Choosing and Styling Handbags with Fashion Finesse

Handbags, of course, carry your essentials, but they also serve another purpose. Handbags are the easiest way to incorporate the latest trends into your wardrobe, look together, and show off your personality.

How about the size and the shape?

Knowing the right handbag size for your body type should be the first consideration. No matter how stylish and elegant a bag you carry, it will be unfashionable if it doesn't set off your figure. If you're short and petite, it's best to choose small handbags; if you're tall and slim, you should select large, bulky or over-size bags.

Make sure that your choice of handbag shape is the opposite of your body type. So, if you're slim and tall, you should choose a rounded bag to best match your look. However, a tall and rectangular bag suits you if you have a shorter figure.

The length of a handbag – where the bottom hits the body – emphasizes that area of your body. Most women look good wearing bags that hang to the mid-torso. Short handbags make busts appear more prominent, so choose styles with longer straps to avert attention.  Please check our 'dressing for your body type' guides for each body silhouette to find out which handbag style fits you the best.

How to match them with your clothes or shoes?

Matching the colour of the handbag to your outfit and shoes is an ideal way to have a fashionable style. You can choose to match your bag with the dominant colours of your outfit, or you can always go with neutral colours to harmonize it with any colour of your outfit. On the other hand, matching your shoes and handbag perfectly to each other is an old concept. You can find creative ways to make bags and shoes feel cohesive in an overall ensemble without following hard-and-fast rules. You can always use statement pieces in seasonal colours to add an extra pop to your outfit.

Which style?

Handbag styles are differentiated according to every occasion, place and season. Smaller bags are great for parties and travel days, while larger and tote bags are handy for work and errands. A bucket bag shape is excellent for holding things when you don't need to be organized, while a cross-body bag is handy when you need to have your hands free. A small clutch is all you need for formal events, weddings and parties. Tote, Shoppers or Satchel is usually the centrepiece bag of most women's lives, especially for those living in the city who need to carry a little extra. Traditionally clutch bags are a subset of the evening bag. However, they have become increasingly popular to use with casual outfits. The evening bag may be combined with a very thin or delicate strap to be worn lightly over the shoulder.

Types of Handbags