It occurred to me on Wednesday night, while I was fretting over skirts and sequins and my utter lack of shoe options for the start of New York Fashion Week, that I am indeed a very lucky girl. After all, if the biggest existential question you have to ask yourself at work is, “How many bracelets are too many bracelets?” then life really can’t be all that bad. Of course, that doesn’t mean those kinds of questions can go unanswered. (Bracelets – very important.)

Perhaps predictably, the biggest problem Megs and I have when planning our Fashion Week wardrobes is what bags to carry. When people know that you spend your life writing about accessories, they expect you to show up with the best of the best; whenever I tell someone I’m from PurseBlog, their eyes always go directly to what’s on my arm. It’s like daring someone to judge your bag. On top of that, there are a litany of functional concerns to address…

If you’ve never seen the Fashion Week hubbub, the first thing that happens to you when you walk up to Lincoln Center is that interns from multiple publications try to shove magazines into your hands. In those moments, I wish that my Southern-bred politeness didn’t come through so strongly; I always end up taking what’s handed to me, at least on the first day when the interns are still pushy and enthusiastic. I then feel bad throwing away all of that paper when I’m done with it, so I usually haul it around with me until I can go home to put it in the recycling bin. Those magazines aren’t the only things you’ll be given, though. FiberOne bars, show entrance slips, miscellaneous papers and lookbooks and line sheets from the shows, sometimes a free lipstick here and there if you can get the disinterested women running the Maybelline booth to talk to you for 30 seconds.

You can see what I’m getting at here – capacity and comfort in a bag matter unless you have an intern at your beck and call and a car service waiting patiently outside with your coat and a change of shoes in the back seat. Beyond having an “It” factor, a bag has to actually function. That’s why I’ve been carrying my Proenza Schouler PS1 – mine is the large size, so it’s big enough to hold an iPad and a folded Women’s Wear Daily, and it can be worn crossbody, as a shoulder bag or in the crook of the arm. Mine is the printed model above, so it makes getting into the whole “mixing patterns” trend very easy, on top of everything else.

With all that in mind, if you were going to Fashion Week and could pick any bag you wanted to carry, what would you pick and why? Let us know in the comments.

Shop Proenza Schouler bags via Net-a-Porter.