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