Q. Hi Jordan,
I feel a bit silly about my situation. I threw out my back this weekend attempting to swing my large, heavily-packed totebag onto my right shoulder. I can barely walk! I work full-time and am studying for the LSAT as well so my bag is full of my prep books, lunch for work, water bottle, coffee tumbler, basically everything I own.
Thanks to this incident, I’m thinking I need a new bag that might be better. Do you have any suggestions? I’d just use a backpack, but I’d like something a bit more grown-up. I would ideally like to spend around $100-150.
A. When I was in elementary school, there was at one point a bit of an outcry amongst the students because the teachers all suddenly decided that it was mandatory to wear your backpack straps on both shoulders. And I don’t know what the cool kids are up to these days, but back then it was de rigueur to wear your monogrammed L.L.Bean casually slung over one shoulder; to put it on “properly” was to buy a one-way ticket to Mathlete Land (and I say this as a former card-carrying member of the Science Kids Klub).
But, of course, the teachers were right: those one-shoulder bags are hell on the alignment, especially when they’re packed full of schoolbooks, food, water bottles, and various other enormously heavy things. And while your initial response to a backpack may be “oh, those are for kids”…it sounds like that’s what you need. Fortunately, about a year ago someone decided that backpacks were awesome again (I agree), and now there are gazillions of very adult – and stylish – options out there. Regardless of whether you’re girly, sophisticated, rugged, or preppy, you’ll be able to find something cute at a price that suits you.
Some of my favorites:
From left: Lucky Brand ($129; also available in plain canvas), Juicy Couture ($108); Joe’s Jeans ($90; also available in khaki); Deux Lux ($69; there are lots of other adorable and affordable options from Deux Lux).
And here are three slightly more expensive versions that are too pretty not to show you:
From left: Madewell ($235); Jeffrey Campbell ($268; also available in blue); Marc Jacobs ($188; lots of other colors available).
And finally, make sure to choose a style with wide-ish and/or padded straps (for better weight distribution), and keep it on the smaller side, so you’re not tempted to carry around even more stuff than you already do just because there’s space for it.
Feel better!
x
J
