There's a particular stretch from late September through to the end of the year, when the light goes flat and everything in your wardrobe starts leaning towards navy and black, that a tan or nude bag earns its spot by doing the opposite of blending in. It sits against darker coats and jumpers and actually reads as a colour choice rather than a default. I've also reached for one on the brightest days of summer, against a white dress, when black would have looked like a mistake left over from winter. It's a genuinely odd bag in that it works against the season rather than with it.
On an ordinary week it sits well with denim, with camel and grey coats, with anything cream or white where a black bag would look like a full stop in the wrong place. It's the one that doesn't argue with red, which black can do if you're not careful, and it doesn't disappear against beige the way a paler bag sometimes will. As for how it ages, that depends entirely on what it's made from. A proper leather or good quality leather alternative will darken slightly at the corners and the strap edge over months of wear, which on tan looks like character rather than damage, patina rather than wear and tear. Cheap pleather in a similar shade just goes grey and cracks at the fold lines, usually within a year, and no amount of conditioning balm will bring it back. Wipe it down after rain, keep it out of direct heat when it's wet, and feed it a proper leather balm every few months if it's real leather, which is less effort than people expect and makes a real difference by year two.
The gap between a good one and a disappointing one usually shows up at the hardware first, cheap gold tone that scratches to silver within weeks, and at the stitching second, loose threads at the strap join that are a straight warning sign. Press the leather near the base. If it springs back it's got some structure. If it stays dented, that's a bag that will slump within the month. For shades, a mid tan with a bit of warmth to it goes with almost everything you already own, more forgiving than a very pale nude, which shows marks fast, and more useful than a deep caramel, which starts to behave like brown and loses that lift against darker clothes.
Tomorrow morning I'd put it with straight leg jeans, a white shirt and a navy jumper over the top, nothing else doing much work, letting the bag be the only thing that isn't blue or white in the whole outfit.
