Tote Bags – Customizable

The tote bag didn’t become an omnipresent accessory overnight. Over recent decades, however, it has become a go-to bag for so many people, largely because of the easy, functional way it allows for self-expression.

The canvas of a tote bag is, well, a blank canvas. Yours can say a lot about you: what publications you read, where you align politically, what you believe in, what you dream of, or who you love. All of that can live on a single piece of cloth, neutral or brash, simple or complicated. The customizable, mutable nature of this accessory has helped the obsession transcend generations.

There are drawbacks, of course, to a tote’s simplicity, which is its lack of nuance, in that it becomes easy to talk the talk without walking the walk. Someone might carry a tote bag that declares them to be a “feminist,” for example, but not actually care for the issues women face in their communities. A tote bag with a slogan will not bring us liberation. But for some of us whose identities are inherently political, the tote can serve as an expression of our stances and identities.

Even when they’re falling off our shoulders every five seconds when wearing our coats in the winter, we still love them. They give each of us the power to say who we are, and to do so in a practical, affordable way. Is it any wonder we’re obsessed?

“The tote bag fits a larger trend of the democratization of fashion,” said professor Dicky Yangzom, a cultural and economic sociologist at New York University. “Originally, these textiles [like canvas] were meant for labor. Similarly to utility wear in fashion with the rise of the jumpsuit, this wasn’t designed for mass fashion. It was more geared toward people who do more manual work, right? So all of these categories are shifting.”

Now, tote bags are everywhere: as marketing tools, as merch for artists, and for designers to have a more accessible accessory to sell. A $6 Forever 21 “avocado” tote, a $15 hand-painted bag from an Etsy seller, the free Vogue or New Yorker canvas carry-all that comes with a subscription to the magazine, and a $3,250 Dior tote bag all fall under the same (fairly lucrative) category: According to market research by Technavio, the tote bag market is worth $334.5 million.

“Luxury brands have taken up the idea of the tote itself, which is how capitalism works,” Yangzom said. From Dior to Marc Jacobs, high-fashion brands have designed their own version of totes, complete with their branding and elevated price range. “A tote bag is one of those things that has so successfully — as this mundane, humble object — broken through,” she explained. “Tote bags are here to stay.”