I Found the Tote Bag to End All Tote Bags
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As a New Yorker between the ages of 25 and 65, I’m legally obligated to own at least eight tote bags. They reside inside the largest of the litter, creating what is lovingly referred to as “the bag of bags.” With any new DTC purchase or magazine subscription, it’s very likely that I’ll receive yet another mediocre canvas tote bag, which I will then attempt to use for my gym necessities, my commute to my coffee-shop–office, or a trip to my friend’s apartment for dinner. None of these slightly too-small tote bags are ever really fit for the task at hand — they contain no pockets, no zippers, no organizational elements whatsoever. So after a few years of schlepping my laptop and book andwater bottleand the obligatory miscellaneous item purchased from a bodega, I decided it was time to upgrade to something a bit more functional.
Easy, I thought.Surely any tote bag with a zipper and a pocket or two would make up for the inadequacies of a freebie canvas tote.But I soon realized: absolutely not. Tote bags come with all sorts of “side effects”: The strap is too long for your shoulders, it’s too short for your shoulders, it rubs against your shoulder the wrong way and results in a bruise and/or rash. Some have too few pockets, or the pockets don’t have zippers, or the entire bag is zipper-free. With so many tote bags in existence, I found it truly unbelievable how many were subpar. That is until I stumbled upon what I consider to be the tote bag to end all tote bags.
The tote bag I’m referring to isLoeffler Randall’s Dina Tote, which I discovered after not one but two of my friends showed up to a lunch date with it. Before seeing the bag, I had primarily associated Loeffler Randall with the brand’s feminine shoes, so I was both skeptical and intrigued by what seemed to be a highly functional and pretty utilitarian offering. It wasn’t long after that lunch date that I got my own Dina tote, and since then I have been showing up tootherlunch dates with my friends and proselytizing its assets to them — which I will now do to you.
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Starting with the exterior: The Dina Tote is made of 100 percent nylon, meaning it’s water resistant (or grime resistant, for my fellow New Yorkers who are concerned with the inevitable Gross Thing touching them). The straps are padded and somehow the perfect length, allowing my arm to comfortably rest in any of the three main tote positions: hand in pocket, hand below bag, or elbow creased with hand resting on strap. Both sides of the tote have external pockets, one of which has a zipper and one of which does not — perfect for easy access items (phone, gum) and those that require extra security (wallet, passport).
As I write this, I’m experiencing the same passionate enthusiasm that comes over me when someone in the locker room asks me where I got my bag, and I haven’t even told you about the inside yet. The Dina tote haseightpockets, each with its own particular functionality. There’s a laptop sleeve, two scrunchie side pockets meant for cylindrical items (i.e., water bottle,umbrella), an internal zip pocket, and four more internal dividers. Long gone are the days of throwing everything into your tote bag and hoping nothing spills or damages its neighbor. This is 2026, and it’s about time your tote has compartments where every single item can have its own individual dwelling. No more mixing up your sweaty gym clothes with your work lunch; no more praying your kombucha doesn’t fall sideways and spill on your laptop.
I want to leave you with one more quality that solidifies Dina as the pinnacle of tote bags: its misleading size. While at first that might sound like a bad thing, what I mean is that Dina holds so much more than it appears. It’s a sort of Mary Poppins situation in which the tote itself stays slender enough to maneuver through grocery-store aisles and crowded sidewalks, and yet actually, to quote Tom Wambsgans, is absolutely ludicrously capacious. My personal capacity record includes a laptop, a bathing suit, a sauna hat, four different chargers, a book, a change of clothes, atoiletry bag, a pair of shoes,lip balm,hand cream, my wallet,headphones, apill case, two granola bars, and a water bottle. And to think it was only a matter of months ago that I was attempting to make do with a flimsy canvas tote.
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