Clunk click if you're hip

Clutch bags shut with a satisfying clunk if they have that clinky- clunky type of closure. There is something final about this. It instantly conjures up an image of a woman, impossibly beautiful of course, who, having just re- applied her lipstick, closes her bag and simultaneously finishes with her errant boyfriend with the same ease. Clutch bags have come on rather since those faux rolled-up magazines in the Seventies. They are still not the most practical of bags, since you can't fit too much in them, and they negate carrying anything else. But they are so glammie and good and the Donna Karan one featured here is divine. Blow the mortgage and let your children live off Findus fried things for a month and treat yourself. Lovely. annalisa barbieri

Black suede clutch, pounds 365, Donna Karan, from Browns, 23 South Molton Street, London W1. Enquiries: 0171 491 7833

Black leather clutch with white stripe, pounds 94, Dollargrand. Enquiries: 0171 794 3028

Beige leather zip-top clutch, pounds 69, cK, from Harvey Nichols, Knightsbridge, London SW1, 0171 235 5000, and Harvey Nichols, Victoria Quarter, Leeds, 0113 2048888

Beige satin clutch with flowers, pounds 145, Lulu Guinness, from Harvey Nichols as before

Silver hard-cased clutch, pounds 199, Rodo, from Harrods, Knightsbridge, London SW1. Enquiries: 0171 730 1234

Brown snakeskin clutch, pounds 250, Bill Amberg, 10 Chepstow Road, London W11. Enquiries: 0171 727 3560