Same As It Ever Was

Same As It Ever Was, Same As It Ever Was.

The line is taken from Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads. But you probably got that straight away.

The song, released at the very dawn of the eighties, marked a significant point where high, conceptual and intellectual art crossed over into the charts and daytime radio.

Talking Heads, royalty of the New York Downtown art scene, and their classic Remain in Light album were, and remain still, an erudite proof of clever, witty and informed sophistication.

There you go.

So. A new Inglis Hall bag for a new season.

“Same As It Ever Was”

The first bag we commissioned carried, if you looked closely, the cryptic line

“Another Music, Different Kitchen”

This line always resonated with us. A strange, abstract piece of vocabulary disarray. It was borrowed, or referenced, from a Buzzcocks album.

(It’s OK to comment that we are showing our age with our cultural nods)

That bag has now long run out. Not worn out. No way. They are made to last. Like classic Talking Heads records. Like great kitchens. You see how we think?

The first bag had a beautiful, deep, dirty ochre / yellow strap detail and text.

But, as we said, they have all gone.

New bag. New words. New colour.

This time we reach for another Inglis Hall favourite. A timeless, goes with pretty much anything, vibrant green.

A green that is not of the moment. An always green. A hue that ages with slow elegance. The green of timeless style over current fashion.

The same rules apply. The bags are not for sale. They are primarily for our team to keep whatever it is they need to carry in respectable order. We need to carry a lot of stuff which is why the bags are generously cut.

And strong.

Can you get one? Well, the definite means of obtaining a bag is to commission a project. Simple as that. The bag will be necessary at some point to carry a selection of swatches, samples and drawings. It will also take whatever books, groceries, bottles and whatever you pick up that day. From then: it’s yours! – a companion for farmers shops, food markets, makers fairs, yoga studio. Anything! – it’s yours.

Or. You could, I guess, ask nicely if you are a historic client. Worth a try.

The other way to get one of our bags is to come and work with us. We’re always happy to chat to gifted and passionate people who bring something to our team. Maybe this seems a bit drastic to get a bag? Well, they are pretty great bags.

Remember though. They are not mass produced. They are crafted in small numbers in East Sussex. They are very much objects in the values and ideals of “Acquire less but acquire better quality”

We could have specified much less expensive bags which are less durable. We could, at the lower cost, have ordered more of them thus making them a more widespread giveaway.

But that doesn’t sit right with us and we doubt if it aligns with the people who appreciate what we do.

All of this is significant.

And you thought it was just a bag.