We’ve been told to embrace the trouser and billowing shapes, to keep camel in luxe materials and to lengthen hemlines to mid-calf this autumn but what will be finishing off our fashion-forward outfits, what will we be toting around on our shoulders?
It is a well-known fact that for most women the handbag is the glue that holds life together. They contain day-planners, diaries, contact numbers, snacks, make-up, accessories, cameras and much much more. Essential for quotidian life, the bag has become akin to a mini PA.
The magazines have been focusing on boxy-styles with chain mail straps for some time now and when Kate Bosworth stepped out with Mulberry’s new cross-body leopard print handbag design everyone went wild; the real clincher is the gold cat clasp fitting. At £995 this piece is an investment but it is tapping in to all the right trends and would work well with black skinny jeans and and white graphic t-shirt a la Miss Bosworth.
The shrunken briefcase style has been popular all summer but is really gaining momentum since Mulberry’s Neely bag was seen in the a/w 2010 campaign. The bag comes in a vibrant tomato red, camel, black and also a larger leopard print tote style. Equally Yves Saint Laurent, Rebecca Minkoff and Russell & Bromley have been championing square bags with long handles and cute clasps.
Cleaner lines are seen in the Celine classic box bag created after Phoebe Philo trawled the label’s archives for her debut collection earlier this year. It comes in new shades each season but Japanese editor of Vogue Anna Dello Russo has snapped up the tan which looks set to sell out very quickly.
Urban Outfitters offer a bag that is a little kinder to our bank balances, if you want the style for less try their Antique detail Croc Satchel.
Even though we will all be swanning about in voluminous capes and blouses next season our bags will remain structured and rigid. Our own little personal assistants are looking suave, boxy and corporate; we should be perfectly balanced.
The Style Starling 