Katie Holmes Cinches the Belt Buckle Trend With a Chocolate Brown Bucket Bag

The actor seems to be test-driving a rising new handbag silhouette in New York City.

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Katie Holmes walking in New York City wearing a longline coat with a belted bag and jeans
(Image credit: The Image Direct)

The only thing Katie Holmes loves more than a great winter coat is a fabulous leather bag. She's dabbled in classic silhouettes like Bevza's slim white tote bag, Khaite's camel brown carryall, and Mansur Gavriel's slouchy black shopper as well as trendier options like 11 Juliet's bejeweled crossbody and Freja's ivory east-west shoulder bag. But lately, her favorites all have one thing in common: belt-inspired details.

On Mar. 5, the Dawson's Creek alum took her signature cold-weather outfit formula—chic outerwear layered with denim, flats, and a spacious purse—for a walk around Manhattan. Having retired her beloved Frankie Shop duster for the season, the Broadway star bundled up in a brown herringbone coat with notched lapels and welt pockets at the waist. She folded up the double-breasted jacket's black contrast collar in lieu of a scarf and styled the wool staple piece with wide-leg denim trousers and black leather ballet flats. The ruched elastic trim of her flats instantly reminded me of The Row's popular slip-on style, but just between us, Schutz makes an incredible faux leather version for less.

A photo of Katie Holmes styling a brown herringbone coat with wide-leg jeans, black ballet flats, and belted brown bucket bag.

Katie Holmes styles a brown herringbone coat with wide-leg jeans, black ballet flats, and belted brown bucket bag.

(Image credit: The Image Direct)

The mother of one accessorized her chic look with black sunglasses, a wine-red manicure, and a chocolate brown Toteme bucket bag that tapped into belt buckle trend seen elsewhere on Hailey Bieber's Miu Miu Aventure bag, Tibi x L.L. Bean's belted canvas tote bag collaboration, and the Prada Buckle bags that have appeared in the designer's spring 2024, fall 2024, and spring 2025 collections. Marie Claire editor-in-chief Nikki Ogunnaike owns both the Prada and L.L. Bean iterations, so consider us personally invested in the trend's long lifespan.

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Of course, the belt buckle trend's influence extends far beyond bags. Now, it's a multi-category phenomenon that encompasses shoes, tops, skirts, pants, jackets, coats, and dresses. Soon, I bet even our belts will have belts. Perhaps the fearless Katie Holmes will take the lead on that initiative.

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Hanna Lustig
Hanna Lustig
Staff Writer

Hanna Lustig is a staff writer at Marie Claire, where she gets to gab every day about the topics she holds most dear: fashion, beauty, and celebrity. Hanna’s editorial journey began with formative internships at Elle and InStyle, where she was lucky enough to work for some of the smartest women in media while she was still in college at the University of Tennessee. Hanna then accepted a digital culture reporting fellowship at Insider, where she helped carve out a new beat dedicated to covering influencers. Those experiences later served her well as a staff writer at Glamour, where she developed a knack for spinning quick turnaround celebrity news and trend reporting into juicy feature stories. Some of her greatest hits include an earnest ode to the no-pants trend, this meticulously reported feature exploring the rise of endoscopic facelifts, this snappy take on the Chanel-designed fantasy of Sofia Richie’s wedding, this tribute to WAGs past and present, and this timeline of Katie Holmes’s life and career as told through her denim collection.

Diane Keaton once hung up on Hanna during an interview, but thankfully that mishap did not derail what has otherwise been a deeply fulfilling career writing for and about women. As one of Marie Claire's resident experts on style and culture, her current coverage ranges from exploring TikTok's contrast makeup theory and the return of the boat shoe trend to interviews with costume designers for hit shows like Nobody Wants This and The Penguin. When she’s not at work, Hanna can probably be found listening to pop music, talking to her dog, and gossiping with her best friends. For more of Hanna’s perfect opinions on pop culture, you can follow her on Instagram and X.