Nothing here yet.
The one thing to know before you buy a red bag is that the shade matters more than the shape. A blue toned red, closer to cherry or berry, sits against nearly everything you already own. An orange toned red, the tomato or brick end of things, is pickier and clashes with warm camel, mustard and a lot of denim washes. Hold it against what you actually wear most before deciding, not just what looks good under shop lighting.
A red bag ages differently depending on what it's made from, and that's worth thinking about before you fall for the colour. Faux leather in a bright red can crack at the corners and along the handle fold within a year of real use, going slightly pale where it creases, so wipe it down and keep it somewhere it won't get crushed flat in a cupboard. Proper leather or a good coated canvas holds the colour much better and just softens at the edges, which honestly looks fine, a bit lived in rather than tired. Either way, keep it out of direct sun on a windowsill, red fades patchier than black or tan ever does. On the styling side, it does more work than you'd expect against a plain outfit, jeans and a white or navy top, a grey coat, black trousers, because the bag becomes the only colour doing anything and you don't need to match it to a single other item. It looks wrong next to anything pink or orange unless you're confident, and it fights for attention next to another bright colour, so let it be the only loud thing you're wearing that day.
In the shop, check the strap length sitting properly over a coat shoulder, not just a thin top, because red bags often get bought for winter outfits and then the strap's too short once there's a coat involved. Check the zip actually closes when the bag's got a normal day's worth in it, purse, phone, keys, lip balm, and not just when it's empty and photogenaic on the shelf. Look at the stitching round the handle join too, that's where a cheaper red bag tends to go first, the dye sometimes sits unevenly near seams and shows up lighter in a crease once you're out in daylight rather than under shop bulbs.
The mistake is buying it a size too small because the colour alone feels like enough of a statement, then finding it only holds a card and a lipstick when you needed it to hold your actual day.
Nothing here yet.