Year of the Bag Hag

CEBU, Philippines - After a long bout of talking about nothing but shoes, it’s about time for us to give the bag hag more attention by quenching her thirst for killer bags as we journey well into the last quarter of the year and gear up for a new decade ahead.

The bag is an essential element in any look. Get your choice for a bag all wrong and you’ll mess up the entire outfit. The bag is a statement piece. As we end this year and embark on a new one ahead, we are setting our sights on bags that are either ultra trendy or the sleek and classic fits-all type.

The satchel and buckle-front bag

The satchel, in a general sense is any bag that comes with a flap-top and fastens with a clasp or a buckle. The most popular version is that of the school boy satchel which we commonly see in vintage movies as coming in shades of camel, tan, and black. However, the satchel can come in a variety of versions very much like that of the frame bag. 

The satchel can be your bag of choice if you want to a 70s folk look or you can look into more modern clasp-front versions. Satchels generally come in leather. More popular version can come in leather of different shades and types, adding a very quirky and interesting twist into an otherwise humdrum design. Wear the satchel to work or to any corporate setting and you’re very well on the way to adding a sense of tang into the stiffness of the boardroom.

The coming seasons will definitely not be putting bags on the backside of things. With an upcoming new decade, it’s safe to say that the bag hag’s collection will continue to grow.

The fur bag

Fur coats, fur boots, and now, thank the heavens, fur bags. A fur bag is the ultimate winter piece—even if it doesn’t necessarily snow in Cebu. Fur lends us a distinct comforting warmth that’s hard to resist. Stick to faux fur. Real fur can be too costly (I’m talking about the lives of our furry friends) and you really do not want PETA to run after you for donning an endangered species with the latest Fall collection.

Fur bags can channel a variety of looks from ice-queen luxurious to bohemian nonchalance. Wear it with a sling or cling on to it as a hand bag. Whichever way you wish to wear it, the fur is anything but understated.

The cross-body bag

There are days when a girl needs to carry no more than her lipstick, her credit card, and her cellphone. On these days, your bag of choice can very well be the cross-body bag. As the name implies, the cross-body bag is a type of hand bag that comes with a long strap which you can conveniently sling diagonally across your body and voila, cap a very youthful and upbeat look.

An emerging trend in the hand bags, the cross-body bag is as clean and polished as the frame bag but evokes a sense of naughtiness and being flirtatious. Commonly seen with a chic chain strap, the cross-body bag comes in a variety of types. Roberto Cavalli’s cross-body bag rocks it with plaited leather straps while Dior went all classy and sophisticated with a string of pearls. Now doesn’t that just remind you of the hottest French divorcee?

The frame bag

Say good-bye to the toughness and gruffness of grunge and make way for the emerging trend that is the fashion of the late 1950s to the 1960s. We’re talking about essentially highlighting sugar, spice, and all things nice. We’re talking about the ultra femme frame bag that’s a key piece when you wish to go all thematic with the kitten heels and full skirts.

The Frame Bag is the Stepford Wife of the bag family. Clean, polished, and manicured to Stepford Wife perfection, this vintage-y bag speaks of everyday elegance. Do not limit this to the Mad Men classic lady-like looks as the frame bag works well with a modern twist or an accent to an edgy outfit.