Tote Bags

How did we start carrying tote bags?

Leather tote bags in the form of pouches were first seen carried around the waists of the Egyptians in their hieroglyphic drawings. It was not until the 14^th century that we saw the use of tote bags written into literature. It is said that they used girdles that were worn around their waists and then fastened the tote bag purses to the girdles. This sounds more like our present day fanny pack than a tote bag but the rest of their description of their bags holds true to our tote bags and purses today. They talk about their bags as a status symbol with the richest of people having jewels and other decorations on a canvas tote bag or leather coin purse.

By the 16^th century, tote bags had become a practical necessity for people to carry both valuables and everyday items. Whereas we have tote bags in a variety of colors or black tote bags so they will match everything, they mostly had natural colored tote bags, with dyes only being afforded by the wealthy. Embroidery became a mandatory skill for young girls to learn. Artistically embroidered purses and tote bags could land a girl a husband. Mothers made sure this embroidery training was mastered by their daughters as they wanted them to be desirable to be able to marry a suitable man.

In the 18^th century, the styles of wardrobe changed and women began carrying tote bags and purses as a fashion statement. The women would get a bag in multiple colors and styles so that they would have one to match a variety of outfits that they may wear. Their tote bags would usually be full of makeup and hair care products for quick touchups to their appearance while they were out. This is where we see the shift from purses as a practicality to using purses for vanity. In the 1900’s jewelers took advantage of the popularity of bags and included compartments and fasteners inside of the tote bag or purse for holding items such as makeup, opera glasses, or fragile fans.

So why do we lug these tote bags around?

Tote bags really are about more than just fashion. The bags are extremely versatile and useful for so many things. Reuse your tote bag for all occasions or get a couple of them. Either way, they can come in handy in the following 13 situations.

• Use your tote bag as a reusable grocery shopping bag— Why build up a collection of unwanted plastic grocery bags and hurt the environment? Instead, get a couple of canvas tote bags and ask the bagger to pack your groceries in them. Not only are you being less wasteful, but the tote bags are more sturdy, making them a lot easier to carry and less likely to break.
• Use your tote bag as a school bag— We’ve all seen those tote bag purses that girls are always carrying. It’s a purse but it looks like you could pack your whole bathroom in there. Those tote bags are great as school bags. That way you don’t have to carry a backpack and a purse and you get the added benefit of looking stylish at school. Besides, there is definitely more than enough room in those tote bags for all of your school supplies.
• Use your tote bag as a gym bag— An average sized tote bag is the perfect size for a pair of sneakers and some athletic clothes. With the wide variety of tote bags out there you can choose one that is sporty or girly.
• Use your tote bag to carry your knitting or craft supplies—Tote bags are great for, well, “toting” things. You can have several tote bags and keep different supplies in each one so when you are ready to go to your knitting club, you’ll be all packed up and ready to go.
• Use your tote bag at the mall—Malls are harder to shop at than other stores. If you go to Target, you have a wide variety of items to shop from but you also have a red cart to put all of those shopping items into. By the end of the day at the mall you have various sizes and shapes of shopping bags and your arms are worn out from the awkward way you’ve been juggling them all. Use a large tote bag to combine all of your shopping bags. You can sling the tote bag over your shoulder or grab it by the comfortable handle, and off you go.
• Use your tote bag as a carry-on bag—You’ve checked most of your items for flight but what about your sweatshirt, Ipod, wallet, and other carry-on necessities. Tote bags can come equipped with pockets for small items and are able to be easily squished into an overhead compartment or under a seat.
• Use your tote bag as a book bag—Going to the library? Like groceries, books can be heavy. Tote bags are the perfect shape and size to slide in all of your books and transport them with ease.
• Use your tote bag for trade shows and/or conventions—You can order professional looking black tote bags and get your logo put onto them. Your company can either be its own advertisement by transporting all of your stuff in these logo tote bags, or you can give out tote bags to the people at the trade show to get your company’s name out there.
• Use your tote bag as a laptop bag—Leather tote bags offer great protection for your laptop while giving it a stylish ride. Just place your laptop in a sleeve first, or find a tote bag that comes with a built in sleeve to keep your laptop secure.
• Use your tote bag for mailing packages—Like groceries and books, packages can be heavy and awkward to carry. Tote bags offer a great transportation system for all of your packages that need mailing from your house to the post office.
• Use your tote bag for a picnic—There is no need for a picnic basket. Tote bags are great to pack sandwiches and snacks in for your next outdoor meal.
• Use your tote bag as a diaper bag—Tote bags come in all sorts of colors and styles. For something more playful you can get a pale pink or blue, or you can get a tote bag that looks like a designer bag for you. Carry those diapers in style.

