30 Handbag Types You Should Know | Guide to Different Styles (2023)

If you want to buy handbags either for your personal use or your business, you are able to customize its color and materials according to the handbag types. But many people may be confused about what are the different types of handbags.

Today, I’ll introduce 30 types of handbags according to their shape and function. I also list several example of popular designer brands. You can check any type that you’re interested in by clicking it directly.

Satchel bags, also named as Cambridge satchel, refers to a kind of handbags with horizontally rectangle shape. Because of their academic style and suitable storage for books, they’re often used as school bags.

Moreover, they feature a flat bottom that allows them to stand upright, a short top handle, and a cross-body strap. Besides, they are often made of leather.

Messenger bags have almost the same similar form as satchels– a rectangular form with a long strap, worn over the shoulder or across the body. But messenger bags are traditionally made of canvas instead of leather.

Now, they’re mostly made of more durable and water-resistant fabrics like leather, canvas, or nylon. Generally, they can be used as a business bag, which is less formal and more casual.

Briefcases are characterized by narrow shapes and hard sides. They are usually equipped with a handle and are commonly used by business people or lawyers to carry office supplies like a laptop, documents, and so on.

Sometimes, they can be also designed as a handle-less case that can be carried in the hand or under the arm. Furthermore, they can be made of different materials including leather, canvas, oxford, etc.

Totes feature two handles and a wide-open top, which make it easy to carry on the shoulder and also find your belongings. Moreover, totes are usually made of soft leather fabrics like PU leather, and they are sometimes made of many other fabrics like canvas, too.

Besides, they often have a large capacity and simple design so that they’re widely popular especially among the people from the USA and Europe.

Bucket bags look like small buckets. They commonly feature a hard bottom, a drawstring open, and a snap button inside.

People love them for their roomy structure and practicality. Moreover, they usually have a long cross-body strap or a short handle to let you wear them both cross-body or over the shoulder.

Barrel bags are handbags in the form of a barrel with pull strings at the top and a handle or a long strap. The main difference between barrel bags and bucket bags is that barrel bags always have two circle sides.

Generally, you can find two types of barrel bags– one is the horizontal barrel and the other is the small vertical barrel. They can be made in different sizes and with various materials including leather and fabrics.

Duffel bags were originated in the military, which are often used as travel bags or gym bags now for their roomy interior. They have almost the same structure as barrel bags. They also feature two top handles and a top zipper slider.

However, duffel bags don’t have two circle sides but have a hard and flat bottom. Besides, they are always large bags made of cloth fabrics such as canvas, nylon, etc.

Doctor bags were originated from the handbags that the doctors used to carry the medical supplies in the past. Now they can be also used for daily use.

They feature durable leather fabrics, simple design, and vintage style. Besides, they can also be designed in various sizes now.

Clutch bags are a kind of small and flat handbag free of handles or straps so you can only hold in the hand or carry under your arm.

What’s more, clutch bags can be made in various structures such as rectangular, oval, or circular. Besides, they have different sizes and materials. They can be also small enough to hold in a hand.

Satchel bags, also named as Cambridge satchel, refers to a kind of handbags with horizontally rectangle shape. Because of their academic style and suitable storage for books, they’re often used as school bags.

Moreover, they feature a flat bottom that allows them to stand upright, a short top handle, and a cross-body strap. Besides, they are often made of leather.

Evening bags are compact and small handbags carried by women on formal occasions. Thus, they’re usually beaded or ornamented with diamonds to go with the dresses.

Besides, they’re usually designed to be handheld or be carried on the shoulder with a chain. Since the compact structure, they’re used to store small items like cosmetic goods, keys, etc.

Satchel bags, also named as Cambridge satchel, refers to a kind of handbags with horizontally rectangle shape. Because of their academic style and suitable storage for books, they’re often used as school bags.

Moreover, they feature a flat bottom that allows them to stand upright, a short top handle, and a cross-body strap. Besides, they are often made of leather.

Phone pouches are small rectangular bags with specific compartments for putting the mobile phone. Usually, they’re equipped with a long strap to wear across the body or hang on the neck.

The main materials for phone pouches are commonly leather or other waterproof fabrics. Some of the phone pouches can be designed transparent and touch-friendly, which can be used in the water.

The saddle handbag is just like the kit bag used by the horse rider. It features a curved bottom edge with a flap.

Moreover, saddle handbags are always designed with buckle latch. But now people also use a snap fastener to take the place of buckles for convenience or use a fake buckle as decoration.

Frame handbags are designed with a metal or wooden frame on the top closure. Generally, they’re rectangle or trapezoid in shape and equipped with a kissing lock.

Furthermore, they always look vintage and unique. And they’re usually made of leather, cotton, and canvas.

The fanny packs are fashion accessories that can be worn by both men and women. There are two typical styles of the fanny pack: belt bags and waist packs.

Thus, you can either wear them like a cross-body bag or also snap them around your waist. Besides, they’re used in different ways because of their convenience.

Shell bags have a similar structure to that of a shell, with curves at the top. Moreover, they’re usually made of hard leather so that the shape of the bags will not change basically, even if there is something inside.

Generally, they’re designed with a short top handle. For their simple design, they’re practical for many occasions.

Cross-body bags are designed with long straps that can be worn over one shoulder or across your body diagonally. The different styles of the bags can fall at the hip with long straps or falls at the waist with short straps.

The materials of the long straps include the leather strap, the canvas straps, or the metal chain.

Flap handbags feature a flap in the front to cover the zip closure. The flap often has a snap button closure on its under-side.

Flap bags are often designed at various structures, such as sling bags, clutches, or cross-body.

Round handbags are also known as circle bags. Obviously, they’re handbags in a circular shape. Usually, they’re designed to be worn across the body or held in the hand.

The most commonly seen materials for round handbags are leather and rattan, which are good to stay their structure.

Vanity cases are small solid bags, usually with a top handle or a long strap. They have small compartments inside to separate different items like makeup.

They are often hard-cased and leather-bound. Sometimes these types of bags also have mirrors installed on the inside of the lid, which can be used for doing makeup.

Water bottle bags have the same structure as water bottles. They’re usually designed with the main compartment for putting the water bottle.

Besides, they may have long straps that can be worn across the body or hung on the neck.

The End

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