We Found The 24 Best Tote Bags For Every Occasion

Somewhere between weekender bags and fashionable tiny purses lies a classic style that effortlessly delivers on both fronts: the tote. Defined by two over-the-shoulder handles and a deep rectangular structure crafted from durable materials, totes have become much more than utilitarian carryalls. Today, the totes are powerful accessories representing mindful sustainability and style-savvy, not to mention oversized handbags are 2023's most trendy bag. (Speaking of trend there's even an Instagram account dedicated to the revival of L.L. Bean's iconic Boat and Tote bags.) That's why we've rounded up the best tote bags designed to suit you effortlessly for work, travel, school, and everything in between.

From a classy oversized Mansur Gavriel handbag to a Lululemon favorite, the totes are worth adding to your bag rotations. There's a color, print, fabric, and size for everyone. Find the one that matches your style. Each of our picks is approved for all occasions — aka ready to carry you and your stuff from crowded work commutes to grocery runs, gym trips, all-day shopping excursions, and nights out on the town. 

At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. All product details reflect the price and availability at the time of publication. If you buy or click on something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.

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GANNI Green Canvas Tote Bag

Add a burst of radiance to your gym 'fit or your weekend uniform with a Kelly green GANNI tote. It has the quirky touch of the brand's signature smiley face replicated as a tennis ball. Talk about personality.

Ganni SSENSE Exclusive Green Canvas Tote, $, available at SSENSE

Lululemon Clean Lines Toe Bag 22L

Stormy weather is no match for your commute or weekend trip thanks to this bag. Lululemon's trusty lightweight tote has a zipper instead of a snap closure, so your items are safely secured.

Plus, it's created from water-repellent material — no need to worry about spills or splashes. The multi-functional tote also features interior compartments and a special pocket designed to hold your water bottle.

Lululemon Clean Lines Tote Bag 22L, $, available at Lululemon

Karl Lagerfeld Paris Noveau Iridescent Tote

Opt for an iridescent style from Karl Lagerfeld Paris for a spunky spin on classic leather tote bags. The rainbow-esque tote has pockets for your cards and enough room to hold all your knick-knacks while maintaining its whimsical flair.

Charles & Keith Osiris Swirl-Print Metallic Accent Tote

Feast your eyes on the most aesthetically pleasing tote bag there is. Charles & Keith created a faux-leather statement piece swirled with rainbow hues and fastened with gold-toned hardware. You'd be surprised to know that the luxe tote is affordable at $93.


Charles & Keith Osiris Swirl-Print Metallic Accent Tote, $, available at Charles & Keith

Ralph Lauren Polo Bear Twill Shopper Tote

Ralph Lauren's iconic Polo Bear is one of the most adorable, indelible brand images out there. It captures the vibe and — always fashionably dressed in preppy attires of knit sweaters and loafers. Although it's usually featured on the brand's crewnecks, now you can get it on a tote. 

Ralph Lauren Polo Bear Twill Shopper Tote, $, available at Ralph Lauren

Madewell The Medium Transport Tote

One bag that will never fail you: Madewell's Transport Tote. It's a cult favorite with 4.4 stars and over 1,000 reviews.

Madewell The Medium Transport Tote, $, available at Madewell

Free People Roma Suede Tote Bag

Introducing a stylish suede tote bag with a touch of carefree slouchiness. It will become your staple for those busy days when you don't have time to play organizational Tetris and instead need to just toss your essentials in and go. Perfectly oversized while still looking polished, it's also good for shopping trips and farmer's market visits.


Free People Roma Suede Tote Bag, $, available at Free People

Mansur Gavriel Everyday Soft Tote

You might recognize Mansur Gavriel by its iconic bucket bags. However, the brand also has a list of stylish handbags like the Everyday Soft Tote for you to carry around your belongings fashionably. 

Mansur Gavriel Everyday Soft Tote, $, available at Mansur Gavriel

By Anthropologie Mini Slouchy Tote

This olive green number is designed to be your most loved style — pair it with everything from your go-to leather jackets to dresses and carry it everywhere from the office to a park picnic.

