Handbag Guides

In this section of our directory we provide information about the various resources pertaining to handbags, with the emphasis on guides: the pages that explain handbag styles, terms and buying decisions. Whether you are designing, manufacturing or simply buying, the vocabulary comes first, so this page starts with definitions and moves on to the buying guides.

Thanks to the internet it is rather easy to find a good guide about handbags. The guides collected below explain the types of bags, the trims such as closures, the materials, and the function of the various types, and they are a useful primer before you talk to a factory or a retailer.

Handbag Buying Guides

Buying guides teach the shopper’s side of the subject, and makers benefit from reading them too, because they show which features buyers are taught to value. The eBay buying guides collected below cover buying with confidence, choosing a functional handbag, selecting an everyday handbag and shopping for iconic handbags, and they explain tote bags, backpacks, duffle bags and leather briefcases as well. The Kohl’s handbag guide educates consumers on the style vocabulary itself: satchel, hobo, barrel, messenger, bucket, wristlet, cross-body, shoulder bag and more, which is the same vocabulary a designer and a factory use in a specification.

Guides age at different speeds, which is worth knowing when you use them: a style glossary stays useful for years because the vocabulary changes slowly, while a buying guide’s prices, marketplace features and model names date quickly. Read glossaries for the terms and recent guides for the market, and treat any specific price in a guide as a snapshot of its year rather than a current quote. If you are looking for a shopping guide, you may also want to view the Handbags on eBay guide on this site, and if you already know which handbag you would like to purchase, you can go to the handbag store section of Apparel Search linked below. Readers who would rather learn from definitions than guides can read handbag definitions from the apparel glossary, and the handbag posts on the Apparel Search fashion blog, linked below, keep up with current styles.

The Handbag Style Vocabulary

A short glossary repays study before any factory conversation. A tote is an open-top bag with two handles, carried by hand or on the shoulder. A satchel is a structured bag with a flat bottom and short handles. A hobo is a soft, slouchy shoulder bag with a crescent profile. A clutch is a small strapless evening bag, and a wristlet is a clutch with a wrist loop. A cross-body bag wears on a long strap across the torso, a messenger is its larger work-oriented relative, and a bucket bag closes with a drawstring. A barrel bag is a cylindrical style carried by short handles, and a shoulder bag is the general term for any bag worn on one shoulder with a medium strap. Each style implies different construction: structure needs reinforcement, slouch needs soft leather, and a drawstring bucket needs a reinforced base and eyelet work, which is why guides and manufacturing belong on the same reading list.