7 Tips for Styling a Statement Handbag

The statement handbag is something special. It’s an eye-catching bag you choose because of the way it makes you feel. While it needn’t be practical, it must be striking and unusual by virtue of its color, the materials it’s made from, its fashion cachet, or its unusual shape.

This is not your everyday bag. It’s not a carryall, loaded with everything from your wallet to chapstick and lint-coated Mentos which have sunk to the bottom over time. This is the bag that makes you want to strut.

Wear it often but wear it mindfully, adding it as an unexpected element to virtually everything in your wardrobe. A statement handbag is special. That doesn’t mean it needs to hide in the back of your closet for special occasions. Get more bang for your fashion buck when you incorporate your statement handbag into day-to-day looks, elevating them with a fashion curve ball, right over the plate. Let’s look at seven tips for styling a statement handbag intentionally, confidently, and above all, fashionably.

1. Accessorize It

Accessorizing your handbag—and every other accessory you have—is happening this year like never before. Charms, ribbons, jewelry, scarves, keychains, and anything else that adds interest and intrigue is a stylish addition to any 2023 handbag.

Your statement handbag is already adding swag but why should you stop there? Accessorizing your handbag adds another layer of stylish fun to a bold look. Switch your accessories to match outfits, events, seasons, and your mood. Fuzzy animals, large-scale tassels made of bejeweled chains or leather fringe, and even cleverly concealed phone chargers, are all part of this trend. What could be more fun than adding swag to your swag?

2. Feature It

Boldly colored modern handbags demand attention So, style them against a monochromatic background. And “monochromatic” doesn’t always mean black, white, or taupe, especially when you’re sporting a statement handbag. A magenta statement handbag against a yellow dress or a royal blue clutch playing off this year’s mega hot animal prints is bound to make your point eloquently.

Imagine, if you will, the scads of on-trend denim you’re wearing right now with a gorgeous statement handbag in the most vibrant color you can find (think bubble gum pink, Kelly green, or neon). Large or small, when worn with denim, your statement becomes more boldly visible as the star attraction of your outfit.

3. Flaunt It

While the statement handbag can go anywhere you want it to go, worn at night with the right outfit, it’s a knockout. Large, small, brightly colored, sequinned, or lucite, the statement purse by night is a beacon of fashion goodness.

Sleekly sophisticated is the order of the day. Choose a bodycon dress in black or white, then add the handbag, accessorizing it. Shoulder-dusting earrings that echo features of the bag (feathers, sequins, bold color, gold hardware) tie the outfit together. Now add shoes. If you don’t have the shoes that have the desired effect, take your footwear in the opposite direction.

For example, the bold color of the bag can be paired with its opposite color on the color wheel, adding a chunky lucite bangle to match. The interplay of the opposing colors with the earrings that coordinate with the statement handbag creates a thoughtful, layered effect that’s alive with personality and fun.

4. Funk It Up

A statement purse slung across your body, held in your hand, or hanging from your wrist is crying out for a moment of total abandon. That’s when you funk it up. Style it with a look that detours around the ordinary, ascending to the Planet Glam.

Pairing a fashion-forward look with your statement handbag is a head-turning winner. Start from a foundation of women’s basics, like classic pants, leggings or jeans, a top, jacket, skirt, or dress, depending on the fashion-forward piece you’re adding.

Fringe that hustles and shimmies or feathers that flutter are style superstars this year. Or add a mindblowing piece of statement jewelry to a basic tunic and leggings, worn with boots themed to your statement handbag. This year, choose metallic cowboy boots to ride a hot trend that’s fresh, funky, and signals your fashion savvy.

5. Make a Statement Over Brunch

Who says you can’t take a statement handbag to brunch? I not only challenge that, I slay it with an eternal truth: that brunch is the perfect moment to treat your statement purse to a mimosa! Who better to appreciate the glories of a statement handbag than your hard-brunching crew?

How you dress for brunch is your affair but when you’re kitted out with a statement bag, do push the casual envelope. Invest in a piece of slinky body jewelry, sinuously wrapped around a romper or a full-length bodysuit. Now throw a fringed, chiffon beach wrap over top in a large-scale floral print. Or go “full metal brunch” in frayed cutoffs, cowboy boots, and a bold, graphic t-shirt. Pull your hair back in a ponytail, slap on the Raybans and a slick of red lipstick, and you’re the hottest dish on the menu.

6. Rock the Workday

It doesn’t matter what your job is, toting your statement bag to work is a great way to neutralize the Monday “blahs”. Make Monday a fun day by getting your look together on Sunday night. Anticipate Monday as the start of something (achievement) and not the end of something (the weekend). Honey, you’ll feel better all day long!

Twist your professional look toward the fashion horizon with subtle changes, like a suit in a compelling hue that either contrasts or tones monochromatically with your statement handbag. Under the jacket, choose a toned lace-trimmed bodysuit or a fitted tank top with the classic, higher neckline. Or bust out that red dress, fiercely shoving Monday’s customary banality aside, replacing it with spring-in-your-step fire. Now, you’re working that statement handbag hard!

7. Shake Up Your Style Game

One of the best things about a statement handbag is that it challenges you to think more about what you wear and what it says. Fashion is a language and the idea of a statement piece, whether it’s a handbag, dress, jewelry, or footwear, is to say something unequivocal about your personal style.

Shake up your style game with the help of a statement handbag, not only to elevate your look but to get as much from that gorgeous hunk of a handbag as you possibly can. Fashion’s rules are yours to bend, branding them with your personal logo. No matter how you style your statement handbag, it’s your best style development friend, pushing you toward new heights of sartorial glory!