By Anthropologie Mini Slouchy Tote, $, available at Anthropologie

& Other Stories Vertical Mini Tote Bag

We're ready to take this chic radiant orange tote to weekend brunches and weddings for many seasons to come.

& Other Stories Vertical Mini Tote Bag, $, available at & Other Stories

Urban Outfitters Millie Puffy Mini Tote Bag

Pair your favorite puffer with a coordinating puffer tote bag for a trendy ensemble that also looks crazy cozy. The adorable mini is a best-seller from Urban Outfitters. 

Urban Outfitters Millie Puffy Mini Tote Bag, $, available at Urban Outfitters

Isabel Marant Yenky Tote

Parisian designer Isabel Marant designs attire and accessories for busy women who are consistently on the go. This denim tote bag follows under that bracket with its clean-cut design that matches any 'fit and occasion. Plus, its canvas lining protects from any spillage.

Isabel Marant Yenky Tote, $, available at Revolve

Marc Jacobs The Jacquard Medium Tote Bag

What could be more iconic than a tote bag with the words THE TOTE BAG sprawled across it? Marc Jacobs' effortless designer tote bag is a must-have piece for its laid-back aesthetic.

Marc Jacobs The Jacquard Medium Tote Bag, $, available at Marc Jacobs

J.Crew Weekender Montauk Tote In Leather

Invest in this timeless leather tote bag and be amazed at how many years go by using it. The Montauk Tote is one of the best tote bags for travel with its roominess and elevated appearance. It'll be your new staple for weekend trips and everything in between.


J.Crew Weekender Montauk Tote In Leather, $, available at J.Crew

Everlane The Luxe Italian Leather Tote

Everlane fans assembly: The brand recently launched its latest tote bag, the Luxe Italian Leather Tote, and it's oh-so chic. The handbag is sleek and spacious, has a leather-coved metal snap button closure, and features two over-the-shoulder straps for more support when you're on the go. It's a good work bag since it has ample space for office essentials with a polished silhouette.

Everlane The Luxe Italian Leather Tote, $, available at Everlane

Béis The Everyday Pet Tote Bag

For pet parents who can't bear to leave their fur babies behind, Béis created the multi-wear tote bag. The laptop-friendly accessory has multiple slip pockets, a key leash, shoulder straps, and a leash with removable sherpa landing pad for your pet. Now you can take your work and pet with you everywhere.


Béis The Everyday Pet Tote, $, available at Béis

Amazon Women's Corduroy Cow Print Tote Bag

This quirky cow print tote bag made of corduroy adds a bit of patterned fun while still being neutral enough to go with any outfit.


LHMTQVK Women's Reusable Corduroy Tote Bag, $, available at Amazon

WARP Hexella Large Tote Emerald

Get ready to look your best with Hexella's 100% goat skin leather tote bag. The geometric-looking handbag has a luxe appeal with plated hardware and included dustbag and storage box.


WARP Hexella Large Tote Emerald, $, available at WARP

Mlouye Sera Tall Mini Tote Bag

Consider adding this striking multicolor statement tote bag to your handbag collection. It costs a fraction of the price of a luxury handbag while still looking luxe. Plus, the drawstring top securely holds your items, so nothing gets lost during transit.

Mlouye Mlouye Sera Tall Mini Tote, $, available at Shopbop

Find Me Now Ruffle Shoulder Bag

Find Me Now created the airy beach bag you need for all your weekend vacays.

FIND ME NOW Ruffle Shoulder Bag, $, available at Find Me Now

Baggu Duck Bag

It's never too early to begin honing in on the spring vibes. A spring tote embroidered with flowers will bring a bit of sunshine to your everyday.


Baggu Duck Bag, $, available at Baggu

L.L.Bean Hunter's Open-Top Tote Bag

For a more modern take on the OG tote, try L.L.Bean's sturdy polyester version in a statement camo print — this timeless workhouse carryall is available in three size tiers, suits just about any style, and holds a boatload of stuff.

