While my Saturday night took me from a cocktail party to a gallery opening to a Hollywood birthday bash, Sunday night was spent with family at my aunt's house. It was a classic Rentmeester family evening featuring everything from World War II stories from both Europe (via my Dutch aunts) and Asia (via my Indonesian mom) to vivid descriptions of the craziness that was LA in the 60's (Watt's riots, hippie living, Topanga Beach etc.). In between taking in the tales and tending to my kids, who managed to consume an entire bowl of potato chips and then fall stricken on the sofa, I did take note of at least one fashion storyline. Although it's usually some variation of how my twin sister and I have shown up wearing almost identical outfits, this time it was my mother and my older sister who sported similar accessories: two new red bags. (My mother had a Prada, my sister, Clare Vivier.) While they have very different styles, they both illustrated how much a red bag is a forever bag. No other shade is as powerful, statement-y and versatile. Which explains why I always pack my red leather clutch when I travel. As these pictures show, there are so many fantastic iterations of the red bag. But I've whittled down the options to this Coach cross-body, a studded, chain link-handled Valentino, this Celine-inspired shoulder bag from Steven Alan and this Balenciaga classic.

Photos: Caroline's Mode, Street Style Seconds, Pinterest, Ryan Chua