Tote bags, tote bags, and more tote bags!

Tote bags come in so many varieties that there is a tote bag available for every person and any need that they have. As listed above, tote bags can be useful for so many things that there is no reason that you should not go get yourself one right now. Anything you need to carry can be carried easier in a tote bag. For example, there are tote bag purses that are basically a large version of traditional purses. Popular purse designers like Louis Vuitton, Coach, and Vera Bradley are now offering a line of tote bags. This should be no surprise as we’ve seen these same designers broaden their purse franchises to include wallets and wristlets, as well. Do you have a favorite designer purse but need to carry more things with you? Check into the designer’s tote bag line. Why continue trying to cram all of your necessary items into a tiny purse when there are so many trendy tote bags out there? Upgrading to tote bags can be both convenient and stylish.

Tote bags can come in various materials. Tote bags were traditionally made of a canvas material but now we are seeing both leather and cloth tote bags to appeal to different styles of the person and uses of the bag. Canvas tote bags are often seen being used as reusable grocery shopping bags or for other shopping purposes. Cloth tote bags are common around college campuses, as students use them as both book bags and purses. Bands are even using cloth tote bags as a form of merchandise for their fans to carry their name and logo around on their bag instead of just on a t-shirt. Leather tote bags are being used for business professionals to carry their laptops and other work materials. It is like the career person’s form of a backpack. Tote bags also come in a variety of colors to suit all outfits, personalities, and moods. Black tote bags are simple and match most things but you can also get tote bags in red, blue, green, or any color imaginable.

Express yourself with your tote bag!

Tote bags have become just as much a part of your outfit as your shoes. Although jewelry and other accessory items like belts and sunglasses are still an important part of our self expression, tote bags are rising above purses as a necessity for the things we have to carry in our daily life, as well as a piece to complete our outfit. Coordinating and matching your tote bag to both your style and preferences has never been this easy with the wide variety of custom tote bags that are out there in stores and on the internet. Try using a tote bag pattern of contrasting colors of the tote bag with your coat, shirt, or shoes. Look for personalized tote bags that let you add your name and choose your favorite color to make your tote bag all your own. Designer, Vera Bradley, even offers matching lunch tote bags to coordinate all of your accessories with your favorite pattern. Tote bags are being seen in stores everywhere so there’s no excuse for carrying things in plastic grocery bags anymore. Tote bags are practical and they are stylish so choose one that really expresses who you are and what you like.

Tote bags are even being seen being carried by models on the fashion runways. Models are showing off tote bags as a part of the outfit and as a display of the complete look being shown by the designer. The reality TV show America’s Next Top Model, hosted by former model Tyra Banks, featured an episode in which the prospective models were taught to perform their runway walk while juggling a handful of shopping bags and tote bags. This is an important skill for models today, as tote bags have become an important accessory to our ensemble. Looking at fashion magazines, you will notice tote bags being displayed in the clothing layouts with or without models. There are articles on which tote bags to choose and where you can get them. So don’t get stuck carrying your books in an old backpack or stuffing your makeup into a little purse. Tote bags are just what your outfit needs.

Design your own tote bag!

Express yourself in an even more unique and original way by making, decorating, or designing your own custom tote bags. Are you an expert sewer or interested in learning to sew? You could choose your own cloth, find a tote bag pattern, and make your tote bag exactly the way that you want it to look. You could try using multiple pieces of fabric to get a quilt effect for a unique looking tote bag. You could sew on little beads or sequins to decorate your tote bag with your favorite embellishments. If you are better at sewing, you could even embroider a design into your tote bag to make it truly an expression of yourself.

