Bag charms are having their comeback moment, they’ve taken the world by storm and I love that for us. There’s something so tender about seeing people decorate their bags again, like we all collectively remembered that fashion is supposed to be fun. For months now, my feeds have been overflowing with dangly trinkets, plushies, pom-poms, tiny figurines, blind boxes, and of course the immediately recognisable Labubu plush that everyone loved to ‘hate’ while quietly hunting down their favourites.
People call them tacky, but I don’t buy it. Cute things that spark joy are wildly underrated. Anything that shows a bit of personality, a cartoon plushie dangling off your favourite bag, feels more honest than dressing purely for the algorithm. It’s one small, silly way to say, This is who I am. Here’s something I find adorable, and I’m not embarrassed about it.
Personally, I fell in love with Skullpanda, and I’ve now got one hanging off nearly every bag I own, colour-coded to perfection. I’ve always been the type to accessorise in every possible way, and there’s something magic about curating a look down to the tiniest detail. Even the small character swinging from your shopper can shift the whole vibe. It brings back that hit of childhood and whimsy in a world that’s seriously lacking in both.
But of course, even the sweetest trends have their messier side: overconsumption. The Labubu wave was the wildest example. For a while, it was nearly impossible to get your hands on one, drops gone in seconds, people buying up entire sets, and fakes flooding the market faster than micro-trends cycle on TikTok. Resellers were charging prices that had no business being attached to something that small and mass-produced. The hype became so intense it stopped being about collecting for joy and morphed into survival of the fastest checkout. The whole thing turned competitive instead of fun. It wasn’t ‘I love this cute thing’ anymore, it was ‘Look at me, I managed to get one.’ That was the tacky part.
On the bright side, the frenzy made space for alternatives. Suddenly new competitors were popping up, designs that were easier to buy, and far more interesting visually. Skullpanda, Baby Three, all these little characters that didn’t require you to battle half the internet just to clip them onto your tote.
Then you’ve got the opposite end of the charm spectrum: the classics. Not everyone wants a giant plush toy swinging from their bag, and that’s fair. Designers have been putting out beautiful leather charms, Hermès, Miu Miu, along with so many gorgeous ones crafted by independent makers and small artisans. They’re calmer, more traditional, but still proof that people crave personalisation. Whether it’s a £650 leather charm or a £18 mystery-box creature, the desire is the same: we want our things to feel like ours.
Maybe that’s why bag charms have blown up again. Fashion feels hyper-serious right now, quiet luxury, minimalism, the whole ‘low-effort is high-status’ aesthetic, but charms bring back that spark of play. They remind us we’re allowed to be expressive, whimsical, a bit unserious. And deep down, we all want our bags to tell a story, not just hold our keys.
Stitch you again soon,
The Stitcher
In the Stitch 