Why do the linings of my handbags always rip?

It never fails.

I'll be using a handbag for a while. Then one day I'll reach in to get my keys, or my phone, or some other item and I won't be able to find it, although I'm certain I put it in the bag.

Then I realise that there's a rip in the lining, and my keys, or whatever, have fallen through the hole, and I have to fish for them inside the lining.

This has happened with expensive handbags, so it doesn't have to do with the quality of the bag.

The bag looks fine from the outside, it's just the lining that always rips.

Does this happen to anyone else? Is there any way to prevent it?

Put your keys in a case.  It's probably your keys ripping it or a pen.

My grandmother always carried her keys in a leather case.  It sort of had a little snap in it and the keys would flip out when she needed them.  You don't need anything that purpose built though.  A coin purse or anything really would work.

It happens to me too all the time

Maybe try a more structured bag with a leather/suede lining?

This constantly happened to me until I bought bags with think linen linings. My current bag is leather with a 100% cotton lining and it's not failed me yet. The lining is not quite as thick as drapes, probably closer to the thickness of jeans. One thing is that I keep my keys in an all-leather pocket on its exterior. However, I've had a bag that was all cotton and never had a problem with holes. Again, it was a thick cotton that held stitches incredibly well.

I keep my keys in a separate pocket so I can find them, but they rip through the pocket.

Are there any brands of bags that anyone recommends?

This happens to me with £100+ bags; I've paid for them with the expectation that they would last a lot longer than £20 bags, but they don't.

I currently carry a bag by French Connection and love it. It's such a good quality. I would also imagine that Radley would be good. I've only purchased small things from them, but the quality of those have been superb. Plus the dog is so cute! 

I usually carry Kathy Van Zealand bags, and never have that problem.  I will probably get a new strap made for my current KVZ bag though.  It's peeling, but the rest of the bag, now several years old, still looks great.

I currently have a KVZ bag too and the lining is ripped so badly that I am gonna have to get a new purse.  The outside still looks great and I love the purse, but I keep "losing" stuff inside the purse.  I keep keys and such in separate pockets. I am also baffled by this lining issue.  I wonder if manufacturers use flimsy lining on purpose.

Maybe try a more structured bag with a leather/suede lining?

I seem to remember in the "olden days" bags didn't have linings or at least not flimsy fabric linings.

I would also imagine that Radley would be good. I've only purchased small things from them, but the quality of those have been superb. Plus the dog is so cute!  

I had the lining rip in a Ciccia bag, which is like Radley, but with a cat instead of a dog.

LadyV and BostonDiner, I was just thinking that I never had this problem with any of the bags I had when I was in the US.

I might have had to get rid of a bag because a strap broke or the zip broke, but never because the lining developed a hole.

I'm not saying that this is a US vs a UK thing, but more of a "stuff is being made more cheaply  now" thing.

I currently have a KVZ bag too and the lining is ripped so badly that I am gonna have to get a new purse.  The outside still looks great and I love the purse, but I keep "losing" stuff inside the purse.  I keep keys and such in separate pockets. I am also baffled by this lining issue.  I wonder if manufacturers use flimsy lining on purpose.

Can you sew? If so could you not just replace the lining? Should be fairly simple to do, and you could use some fun (tough!) fabric

This is what I was talking about. My nain had one exactly like this.

They have a tonne of them on Google shopping.

http://www.google.co.uk/products?q=key+case&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=gWgrTOiWMZH20gT43JDwAg&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=3&ved=0CEEQrQQwAg

Can you sew? If so could you not just replace the lining? Should be fairly simple to do, and you could use some fun (tough!) fabric

Wish I could sew, but no.  I agree that most things are being made more cheaply of late, and that could be why the lining in most of my purses (even good ones) rip.

Wish I could sew, but no.  I agree that most things are being made more cheaply of late, and that could be why the lining in most of my purses (even good ones) rip.

You could also look into having the bag re-lined by someone else. While most alteration places probably don't advertise fixing lining in bags, they should still be able to do it. It could turn out to be much cheaper than buying a new one and then you'd get to pick out the fabric. You can also decide how you'd like the pockets on the inside to be, which is always a plus!

But yes, most things today are made pathetically cheap. Perhaps it'd be worth looking into vintage shops to buy bags that have already survived a few decades, lol.