… bright bags.
For years I carried the same black leather handbag every day. I still have it, and it’s still my staple black bag. But the more I explore the outfit-completing properties of handbags, the more I find myself drawn to bright, punchy colors. Like these:
My neutral bags get loads of use, too, but there’s something fun and funky about throwing a bright bag into the mix.
What about you? Do you stick to neutral handbags, or do you have a few bold, bright ones that work their way into the mix, too?
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
Right now I have a warm caramel-y tan one. It’s sort of a neutral and sort of a color. The last one was dark brown, and the one before that, red. I stick with neutrals (or colors that can be neutrals) because I’m a one bag at a time girl.
It varies for me. Right now I’m carrying a red bag, and before that a teal.
Like Cynthia, I am a one-bag-at-a-timer, but I’d do a red or deep orange as my one bag if I found one I loved (or a print!). Yours are so fab.
At the moment I am using 2, a black across the body one that I have attached an old record to with studs, and I often get comments on. And a red one that I have adorned with a huge bow made of a skull and roses printed cotton.
I love to customise!
I just bought a delightful orange leather handbag that I have been using non-stop. It is amazing how well orange goes with most of the colors I wear even though I stay away from the whole red-orange-yellow continuum because of the ill-color my skin takes on while wearing them. I never would have considered such a bright bag, but your love of color is apparently contagious.
Yippee!
I love bright bags. And bright shoes. I’m terrible about switching out bags, but I’ve started wearing colored shoes almost every day. They turn out to be far more versatile than I’d previously thought.
I’ve been carrying a purple patent Coach tote for two years now, and it’s amazing how it goes with everything (just like Elin says about orange above). I don’t even see it as a bright color anymore, it just works.
I find myself going for the neutrals in the winter – black, brown, gray, etc. I did have a red bag I carried a bit this winter because it matched my winter coat. In the spring and summer I pull out the brighter colored bags. Right now I have one in a rich bright magenta, it definitely says “spring!”
Ooh I love carrying around a bright bag. Like some of the commenters above me, I usually stick to one bag at a time, but I always want it to be colorful. My most neutral purse, which I’m carrying now, is a forest green leather bag. Before I carried a red one, before that bright orange, before that one it was yellow…
I adore the bag in your third picture!
I just bought a lime green smallish crossbody bag from the target clearance, and though I haven’t carried it yet (needed the one big enough to hold my schoolbooks this week), I expect to love it. I kind of don’t care if it doesn’t go with the rest of my outfit!
I have a really nice collection of neutral bags – I love them all. Then this Christmas my daughter gave me a Flaming Red Kate Spade bag. WOW – what a color. I had to use it – she was so thoughtful. To my surprise, I get so many compliments. I wear plenty of bright colors just never thought about it in a bag. On the hunt for an orange bag now…..
My go-to everyday bag is a nice light brown leather Ellington hobo (I learned about Ellington here, thanks btw!). My taste leans toward having a neutral bag as a counterpart to whatever bright, colorful or patterned clothes I’m wearing. It just goes with everything! I have a friend who loves Orla Kiely bags, I like the laminated fabric and all the pockets but I just can’t get into the patterns!
I do love me some bright and funky clutches though!
Oh thanks for this! I LOVE bright bags, and I especially love your purple bag above. But I’ve really had a hard time finding ones I can afford (I’ve been looking on Etsy and in thrift stores but it’s hard to find good-quality leather bags in bright colors for under $125, even on deep sale). Could this maybe be a topic for Insomniac Sales Picks–colorful real leather shoulder bags (mid-size)?
I second that! I love the look of bags like yours, but when I see them in stores/online they are wildly expensive or really cheap looking.
Mikhaela,
Try the Tignanello leather handbags which you can pick up from TJMaxx and Marshall’s from $59 – $100+. QVC also sells that line on their website, but check out TJMaxx and Marshall’s first and then checkout QVC’s website for Tignanello and search by price. Tignanello has very cute bright bags in both pebble leather and glove leather as well as some suedes. They have great quality leathers and come in all different sizes as well.
Aigner and Liz Claiborne have a few colorful leather bags (depending on what size you are searching)….check out TJ Maxx and Marshall’s for those as well.
Try Fossil? I bought my current bag, a vibrant teal crossbody (largeish, fits a water bottle plus large wallet), during a Macy’s Christmas sale for around $85. I’ve seen them on normal sale around the $125 mark. Fossil is best known for their coated canvas prints, but I actually prefer the sturdy leather bags, which often come in great colors–my roommate has one in mustard yellow. Fossil outlets also carry colorful leather bags at good prices.
Agree with you Sal, even though my wardrobe tends to neutrals, I love colorful bags, and you have some gorgeous examples. They let me be around the colors that I wouldn’t wear because they clash with my skintone! I once forced myself to buy a plain black bag because I was convinced I needed it “for interviews”. That poor bag never comes out of the box.
I have always secretly loved it when I see a woman carrying a bag that clashes completely with her outfit. I can’t explain this.
All my bags are neutrals, except for small special-occasion bags. I should find a fun red or yellow one for everyday use!
Sal…where is that great B&W sweater from? It’s awesome!
And I agree, bags can be great accents, absolutely.
Ah! It’s Karen Kane – think it’s on sale now on their site!
Yes! I love bright leather bags. My green Kate Spade satchel and little red Roots clutch have been getting lots of use lately. Once the weather warms up I’ll probably be using my baby blue Roots crossbody bag too.
I have a collection of bright bags I’ve thrifted. I used to a one bag a season gal but I’ve grown to love how the right bag finishes my outfit!
Your hand bags are all lovely. I just bought a mustard yellow bag with tan trim and I’m hoping that will be my fun bag for spring and summer. As lovely as all the colorful bags are, I am trying to keep a lid on my vices and one bag a season is my limit.
Also I’m just not good at switching handbags bags frequently. I lose all my pens and lipsticks in transit!
I love bright bags – my current one is a notch down from hot pink (magenta?). I buy a slightly pricey one at Christmas and use it all year with everything (except for evening events).
I always have a bright bag– orange, yellow, blue — they match everything — I am a one bag at a time type, and rarely switch out, except for evening bags.
I am on the hunt for orange and mellow yellow — maybe a red day to day purse.
Bright colours can function and ‘match’ just as well as neutrals, in my opinion — it just takes training your eye to see a ‘pop’ of colour and contrast, rather than a colour or shade ‘blending in;’– traditional neutrals often have the eye ‘rest’ and create less contrast (in most cases!). Anyway, that is my personal colour purse philosophy.
I am a fan of my brown bag, but I switch it up with my more colorful old one on occasion (bright blue with pink flowers!).
I LOVE handbags and bright, colorful handbags are my favorite. I have a huge collection of handbags (thanks to working for a retailer in which I could buy bags at a discount and thanks to MN having some great TJMaxx stores). Sal, how you are about shoes, I am that way about handbags and jewelry instead…LOL
I have probably 20 neutral bags but the majority of my bag collection are colorful ones instead; in fact, it is rare for me to buy a neutral bag since I love color so much. My collection ranges from red (my favorite color) to orange to sunshine yellow to blue (turquoise, electric blue) to lime green to different purple shades (magenta, royal purple, and lilac).
My favorite lines for bright bags are B Makowsky, Dooney & Bourke, Tignanello, and Maxx New York.
I find that if I organize a purse at night, then I rotate purses more often than waiting until morning time and I am too rushed to change purses.
So fun! I need to step out of the box with my bags and grab some more colors.
All I have to say is I’d love to come raid your bag collection!