Business attire doesn’t really change that much as time goes by. That said, it’s still fashion and it still acknowledges what’s stalking the catwalks. This year is no different, with several key impulses driving the business and office style action. To maintain your professional edge as sharp and as fresh as possible, you’ll need the hottest trends in business bags from Urban Expressions.
Let’s read all about what’s hot in office and business looks this year and see what’s in store to elevate these trendy professional impulses with well-constructed handbags in animal-friendly materials. Here are 6 chic work bags to light up some business looks on the hot list in 2024.
1. Structure & Color for The New Neutrals
Whether the new neutrals are breaking news or recycled from fashion’s days gone by, what’s clear is that charcoal gray is asserting itself in 2024, especially in professional settings. The news is the way charcoal and other colors deemed “neutral” this season are being deployed as chic business attire.
For one, charcoal gray is seen in a variety of undertones and depths. When worn with cream, the combination imparts a relaxed vibe that’s timeless but fresh and innovative at the same time. Wide-legged and pleated, charcoal trousers are being worn with chunky, thick-soled penny loafers for a professional look that skirts the casual without going over the edge.
Tuck a lightweight cream blouse into your pleated charcoal gray trousers, finishing with a statement belt that matches your loafers. To smartly sew this look up, you’ll find that a sassy, structured shoulder bag is exactly the right move. Avoid matching your business bag to your shoes and belt. Instead, choose a slightly brighter color, contrasting with the neutrals you’re wearing. Color and structure together showcase the new neutrals by setting them off.
2. Buttoned Down Business Bags, Meet Breezy Fabrics
Traditional fabrics for structured suits and dresses take a back seat this year to breezier fabrics. Especially for summer, think silk, linen blends, and gauzy cotton looks in classic business attire. Effortlessly, these warm-weather fabrics bring chic ease to your office looks.
Keep your separates closer to your body if you’re adding one of these breezy fabrics in a blouse or dress. The juxtaposition of a relaxed, summery fabric with the structure of shapely suiting brings your professional looks a touch of seasonal freedom. The prints you deploy with this strategy are key, with subtle flowers and stripes leading the way.
Go monochromatic to tie your suiting to your breezy fabric, sending the message that your necessary formality hasn’t been sacrificed to a summer breeze. Then, add a vegan work bag that means business, modeling all the buttoned-down ambition you go to work with every day, regardless of what you’re wearing.
3. Proportion: Small Business Bags & Big Shoulders
Nothing says “chic business attire” quite like a pair of shoulder pads. Giving presence to any suit jacket, shoulder pads are back in 2024, asserting themselves in bold strokes that didn’t come into play.
Just when you thought oversized jackets were letting the suiting side down, shoulder pads have returned, reminding us all that design structure sends the right message. One of the most effective ways to wear shoulder pads is with this year’s full, wide-legged, pleated pants. This format references both the 1940s (from which the padded shoulder hails) and the 1970s and 80s looks that revived shoulder pads for a new age.
Now that 40s/70s/80s suiting references are seeing another renaissance, there are some key details to keep your eyes peeled for. The jacket is snatched at the waist, ends at mid-thigh, and is double-breasted for a touch of David Bowie. For such a bold suiting caper, add an envelope clutch. Choose a multi-functional clutch with a detachable strap to wear over your shoulder, across your body, or carried in the hand, lending your look needed proportion and fashion-forward style in a versatile business bag.
4. Utility & Style Demand a Hardworking Business Bag
The best example of utility clothing in the heavy fashion rotation is the cargo pant. With the mainstreaming of this style of pants over time, it was inevitable that utility clothing of other kinds would be making a practical (yet decidedly stylish) appearance. And this year, these styles are looking mighty chic as business attire.
Looking professional and incredible isn’t always about labels or fabrics. In less formal work settings, utility fits the “chic” bill, taking the mainstreaming of cargo pants and creating a style all its own. Part wabi-sabi, part bushcraft, and 100% built for challenging times, the cargo/utility look is hotter than ever this year. It demands a purse that can keep up with your practical, chic business attire.
The vegan belt bag is ideal as a business bag for this look, worn close to the body inside your multi-pocket vest. Thick-soled Doc Martin shoes and rag socks with either board shorts or cargo shorts (another hot trend this year) complete your utilitarian look.
5. 9 to 5: Sneakers, Tees, and a Bomb of a Business Bag
In 1980, a film about working women hit the screens and revolutionized office footwear forever. 9 to 5’s white sneakers and suits look was rooted in the real world of working people in New York City. But the trend spread well beyond the Big Apple to the rest of the USA and the world. The look has revived intermittently since 1980, accompanied by business bags that do it justice.
2024’s eruption of 9 to 5 nostalgia is bigger than ever. The shoes are sleeker than the film’s and much better adapted to being chic accompaniments to modern business attire. This time, people are wearing white sneakers with tailored white T-shirts and similarly form-fitting camel trousers. The look is sleek, 21st-century, and unfussy. Also worn with slouchy sweaters and fitted midi skirts, white tennis shoes are becoming a part of chic business attire like never before.
Choose the impact of a statement handbag to bring your look the counter-cultural demand implicit in rejecting high heels in favor of sporty, strong, challenging comfort. Or, get cheeky with our tony tweed bags!
6. C-Suite Chic Business Attire
In C-Suite, time stands still. There is a certain elegance to its rarefied, whispered style. Subtlety of style, familiar and classic shapes, and quality you don’t notice is the C-Suite way. Tailoring, fine fabrics, and quiet luxury are C-Suite’s version of “chic.”
Without announcing itself, subtle elegance is never questioned or challenged. For the C-suite’s tailored, quiet elegance, only the aspirational luxury of vegan leather purses from Urban Expressions will do. Embellished with superior quality hardware, multi-functional, and always luxurious, Urban Expressions brings C-Suite the classic luxe it wears so well in vegan leather business bags.
Whatever business attire means in your context, “chic” is the name of the game wherever you work. And chic business attire is in the details, like the great handbag that pulls all that style together. For bags to elevate your office looks, Urban Expressions brings you collections that appeal to all your finest style moments at work, at home, or on an adventure. “Chic” is a moment you build. With animal-friendly, trend-relevant purses from Urban Expressions, “chic” comes to life in a unifying element that tells your style story. Shop our luxury purses now!
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