L.L. Bean Hunter's Tote Bag, Open-Top, $, available at L.L. Bean

Rebecca Minkoff Suede Tote

If you're an avid Rebecca Minkoff fan, you'll notice the signature buckle clasp and tassel. Unlike many totes, it also features a magnetic snap closure. No need to zip your bag (or let it all hang open) when you're on the go.

Rebecca Minkoff Megan Suede Tote, $, available at Saks Fifth Avenue

Etsy LinenFox Large Tote Bag

We love the relaxed, elegant vibe and all-encompassing size of this handmade tote crafted from 100% organic Baltic linen.

Linenfox Large Linen Tote Bag, $, available at Etsy

Gophra Corduroy Tote Bag

Gophra Corduroy Tote Bag, $, available at Amazon

Tarte Sugar Rush Holographic Tote

Plastic bags may be out, but holographic totes made from non-toxic, luminous-jelly materials aren't.

Sugar Rush Holographic Tote Bag, $, available at Tarte

Etsy Thank You Shopping Bag Tote

Give a cheeky nod to New York's plastic bag ban with this takeout-style tote crafted from a durable, double-layer canvas.

ChubbyMishoStore Thank You T-Shirt Reusable Shopping Bag, $, available at Etsy

Rothy's The Essential Tote

The comfy-chic shoe brand's sustainable handbag launch brought us this sleek stripe tote crafted from 100% recycled marine plastic materials.

Rothy's The Essential Tote, $, available at Rothy's

Baggu Standard Baggu

It's tough to pick just one of Baggu's classic reusable bags to include in our tote hit list — but this multi-metallic style ranks high as a must-have, disco-vibe essential.

H&M Straw Bag

Straw bags don't always have to be the stereotypical brown hue. This playful one has rainbow sherbet vibes, but don't let the sweet look fool you. At 15 inches tall, there's enough room to stuff plenty of beach supplies.

H&M Straw Bag, $, available at H&M

WorldLyda Canvas Crossbody Tote

This delightfully rainbow-striped and durable canvas style wields a bonus crossbody strap for extra secure toting.

Worldlyda Canvas Crossbody Tote, $, available at Amazon

Mango Leather Shopper Bag

Envision a chic businesswoman with this suede tote. The chain double handle is an elevated touch to the usual canvas versions.

Etsy Granny Crochet Tote

Exude covetable granny style with this handmade crochet bag.

KNITANDCROCHETWORLD Granny Crochet Tote Bag, $, available at Etsy

Everlane The Italian Leather Studio Bag

Everlane's elevated version of the tote bag is crafted from buttery-smooth Italian leather that radiates effortless polish. The roomy shape makes it perfect for work, school, or as a daily tote.

Everlane The Italian Leather Studio Bag, $, available at Everlane

Free People Cloud Commuter Tote

Meet your beloved quilted puffer coat in its slouchy tote form. It has a zippered interior with a padded laptop sleeve, so your daily essentials will be safe and cushy.

Free People Cloud Commuter Tote, $, available at Free People

Girlfriend Collective Provence Please Recycle Tote Bag

This recyclable tote was created for organization lovers. You can store all your little knick-knacks with the five pockets of various sizes.

Sondra Roberts Wove EW Tote Bag

Channel your best summer style with this warm-weather essential tote crafted from woven jute braided with fabric fragments.

Sondra Roberts Wove EW Tote Bag, $, available at Nordstrom Rack

Urban Outfitters Tie-Dye Washed Canvas Tote

Finally, a tie-dye tote (crafted from durable cotton canvas) to complete your head-to-toe tie-dye 'fits in 2020.

Urban Outfitters Washed Canvas Tote Bag, $, available at Urban Outfitters

Opening Ceremony Super Large Tote

We said EVERY occasion...

