The different types of bags — advice to choose your fine leather designs

Yet faced with the diversity of luxury bag formats and the designs offered by leather goods houses, the choice can quickly become dizzying.

Shoulder bag, pochette, bucket bag, tote bag, briefcase, satchel: each format has its use, its advantages, its constraints and its affinities with certain body shapes or occasions. Understanding these differences means giving yourself the means to choose a bag that truly resembles you and serves you well in everyday life.

The luxury bag buying guide that follows will help you choose the format best suited to how you actually use your bag.

Before letting yourself be won over by a silhouette, ask yourself two simple questions:

• What do I carry every day?

• In which contexts do I use my bag most often?

In light of your two answers, you will then be able to make your choice from the following inventory.

The pochette, or clutch when carried in the hand without a handle, is one of the luxury bag formats that stand apart in the world of leather goods. It does not claim to hold everything; on the contrary, it chooses the essential and the pared-back.

It is a piece of style before being a piece of use. Its strength lies in its ability to transform an outfit: it asserts and completes a silhouette. For evenings, formal events or occasions when one wishes to travel light with elegance, it has no equivalent.

It can also play a functional role within a large bag: slipped into a tote bag, it organises the interior and can easily be taken out for a shorter outing.

The pochette is a universal format in terms of body shape: its small size allows it to suit every silhouette harmoniously. One need only watch its proportion in relation to the hand and the arm: a pochette too large to be carried in the hand can seem cumbersome, while one too small may appear insignificant.

Evenings, dinners, cultural events, ceremonies: the pochette is in its element as soon as the outfit becomes more formal. It is also an excellent entry point into luxury leather goods designs for those who wish to keep to a more measured budget.

The bucket bag, or “sac seau”, is one of those types of luxury bag that are immediately recognisable by their conical shape, open at the top and often closed with a drawstring or a strap. It is a format that has passed through several decades of fashion without ever really disappearing, proof of a certain timelessness in its design.

Its wide opening makes it particularly practical: its contents are easy to reach, and objects of varied shapes slip inside without constraint. It offers good volume while retaining a light, unstructured silhouette, less formal than the tote bag or the briefcase.

In terms of style, the bucket bag has a marked personality. It brings a relaxed, almost bohemian touch to any outfit, which makes it a format of choice for casual-chic styles or summer silhouettes.

The bucket bag suits H-shaped and V-shaped figures well. Its rounded form can soften angular silhouettes. For O-shaped figures (rounder silhouette), a design worn over the shoulder rather than under the arm is preferable, to avoid visually widening the bust.

Weekends, relaxed outings, holidays, the summer everyday: the bucket bag is in its element whenever the occasion allows a certain freedom of style. It works less well in very formal contexts.

Across the range of different types of bags, the tote bag is the large format par excellence. Ample, open, often worn over the shoulder or in the crook of the arm, it is designed for those who need space without giving up elegance.

Its volume is its first asset. It holds everything a day may require without effort or compromise: laptop, documents, accessories, more personal belongings. It is the bag of active women, those who move, build their lives and do not count what they carry.

At Joséphine Paris, the large ÉCLAT bag embodies this philosophy perfectly. Designed to accommodate the House's smaller designs — a small bag, a pochette, an accessory — it is a modular piece and particularly advantageous in terms of volume. A single investment that intelligently structures its use.

The tote bag is particularly flattering for tall silhouettes and V-shaped or H-shaped figures. For petite or A-shaped figures, take care to choose a design with measured proportions: a tote bag that is too large can visually overwhelm a slender silhouette.

The professional everyday, travel, busy days: the tote bag is the bag for full and varied days. It excels where other formats reach their limits.

The briefcase and the satchel form a family apart in the world of luxury leather goods designs. These are more atypical formats, carried differently from classic bags, and whose very specific structure sets them apart immediately.

The briefcase borrows its codes from the tradition of the men's professional bag: a rigid rectangular shape, a flap or lock closure, short handles. Revisited by women's luxury houses, it becomes a strong, architectural piece that asserts an unequivocal stylistic presence. It is perfectly suited to demanding professional contexts and to silhouettes that embrace a certain formal rigour.

Briefcase and satchel work well on V-shaped and H-shaped figures, and on medium to tall silhouettes. Their rigid structure can visually weigh down petite silhouettes. In that case, take care to choose compact formats.

The satchel shares with the briefcase this idea of a considered, assertive structure, but it is carried differently: on a shoulder strap, often with a flap, in a slightly freer spirit. More supple than the briefcase, it nonetheless retains a marked identity that distinguishes it from the classic shoulder bag.

These two formats are intended for women looking for a bag with character, a recognisable silhouette, an object unlike everything one sees everywhere. They simply call for an assertive style to be carried with ease.

A magnificent bag that is unsuited to your life will stay in your wardrobe. Conversely, a bag chosen with clear-sightedness will become an indispensable piece. The following table helps you draw together needs and uses:

Format

Ideal use

Body shape

Shoulder bag

Everyday, work, outings

All

Pochette / Clutch

Evenings, events

Universal

Bucket bag

Weekend, casual

H and V / with caution for O

Tote bag

Work, travel

H and V / to be watched for petite silhouettes

Briefcase / Satchel

Professional context, assertive style

H and V