This new school year, RE girls have found themselves in a new high school existential crisis: Should they choose a backpack or a tote bag?
The dilemma of being organized versus being cute can feel almost as daunting as the early symptoms of academic burnout. Gone are the days when picking a school bag was simply about picking the coolest color Jansport backpack. Now, it’s about choosing what kind of bag to buy.
The surge of tote bags has grown tremendously on the RE campus over the past year. Tote bags used to be a rare sighting and only for people who wanted to step outside the box. Today, however, every RE girl seems to have stepped outside the box. Though Herschel and Jansport backpacks are still scattered throughout the school, their rivals have become much more common—especially totes by Longchamp and Free People.
On September 22 and 23, I used a handheld clicker to count all the tote bags I saw on one day and backpacks the next. On the 22nd, I counted 88 tote bags, and on the 23rd, 134 backpacks. Backpacks still reign supreme, but totes are on the rise.
Highlighting the increasing appeal of tote bags, in February, Net-A-Porter market director Libby Page told Vogue Business that “the site [had] seen a 300 per cent increase in searches for leather tote bags in the last month, representing a shifting desire for more XL, utilitarian-style bags across the board.” It’s no wonder that the tote bag market is set to be worth $3.6 billion by 2030, according to Data Bridge Market Research.
In her interview, Page touched on the growing desire among consumers to project an “effortlessly chic” look with a seemingly comfortable outfit and an extra-large, somewhat slouchy looking tote bag. That look has become the new minimalistic trend at Ransom Everglades—and a tote bag ties it all together.
“The trend started in my sophomore year of 2022, when the seniors started to bring their cloth tote bags—we never considered how comfortable it would be, but we just admired the style and its power to elevate any basic outfit,” said Nina Rivera ’25.
An unusual appeal of tote bags is how utterly messy they are. “Tote bags have this messy but put-together vibe to them. When I see people’s stuff practically hanging on for dear life in a tote bag, I don’t bat an eye. In a backpack, it doesn’t look put together, but just messy,” said Eleni Quintero ’27.
Some students, like Clementina Gonzalez ’27, have attempted to bring order to the chaos. “I actually invested in a little felt liner that organizes my stuff in my tote, but I do see why people would feel disorganized and would rather have a backpack,” she said.
Others, however, just enjoy the aesthetics of a tote bag, and how easy they are to customize, turning something common into a representation of your unique identity.
Anna Lugo ’25 will never be caught without a tote bag hanging from her shoulder, in part because, instead of using it to simply blending in with the crowd, she has decorated her bag with charms, keychains, and bracelets which she leaves loosely dangling from her purse. She described this as “Jane Birkinifying” her bag, a concept inspired by the late actress’ iconic style.
“I know that backpacks aren’t trendy and tote bags are, but I wanted it to be kind of like my own, so I made my own charm bracelets and put them on my bag,” Lugo said.
As the school year continues, it’s clear that the choice between backpacks and tote bags is more than just a practical choice. It’s a statement of identity and style.