Opening Ceremony Super Large Tote, $, available at Opening Ceremony

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Alamour The Label’s New Collection Emulates Old Vintage Glamour

Finding a cocktail dress for a date or dressy event is usually pretty easy, but finding a quality black-tie dress that feels trendy, not stuffy, and that isn’t thousands of dollars — that’s the real shopping challenge. If you’re looking for a label that mixes high-end glitz with modern silhouettes, we think Alamour The Label’s Dalida Collection should be on your radar. The luxe Australian-based evening-wear brand has released a new line that emulates vintage glamour with a subtle nod to modern trends. Gone are the days of boring one-tone gowns; it’s a new dawn of sequin dresses, vibrant, gemstone shades, daring, thigh-high slits, and creative cutouts. Get ready to shine like a diamond at your next black-tie event in these red-carpet-worthy gowns, shimmering heels, and elegant jewelry.

While we support planning ahead when it comes to your event looks, Alamour The Label is also good for anyone panic-shopping for that gala you really meant to get a dress for last month. Although the brand is located in Brisbane, Australia, you can expect to receive your show-stopping gown within three to five business days after it’s shipped. And while it’s not exactly a budget buy (most dresses cost anywhere between $300 to $470), it fills a much-needed gap of quality dresses gowns that aren’t all the way up at runway designer prices.

Scroll ahead for a sneak preview of all the ethereal gowns and complementing accessories that Alamour The Label’s Dalida Collection has to offer.

Black Tie Wedding Guest Dresses

You can never go wrong with a classic two-strap wedding guest dress. However, these aren’t your everyday wedding guest styles that’ll merge with the rest in your closet. Stun in an evening gown with accents of ruching, bejeweled trims, statement cutouts, and thigh-high slits.

Strapless Black Tie Wedding Guest Dresses

Embody that old-school Hollywood glam with shimmering strapless gowns and glossy satin styles. A sheer mesh bodice dress called Marilyn comes with coordinating opera gloves.

One-Shoulder Black Tie Wedding Guest Dresses

Elevate your evening wear with a luxe one-shoulder piece. These sultry numbers are compliment magnets with the perfect amount of drama and elegance.

Halter-Neck Black Tie Wedding Guest Dresses

Step up your wedding guest dress game with a fashion-forward halter-neck piece. The Dalida Collection has everything from casual, airy chiffon options to gold glittery mesh styles.

Heels

Alamour The Label gowns go above and beyond when it comes to details. Hence, when it comes to your shoes, you can keep them simple with a pair of nude heels that has a touch of sparkle. Comfortable wedding guest shoes are crucial for a long night showings your moves on the dance floor. 

Earrings

Don’t forget the finishing touch to your wedding guest ensemble with a pair of glistening earrings. You’ll find everything from radiant-hued jewels to diamante drop earrings within the collection.

At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. All product details reflect the price and availability at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.

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How Google Trends Can Help You Shop, According To This Creator

Growing up, Madé Lapuerta always relied on data and coding to navigate the often confusing journey of establishing an online presence. More specifically, she wanted people to listen to One Direction right away when they logged on her Tumblr page, which was dedicated to the now-defunct British boy band. “I didn’t really know a whole lot about what the opportunities would be for me in computer science,” the Harvard graduate tells Refinery29. “I just knew it was something that I enjoyed doing, specifically how my ideas or things that I thought were interesting, could come to life with code.”

Now, as the alias @databutmakeitfashion, she spends her time digesting fashion trends on social media for her nearly 135,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok. “It wasn’t something that happened overnight,” she says. “It was this long journey of learning as much as I could about computer science and then throwing stuff to the wall to see what were the interesting ways that it could be intersected with my passion for clothing and runways.”

The result is a plethora of highly educational and data-driven videos that make the revolving door of micro trends, aesthetics, and runways a little easier to navigate. Recently, she analyzed the chaotic wardrobe of Emily in Paris’ titular character (for the record, 29% of the character’s outfits have a neon color) and compared designer Daniel Lee’s debut collections at both Bottega Veneta and Burberry (the graphic revealed that Lee’s Burberry debut had 73% more patterns than Bottega Veneta’s). On her website, she also dives into trending items, like ballet flats and UGG platform boots, where she compiles more user-friendly data that’s targeted to helping people make shopping decisions. “If you’re not buying pieces from shows, which I’m not, it’s an interesting way for me to understand how I can dress similar to a certain runway collection without having to specifically buy these high fashion, high price tag pieces,” says Lapuerta, who has also self-published a series of books, titled The Little Book of Big Fashion Data.

