HIP, SNAZZY, POSH: National Fashion Day Praises Personal Style
July 2025
FAMILY WORKS: Frances Fitz-Gerald Jewelry and Antiques
July 2025
by Kerri Cooke
It’s always an amazing feeling when you’ve put together the perfect outfit. The dopamine hit is powerful. However, that’s only step one to building your daily persona. Adding accessories to your look is the best way to enhance a design detail and create an ensemble.
Purses are an essential item for the modern woman, holding everything from our keys to 10 lip glosses to sunglasses. Pick one or a few to not only keep your items safe, but to stay hip and on trend as you go from a daily work meeting to dinner. Here are a few current purse trends:
East West Bags
The stand-out purse for 2025 is the east west bag. As the name would indicate, these purses are slender and longer than your average bag. Without the height of the average bag, and their long horizontal design, they are a guaranteed conversation starter. While the design might not be conducive to carrying a wide variety of items, the unique shape will add an elegant and geometrical flair to any outfit.
Slouchy Bags
Want more room and less form to your purse? Slouchy bags were a dominant trend on the spring and summer runways, with Coach sending down an XX-Large bag modeled after a coin purse tucked under a model’s arm. Other popular iterations are shoulder bags made with leather so soft they gently fold with movement, perfect for the minimalist.
Suede Bags
Suede bags are enjoying a renaissance but are more likely to be found in medium or chocolate browns, possibly due to The Row’s mocha Margaux bag becoming a cult favorite. Mocha Mousse is also Pantone’s color of the year, so it’s unsurprising that accessories are being offered in rich browns. Take the relaxed bag on a trip around town or wear it to the rodeo for the perfect accessory.
Woven Bags
Woven leather bags, Bottega Veneta style, offer wearers the chance to tote a bag that exudes quiet luxury and generational wealth. The braided leather technique adds an intricate touch to the design and personality to the bag while being subtle in impact. The square pattern catches the eye in a way a simple leather bag won’t.
Belted Bags
As belt mania continues to gain steam, going from a simple accessory to being the building block for an entire pair of jeans or a dress, bags are sporting belts as an embellishment. The Hermes Birkin is the most notable belted bag and has enjoyed immense popularity for years. 2025 is ushering in more belted bags at all price points, with details similar to the Birkin. Slender belts adorn the top of many bags, but other bags utilize larger belts that can be tied or folded for a bolder statement.
Bowling Bags
Bowling bags take their inspiration from a time when it was regular practice to carry a bowling ball with you for sport. The shape gained popularity for regular handbags in the 1950s, and these purses are on the hot list again for 2025. Popular for their roomy and sometimes boxy (think medicine bag) design, the silhouette offers everything one wants in a bag for daily wear. Sturdy handles attached to a heavy-duty body ensures your extra pair of flats, a bottle of water and, even perhaps your iPad, can easily be carried to work with you.
Embellishments
Secondary only to the bag itself, charms are adorning the bags of trendsetters and fashionistas everywhere. From mini handbag charms to the viral Labubu, use add-ons to customize your bag to make it unique to you.
