A bag is both an accessory and somewhere to put your hands, so it solves two problems at once. This set covers holding a bag at the hip, hooking it over the crook of the elbow, and pulling a suitcase mid-stride.

A bag solves two problems at once: it is an accessory and it is somewhere for your hands to be. Held wrong, though, it hides your shape. The safest position is letting it hang naturally at the hip, just outside your body's outline rather than in front of your stomach.

With a handbag, hooking it over the crook of your elbow with the forearm slightly raised reads as neater than letting the whole arm hang. With a backpack, wear one strap rather than two — both straps widen the shoulders and hide your shape from the front.

Airports and stations have one real advantage: they supply strong leading lines, from rows of seats to long corridors. Pulling a suitcase mid-stride is the easiest pose there, because it has movement and explains why you are there. Let the pulling arm extend slightly behind you rather than tucking it in.

Reference poses

A bag solves the problem of the hands

The reason a handbag appears in almost every fashion set is not only that it is the item being sold. It solves the hardest posing problem: giving the hands something to do. A strap in the hand gives the arm a reason to bend rather than hang, and the whole posture loosens at once.

How you hold it matters. Carried by the fingertips with the bag swinging slightly in front of the thigh gives the most open line. Clutched with both arms across the stomach closes the body and hides the waist. Hooked over the forearm sits between the two, suits mid-sized bags, and looks natural while walking.

A large bag can swallow the figure

A big tote on the shoulder covers most of the torso and cuts across the waist, turning the upper half of the body into one mass. If it also contrasts strongly with the clothing, the viewer looks at the bag before the face.

With a large bag, push it behind the hip or let it hang low at the side rather than holding it against the chest. With a small bag the problem reverses: too small in the frame and it disappears, so it needs lifting to waist or chest height to remain visible at all.

The bag should be the only colour accent

In a frame containing clothing, background and accessories, only one element should be loud in colour. If the bag is the item you want seen, it should be the only strong colour, with the outfit and background kept neutral.

Conversely, if the outfit is already busy or the background vivid, choose a neutral bag. Two colour accents in one frame split the attention and both come out weaker. It is a simple rule and it explains why so many fashion photographs feel cluttered without an obvious cause.

Poses with a handbag, backpack or suitcase

Reference poses

A bag solves the problem of the hands

A large bag can swallow the figure

The bag should be the only colour accent

Try a pose with your camera