If you are not a do it yourself kind of person, you can have someone make personalized tote bags for you. We let you choose the color of your tote bag and add a logo either for your personal preference or as an advertising tool for your company. It’s easy, it’s fast, and it’s all about you.

Another great tote bag idea is to customize tote bags with your kids. This is a fun family activity or an engaging birthday party craft. You can get fabric paint for the kids to write their names on or draw pictures on premade, black tote bags. Fabric paint comes in a variety of colors and even offers varieties like glitter paint. There is also glitter glue that writes great on fabric. Regular fabric glue can also be used for kids to glue on letters or shapes to really personalize their tote bag. For a birthday party, you could even buy smaller tote bags and the kids could use them after they are done decorating as lunch tote bags for school.

Having personalized tote bags for their lunches could really boost the confidence of children in school during their lunch period. Lunch is a critical time for kids. It is one of the few times during the day that they get to interact with each other and engage in much needed socialization that can really aide in their growth and development. We can see the importance of school lunch in many TV shows and movies where lunch scenes hold the most drama, singing, humor, or just screen time in general. Unique lunch tote bags could make a kid stand out and show their peers who they really are.  A tote bag pattern could attract other children’s attention over something they have in common and help the child to make friends.

Custom tote bags for lunch could be especially essential in a child’s self expression if that child attends a school that demands that matching school uniforms be worn by every child. These kinds of dress codes do a great job in equalizing all students, no matter what kind of home and income level they may come from. However, the matching outfits limit self expression and individual style that children often bond over. Having a unique tote bag used during a social time of the school day like lunch can really play an impact on a child’s ability to show themselves and their interests or style.

Another occasion in which self expression and practicality come into play is when you are going to the beach. Spending an entire day on the beach requires a lot of packing. You will be away from places to get food, drinks, shade, comfort, or entertainment. If you have a baby you need to have enough diapers with you. You need sunscreen so you do not burn, towels for drying off, and snacks for a long day outside. You will also want entertainment for those long hours in the sun. Frisbees or volleyballs are great for a beach game and Ipods and books offer a more sedentary option.

You need beach tote bags to carry all of these items in during your beach trip. You may want to looks for wholesale tote bags to get a whole bunch of them for everyone in your family to carry their belongings. You will probably need a separate one for sand toys if you have children that will be playing in the sand. You don’t want those messy, wet toys in the same bag as your swim suit cover up clothing. You may even want that bag to be made of a plastic material to wipe off instead of a cloth, although you can put your cloth tote bag into a washing machine. You may also want a separate one for carrying food. You can find tote bags cheap so search for tote bags for sale. I’m sure you’ll find some that are both useful and cute for showing off on the beach.

Gotta get a tote bag!

Now that you know all of the reasons why you need one or more tote bags in your life, you are probably wondering how much this tote bag craze is going to cost you. You can get tote bags cheap. This is not only great for your wallet but practical for children that lose things or are hard on things. It also makes sense for beach tote bags because they will be getting messy with sand and water. Wholesale tote bags can be as low as 59 cents a bag so do not worry if you have trouble picking your favorite color to buy. At 59 cents a tote bag, you can afford to get one of each color. You will use them all. Designer tote bags, on the other hand, can be a bit more pricey. A Louis Vuitton tote bag, for example can be $315.00. This is a much higher quality tote bag and something you would put valuable items in, as well as use for a fashionable luxury item. It is in no way necessary to pay that much money for something to carry your things in. There are even pricier tote bags for sale if you look hard enough for the discounted specials.

There are wholesale tote bags available at countless websites online for every kind of tote bag you could ever want. Designer tote bags, beach tote bags, printed tote bags, and logo tote bags are just some of the varieties of tote bags that are out there. Look for sales and specials to get many tote bags cheap all at once. You can also find fashion tote bags in just about every store in a shopping mall. Check out all the tote bags for sale that we have available. If you’re not seeing what you want, just give us a call and we’d be happy to get you the perfect tote bag for whatever needs you may have. We understand how important tote bags have become as a means of transporting items and as a clothing accessory. We will do whatever we can to make sure that you get the best tote bag for you to carry or to put your logo on as a business promotion. Don’t miss out on this useful and trendy item.