How to Style a Colorblock Handbag into a Look

Colorblocking an outfit can be tricky. It’s hard to get the balance right and even harder to choose the right color combinations. With a lot of colorblock handbags in the store, it’s easy to “insta-block” an outfit with little effort. However, once you get the bag, what do you do? Sure, it’s easy to wear a simple outfit and then use the bag to pop the look, but when you put the bag down the novelty of the look is lost. It’s not like you will carry your bag around all day.

If you want to get more use from your colorblock handbag, or are looking to incorporate this style into your wardrobe but aren’t sure if you will actually carry it, check out these outfits and styling tips.

How to Style a Colorblock Handbag into a Look

Outfit #1

Many women are afraid to pattern mix, and rightly so. It doesn’t always work, and when it fails, it fails badly, like dressing in the dark laundry-day badly. One surefire way to mix patterns is to combine more organic prints with geometric ones. The two play off each other well.

In the outfit above, I styled this navy and white colorblock handbag from STATE bags with a floral printed dress from L.K. Bennett. I finished the outfit with a pair of blush pumps from Sam Edelman and statement earrings from Kendra Scott.

Outfit #2

Mixing colors in an outfit is another tricky thing for women to figure out. Thankfully, a colorblock handbag can be like a little guide map to show how to mix different shades. You don’t want to be too matchy-matchy, so a little goes a long way. For example, I styled this Longchamp colorblock handbag with a beige sweater from Lafayette 148 and white jeans from Wit & Wisdom. To bring in the orange found in the bag, I popped the look with these heeled mules from Nine West. I finished the outfit with a necklace from Halsbrook. Now when the bag is taken away from the outfit it still looks polished.

Outfit #3

In this last look, I used the colors found in the handbag but in a different way. The pants from Leith and scarf from Kate Spade pull in the colors found in the Marc Jacobs handbag and is done in a way that works with the colors without being matchy-matchy. I finished the outfit with a basic white tee from J. Crew and platform sandals from Splendid.