Whether or not you’ve joined the bucket-bag brigade yet, customers in Alabama, Alaska, Massachusetts, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico probably have. Social-meets-shopping site Polyvore took a look at the most popular handbags in each state and found that the bucket bag has the most states fiending for that particular style. Fringed styles came in second, with fangirls in seven states: Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, North Carolina, North Dakota, and South Carolina. Oh, and folks in Maine seem to be fawning over feline-shaped bags. File that under "Who knew?"
Also slightly surprising: the bicoastal popularity of the fanny pack (called a "belt bag"), which proved most popular on Polyvore in California, New York, and Maryland; weekender bags topped the list in four states: Georgia, Mississippi, Virginia, and New Jersey. A few random favorites include an affinity for camouflage in Minnesota, bowler bags having a moment in Delaware, the popularity of nautical bags in Vermont, and Montana’s preference for motorcycle handbags (yeah, we’re not entirely sure what that refers to in fashion, either). Vegan bags top the list in Oregon and Arizona, and straw styles are killin’ it in three states.
"Whether it was a ‘cat bag’ in Maine or the ever-popular bucket bag in eight different states, it's always interesting to see how of-the-moment styles take hold in certain areas versus unique preferences reigning supreme in others,” says Amy Wicks, Polyvore's fashion editor and an alum of WWD and Glamour.
The fact that bucket bags are the nation's No. 1 trend shouldn't exactly be a surprise to fashion folks, or anyone who's familiar with the It Girl crowd. Everyone from Emma Watson to Miranda Kerr to Kirsten Dunst can be seen sporting some version of Mansur Gavriel's bucket bag. The not-very-fringe appeal of fringed styles also makes sense, since it's very much a part of the '70s show that played out on tons of spring and fall '15 runways. An appetite for kitty-shaped carryalls is a little more out of left field, though, but it's the kind of thing that high-end kitsch queen Charlotte Olympia has been churning out for a while now (with cheaper takes on whimsical, animal-shaped styles always on offer at Kate Spade, too).
So, when it comes to your state's supposed favorite, how does your bag stash stack up? Are you a vegan-bag-toting Arizona, or have you bucked the fringe trend in North Carolina? Let us know in the comments.