The Shakespeare and Company
If the iconic Shakespeare and Company tote is your school bag of choice, then you’ve for sure been to Paris and got it as a souvenir. You’ve seen the Anya Taylor Joy “What’s in My Bag” video from British Vogue and you’ve made it your personality to keep a book with you wherever you go. You’re probably some kind of humanities major and most likely theater or theater adjacent. You also own more than five pairs of Doc Martens. You like reading and have four or more books you are reading currently but haven’t finished since you last picked them up this summer.
The Daunt Books
If you are one of the many Yale students with a Daunt Books tote bag, you’ve been to London and you want people to know you’ve been to London. You probably studied abroad at Oxford, LSE or the Yale in London program — like everyone and their mom this summer, including me. You put everything, and I mean everything, in that tote bag. You want people to know you read a lot. You can never find what you need in that tote bag and you hold up the coffee shop line trying to find your wallet. You promise it’s there, it’s just at the bottom of your bag. You love long flowy skirts and oversized jackets and probably also own Doc Martens.
The Longchamp Le Pliage Bag
Once you got to Yale, you wanted to get your first adult bag and this was your first option. You’re a baby corporate girlie. You put in a lot of effort into looking like an effortless cool girl — and you’re doing a really good job — and you can pair this bag with anything from sweatpants to trousers and make it work somehow. You’re a little basic but you love being on trend and you spend a little too much time on tiktok or instagram reels. You show up to class with your hair in a claw clip and whip out your macbook and type really fast when you’re taking notes. You would take matcha over coffee any day of the week. You definitely own a pair of Adidas Sambas/Gazelles/Spezials and an Owala.
The New Yorker Tote Bag
You try to go for that nonchalant New Yorker minimal and style and you use this tote as a status symbol to say that you are cool and very New York. You enjoy reading intellectually stimulating and thought provoking pieces or the occasional comedy piece and you want everyone to know that. You paid anywhere between $4 to $50 for the New Yorker subscription and your reward was the “free complimentary bonus” tote bag — I fear I was option number one and still haven’t gotten my tote bag. You’ve paid more than $100 for a vintage leather jacket you thrifted and it’s your favorite closet piece. Thrifting is a competitive sport to you.
Marc Jacobs Tote Bag
You are a corporate girlie but on steroids. You’re a part of YUCG, YSIG or some consulting, debate or fashion group. You’ve leaned too much into the idea of finding your husband/wife/partner at Yale and are hoping to find other options at the Yale-Harvard Game next weekend. Or definitely opting to go into consulting, finance or law or marry someone going into consulting, finance or law.
The Kånken Backpack
You opted for a backpack but still very much care about the aesthetics. Those straps definitely dig into your shoulders when you carry your laptop, ipads, chargers, pouch and water bottle but you ignore it because the backpack is cute and “convenient.” Your water bottle is metal and you refuse to use plastic water bottles. Your laptop has sunflower and tarot card stickers on it as well as any stickers you think are ironically funny.
The Massive Black Backpacks with Too Many Pockets
You value your shoulders more than you value your back. You put everything in there because you don’t wanna go back to your dorm — aka me who lived on the fifth floor last year. Your entire life is in your backpack and it’s a bottomless pit of lost pencils, papers and random trinkets you put in your backpack and forget about until you clean out your backpack one day. That day is not coming soon.
Briefcases/Messenger Bags
You are definitely a man in finance and consulting and you love wearing your down vest. Specifically your black gilet that you will wear rain, snow or shine. You tweet about your philosophical musings and love love love the vintage or black and white filter on your Instagram page. You own really expensive ballpoint pens and you have doctor handwriting.
Leather bags with charms, ribbons, etc.
You love listening to Lana Del Rey and you chronically go to TikTok shop. You’ve spent way too much money at Pop Mart trying to get the Skullpanda or Labubu you wanted and you’ve spent even more money collecting Sonny Angels. You have a Sonny Angels hipper on your phone and the Sofia Coppola Marie Antoinette movie is your guilty pleasure movie.