Friday Favorites - The Tote Bag That Changed My Life

As a freelancer who carries a ton of heavy crap around every day, I need a tote bag that works for me. I've tried to make lower-priced options work over the years, but they all fell short.

There were the cheap Target totes I started with in my early twenties - they looked cute in the store, but the fake leather would quickly start flaking off and the glued-together seams began to come undone. 

There was the Kate Spade outlet bag whose flimsy strap snapped in the middle of the street, nearly dumping all my possessions onto Fifth Avenue. 

There was the LL Bean tote I used for a while - no inner pockets, so all my stuff just kind of floated around and I could never find anything.

Earlier this year, I realized I needed to get my shit together in terms of a purse. It was time to invest in something stylish and organized for my busy life. 

Here's what I needed:

• pretty - duh. No fugly black pleather! No pleather at all! 
• organized - the more pockets, the better. 
• shoulder strap - my Macbook Pro is heavy AF, and I needed a bag to support its weight lest I end up in the chiropractor's office.

I kept seeing Dagne Dover ads popping up on my Facebook (props to their crack digital marketing team, it clearly worked), and I was intrigued. Mostly by the pockets. Oh, the pockets! So many glorious pockets to hold all my junk!

I checked them out, and at $200-$400, their prices were definitely higher than I was used to spending on bags. However, I looked at my sad LL Bean Tote and broken, raggedy-ass Kate Spade outlet bag and decided it was time to invest in something nicer. 

After checking out all the options, I decided to go with the Classic Tote. It's the mid-range tote size - I felt that the larger one would be too cumbersome. I sometimes go right from work events to drinks with friends, and I didn't want to go to a cocktail bar feeling like I had a suitcase on my arm. 

I opted for what they call the Bleecker Blush - it's a warm gray that goes with basically anything. 

My package arrived quickly, and it was beautifully wrapped. I kind of felt guilty recycling the pretty box it came in! 

Here are the things I love the most about my Dagne Dover bag:

• Quality - it looks expensive but doesn't have huge, obnoxious, basic bitch logos all over it. Win!
• THE KEY LEASH. Do you know how often I lose my dumb car keys in my bags? Literally every day! Not anymore. The key leash is a game changer -- one of those little things that makes your life so much easier.
• The aforementioned pockets. The larger pockets are padded, which means I can slip my laptop and/or ipad pro right in there. There's a phone pocket big enough for my iPhone 7+, one that's the perfect size for my business card holder, little ones for pens and lipsticks, and a bunch of extra ones that I use for sunglasses and my notebook. Because of all these pockets, I actually never have anything in the "body" of the bag and can keep everything organized - no more fumbling!
• It has a zipper closure for when I'm on a crowded subway train. 

This bag was a total life changer for me, and I'm so happy that I invested in it. I can't really see myself going back to my old way of random tote bags and lost keys/lipsticks. I think I might one day snag the Midi Tote for days when I just need my ipad, but for now I'm super thrilled with my original Classic Tote. 

** Dagne Dover didn't pay me in any way for this post. I guarantee they don't even know who I am! I just wrote this because I love my bag so much.