Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1538826
C ontroversial opinion: If I were given carte blanche to purchase any number of It-bags, it wouldn't be a Birkin or a Kelly, a Chanel 2.55 or a Lady Dior. Bergdorf Goodman could offer a six-figure blank check and tell me to go wild in the handbag department — I wouldn't even be tempted. With apologies to the world of luxury fashion, as long as L.L. Bean makes its Boat and Tote, the only thing I want to carry costs exactly $39.95 — plus $8 for monogramming. Oh, and a small extra charge for shipping, if you aren't in the vicinity of Freeport, Maine. I don't often speak in hyperbole or superlatives, but for the Boat and Tote, I'll make an exception: It is the pioneer — and the absolute best — of all It-bags. It has been since 1944, when it debuted as a utilitarian tool to aid practical East Coasters in schlepping ice "from car to ice chest." Today, it's one of the only i t e m s i n t h e vast entirety of the apparel and accessories world that embodies the definition o f t h e w o r d iconic: Widely r e c o g n i z e d . Well-established. Acknowledged for its distinctive excellence. There are few things for which I feel deeper conviction than my decades- long commitment to this bag. And I'm not alone. From East Coast to West Coast, big city to small town, you'll see college students, Wa l l S t r e e t b i l l i o n a i r e s , soccer moms, off- duty dads, civic workers, teens and tweens, upwardly m o b i l e y o u n g professionals, and rural outdoorsmen all carrying the Boat and Tote with aplomb. The bag is not only nonchalant, built to last, timeless, and effortlessly cool — it's democratic. Sure, L.L. Bean has long lived in the preppy-fashion, old-money lexicon, thanks to its prevalence in such bastions of privilege as Kennebunkport and East Hampton, mentions in Lisa Birnbach's The Official Preppy Handbook, and its usage by American aristocrats such as the late Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr. (The duo was oft spotted in their Tribeca neighborhood and on Martha's Vineyard carrying said Boat and Tote.) Still, I dare you to find something else so well designed and economically priced that it is literally sought and carried by all — age, race, gender, income, The bag is not only nonchalant, built to last, timeless, and effortlessly cool — it's democratic. political leanings, fashion sense, and trend awareness be damned. The L.L. Bean Boat and Tote is fashion's great equalizer. And I love that about it. For me, this bag is about subtlety and function. I loathe being the center of attention, and I dress accordingly. The Boat and Tote comfortably carries everything I need, all the while serving as the antithesis of fast fashion. It allows me the freedom to walk in a business meeting, join friends for lunch, or board a plane without onlookers making snap judgments about the size of my bank account. In an exhaustive world that is increasingly obsessed with status symbols and so-called lifestyle experts having the latest, greatest, or most expensive anything — and shouting it from the social media rooftops — I find great comfort in my quiet canvas carryall. Call me sentimental, but my nostalgic heart loves the traditions that my Boat and Totes have come to represent over time. Waiting at the ready in my foyer, piled in the corner of my closet or waiting for grocery day in the trunk of my car, each of my monogrammed totes serves as a physical reminder of a different chapter of my life. My red extra-large zip-top was gifted to me by my mother during college as an easy solution for weekend trips. My forest-green medium tote, with its small traditional monogram, was my go-to work bag when I was Dallas editor in chief of this very magazine. Another particularly scuffed-up extra-large zip-top reminds me of a whirlwind, seven-day work trip to Paris, Rome, and London a couple of years ago. (Miraculously, it survived multiple international checked-bag situations.) This August, my boyfriend of five years proposed on the dock at his parents' house in Maine. A few days later, we drove an hour south to Freeport for our traditional pilgrimage to L.L. Bean HQ. We bought a couple of fishing poles and spent a moment in the Boat and Tote section. There, my now fiancé was quick to remind me: From that day forward, there would be a new monogram stitched on my beloved bag. With a smile and swipe of the credit card for my favorite $39.95 purchase — now emblazoned with CV instead of CG — the legacy continues. KEVIN WISNIEWSKI/SHUTTERSTOCK Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy with the L.L. Bean tote, 1997, Hyannis Port By Christina Geyer 73