@databutmakeitfashion is the Burberry trench coat dead?? 👀🕵🏻‍♀️🕵🏻‍♀️ #fashiontrends #dataanalytics #burberry #londonfashionweek #daniellee #bottegaveneta ♬ cardigan – Taylor Swift

While fashion is often compared to art and is seen as a subjective medium, for Lapuerta – when it comes to design and trends – it’s a numbers game. Through her data work, she’s hoping to debunk today’s TikTok-accelerated cycle, which has seen the rise of trend reporting as its own trend, often without any data backing. “Trends are just changing too quickly in a way that’s frustrating for consumers because there’s always something to keep up on, but it’s also just very unsustainable to be buying new products every week because that’s how quickly trends are changing,” she says. 

So, how does she do it? “I definitely go to Vogue Runway, it’s probably my most visited site,” she admits. Yet, that’s just the starting point. After reviewing coverage about a runway collection, she goes through each look within the lineup, which can often have anywhere between 50 to 70 outfits. Using a mix of manual tagging, as well as image recognition software, Lapuerta applies some code, leading to the exact percentage of trends and items seen in the collection. To understand trends in a macro sense, she samples an average of 20 collections, doing the same process across all of them to get a final result. And what does she look for? “Anything that’s more than half of the collection is pretty big,” she says, adding that the quarter percentage is also a telling mark. “For anything less than 10%, I consider it a micro trend.”

But Lapuerta is also deeply intrigued by Google Trends, the search engine that allows people to see what others have been asking on the internet. She finds that in the intimacy of their computer people actually let loose to what they want to buy and how they want to dress. “People tell their secrets to the Google search bar,” she says, an idea she first came about after reading the book Everybody Lies by data scientist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz. “People can say, ‘Oh, I hate ballet flats,’ but they’re secretly searching for them.” This specific example rings true to our current trend cycle: While people seem to detest the comeback of ballet flats all over social media, according to data gathered by Lapuerta, red ballet flats have risen 71% in popularity.

Like any data-driven, fashion-obsessed person, Lapuerta also applies similar formulas to her personal style and shopping choices. “When I started analyzing trends and runway collections, I started leaning more to quality over quantity,” she says. “It kind of lets me know what I should be investing in.” And while her process may look intimidating, she says that using data to build one’s personal style is not as difficult as it sounds. “I’m trying with my work to debunk the idea that conducting data analytics or using computer science is something that’s reserved for a select few and something that can be applied to your everyday life and not this super daunting topic,” she says. 

@databutmakeitfashion what do you think? 💸💸 #fashiontrends #dataanalytics #chanel #chanelbag ♬ Dreamy Vibes – Ocean Bay Jazz

Even if you don’t have a computer science background, we all use data to get dressed, especially in an era when TikTok hashtags and viral videos influence our shopping decisions. But Lapuerta recommends other tools too. First, she suggests relying on Google Trends. “When deciding to make purchases, you definitely can use data to see if this is a trend that is pretty persistent across winter and summer, is it a trend that’s been persistent across the last three years or like is it a trend that you know had no Google search data available until even the last month.” If the response is the latter, Lapuerta considers that a micro trend, saying that those are probably not good investments in the long run. When it comes to deciding colors to include in your wardrobe – which Lapuerta analyzes with image recognition software – she says it’s a matter of analyzing the hue’s timelessness, as well as looking at how many pieces in your wardrobe it’s compatible to style with. During our interview, I threw in the idea of inputting everything I own in my closet into a spreadsheet by category and color, an exercise Lapuerta hasn’t applied to her own wardrobe, but recommends for people who are data nerds with no computer science training. 

“[Data analytics] is something that can really be applied to anything,” she says. “Data and technology really intersect with any industry, from fashion to sports analytics to entertainment to airplanes. So, I think I definitely want to show that if you have any interests, like fashion, data can intersect with them regardless.”

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