If you’re one of the zillions of Scandal fans out there, you already know that our one true hero, Olivia Pope, returns to television after a too-long holiday hiatus in a little over 24 hours. In the two-and-a-half seasons of Scandal that have already transpired, DC political fixer Olivia, played by the excellent Kerry Washington, has become something of a wardrobe icon for women who work hard, love luxury and want to look both professional and totally feminine in both their professional and personal lives. Naturally, that means she’s carried a ton of covetable handbags, and we’re here to help you get her look.
More than anything, Olivia always looks luxurious. That’s largely because she is the sort of fictional character who can constantly drink red wine from impossibly long-stemmed glasses without every spilling a single, solitary drop on her pristine, dove grey cashmere, but it’s also because the materials and colors that she wears are picked very carefully. Pale neutrals give off an air of elegance because they show off a material’s quality and aren’t as commonly worn as darker neutral like black and navy, and that idea extends to Olivia’s handbag choices, which are featured fairly prominently in the series. Like any good corporate raider with a sense of style, Olivia is first and foremost a Prada girl, with bags from the Twin Pocket Tote to the Saffiano Lux Tote on her arm in most episodes.
Olivia sometimes deviates from Prada, but she never deviates from her signature look: simple (but not boring) totes or satchels, carried in the crook of her arm, always in pale or mid-tone neutrals with the occasional black bag thrown in. Her bags are always expensive-looking, but they’re never conspicuously branded. If I worked in a conservative place, I’d want to dress like her every day. Below, we’ve selected over a dozen of the best ways to embody her handbag style, including the Prada tote that she carried practically all last season.
Prada Twin Pocket Tote
$2,400 via Neiman Marcus
Fendi 3Jours Tote
$2,550 via Net-a-Porter
Tod’s D-Styling Lavoro Tote
$1,765 via Nordstrom
Valentino Rockstud Dome Satchel
$2,295 via Nordstrom
Chloe Charlotte Tote
$2,900 via Nordstrom
Nina Ricci Marche Tote
$1,750 via Net-a-Porter
Mulberry Bayswater Tote
$2,725 via Net-a-Porter
Anya Hindmarch Albion Satchel
$2,250 via Net-a-Porter
Tom Ford Jennifer Trap Tote Bag
$1,990 via Neiman Marcus
Michael Kors Miranda Quilted Tote
$1,295 via Neiman Marcus
MICHAEL Michael Kors Sutton Satchel
$328 via Neiman Marcus
(Olivia would remove the option logo medallion, natch.)
VBH Trevi 32 Snake and Leather Satchel
$2,950 via Neiman Marcus
Coach Borough Bag
$598 via Coach
In trying to read this piece on your website I received 3 pop up ads from Coach within about 10 seconds. I can appreciate that advertising is a necessity but this is a little much. Instead of a blog the site now feels like an infomercial.
Add block and pop up block seem to be the solution you need.
I let Vlad know and he’s taking a look at it – they’re not supposed to be popping up that many times per day, per reader. Apologies!
Le sigh… If only Olivia was a real person and you could do a WHIB and Many Bags of on her! I die at the fantasy!!! 🙂
Right?! Me too!
Olivia Pope is my new hero. Saving America, one crisis at a time! (with a fancy handbag, naturally)
Can anyone ID the purple Prada bag from the first season? It’s kind of unstructured and has handles that go through rings.
Do you see a photo floating around online somewhere that we can see to help ID the bag?
No. But I have a netflix screen cap I took if there is a way to post that. Thanks! This is making me crazy – have spent hours looking
You should see a little photo at the bottom left of the reply box and you can attach a photo that way!
Thank you!!! This was the best I could do but hopefully if someone is familiar with it they will know what it is!
Amanda and I both looked at this bag – Prada rarely names bags so many are similar. But this one looks to be cervo (much softer leather).
Thanks! How would one go about trying to locate one if there is no name? Or do I just need to scroll all the ebay listings? I’m so used to bags having particular names that I’m at a real loss.
The VBH Trevi Satchel is perfect in every way. And I love that (as compared to the others in this gallery) it comes with an adjustable shoulder strap. Olivia may be able to carry her bags in the crook of one arm, but us actual women need both arms free now & then.
All I was thinking while going through this gallery was “gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous..”
I know, I want them all too!
this is just so like my personality of bags! with the flaps and small with shoulder strap. olivia and i would be bffs!
Really late but can we get a Claire Underwood edition?
She’s on my list of characters!
I think it lovely that we have a professionally dressed “side-chick”, just so the wives are reminded that all side-chicks arent video vixens or ratchet hoes.
She certainly has impeccable style and all those bags are gorgeous. Though she’ll never be my ‘true hero’ (she’s sleeping with a married man, and ‘fixed’ some pretty questionable situations), she is definitely a fashion icon, albeit manufactured (then again who isn’t I suppose).
Why didn’t you post more bags that she actually carries. That would have been nice…
Drooling over these beautiful bags *sigh*