Short-Term Obsessions & Long-Term Loves: I Need a New Handbag

Need is a relative term, I suppose, but I have reached this conclusion after living in London for nearly a month. Here are the problems to be dealt with:

1) I donated most of my old tote/school bags to Goodwill during our move. They were all a few years old and were $20 Target buys. Served well in the short term, but moving was a good excuse to clean out some of my excess accessories.

2) Living carless means that whenever I venture into the city, I've got to carry everything I need with me all day long. So, my thin cotton totes are just not cutting it. Plus, they cut into my shoulder like crazy - I need a bag with a padded/more comfortable shoulder strap

3) The handbags that I did bring along (my two Coach cross-body bags and my Stam lookalike) are great for wallet/coinpurse, sunglasses case, and my iPod, but it's a push to fit a my A-Z and a scarf, much less a book and a pair of flats (always good things to have during walking days/commuting).

4) My handbags are navy, black, and camel in colour. I'd really like another neutral to add to the mix - especially one that can be worn with black AND with navy - the two base colours in my wardrobe - but won't look out of place in a super-colourful outfit.

5) The bag needs to have straps long enough to be carried over my shoulder, but not so long that I couldn't carry it in my hand while walking. (I refuse to carry the bag over my bent elbow like nearly every woman in the street does here. That seems SO awkward and uncomfortable. What is that?)

6) I'm at the point in my life that I feel like a proper leather handbag that will survive more than a few years is not something that I'm out of line to want and use.

So...I've been researching a bit in an attempt to come up with and narrow down a list of possibilities for purchase. I'm trying to be really good and not just impulse-buy a $500 handbag (oops!).

I'm loving these two Mulberry bags, but they're really too expensive to seriously consider: