Me + baby-to-be + Upper East Side rooftop + tote bag, sixteen lifetimes ago.
I do not, myself, have much use for tote bags these days (save for the Louis Vuitton NeverFull, which I despise myself for wanting with the heat of a thousand suns, but so be it). I need all of my arms free and clear for child-wrangling, and totes have a tendency to fall off of shoulders at the exact moment that you wish they wouldn’t, like when you’re mid-airport and carrying your stuff, your children’s stuff, your children, and a full grocery store’s worth of Einstein Bagels (BUT NOT THE ONES WITH SESAME SEEDS. God forbid a sesame seed cross my daughter’s lips; there will be hell to pay, and it will be Mom who pays it).
But in service to those of you out there who feel differently about this topic and are search of a good tote for fall, I thought I’d answer the below reader question, and do a little online shopping of the tote bag sort.
Jordan, I’m looking for a nice tote bag I can use for mom life and work. I’m leaning towards the brown leather, and specifically the Madewell ones…? Help? – T
OK, so when it comes to bags, I personally tend to go a little luxe, because the bags in my life get a lot of wear and tear, and I need something unlikely to come apart at the seams. And also because so sue me, I’m fancy about my bags. That said, I also have zero cash floating around at this particular juncture in my life, so let’s go ahead and check out some styles from my go-to site when I want to look at fancy bags that I might (someday) actually be able to afford, TheRealReal.
Peruse at your leisure.
Reed Krakoff ($325 plus 20% off with code REAL)
3.1 Philip Lim ($295 plus 20% off with code REAL)
Bottega Venetta ($245 plus 20% off with code REAL)
Scroll down for a whole bunch more tote bags that I can get (mostly) on board with, and that (mostly) don’t require refinancing your house.
