New Idea for a Classic Tote

LL Bean totes rock because they last forever. They’re reasonably priced, soft but structured. They’re preppy but universally useful — giving one of these with a monogram is my newest preferred baby gift because they’re so handy no matter what size you get. Plus, I just thought of a cool new use for them, which I’ll get to in a minute.

While monograms are perfect for Classics, other types might like to put a full name on them, but I’d save this for last names. Let’s face it, anyone over the age of 10 looks dorky carrying a bag with their first name on it. And if you’re under the age of 10, carrying around a bag with your first name on it isn’t the brightest idea. I’m pretty sure the first lesson in kidnapping prevention 101 class is, “Don’t emblazon your child’s garments with their name on it.” I learned this just before I turned 10 but this type of paranoid commonsense must have been lost on my parents, or as the middle child I was expendable. One of my Christmas gifts that year was a sweater with my formal name “Colleen” emblazoned on the front in cursive. It was a really pretty sweater so naturally as a slave to fashion, I wore it all the time and hoped my natural paranoia would prevent me from getting into a stranger’s car, who didn’t realize that my name really wasn’t “Colleen.”

Oh and yet another use for the bags is to use the extra large ones with short handles as laundry hampers. I’ve seen them as toy holders for kids but this idea seemed brilliant to me b/c it’s such the rare laundry hamper that is actually attractive or matches a room’s décor. Plus I’m thinking that it’s safe to emblazon your first name on a laundry hamper no matter what age. Or it’s potentially really dorky and again you should stick to a monogram to play it safe. Although Organics and Smarts will appreciate not having to “do the math” when looking at the initials.

Oh and when monogramming, consider spicing it up by doing a contrasting color to the bag.