The Range: The Working Mom Tote

She’s big. She’s cavernous. She can hold pool gear, preschool nap essentials, files for your 1:30 status conference, and whatever crap your husband needs you to bring on the road trip so he can travel light. She is the Working Mom Tote. She comes in many forms, but Mary Poppins ain’t got nothing on her.

When I was still with my prior firm, my most stylish colleague, a stunning senior partner who was my aspiration and inspiration for being a lawyer, beloved firm stalwart, and Mom to great kids used to carry her work extras (files, etc.) to the office in a Chloe Woody bag. I looked at that bag for such a long time, but you ladies know me — I could not do it. The bag was beautiful and useful, but if I had gotten one speck of dirt on it…the emotional spiral that would have engulfed me. But the thought of a cool, canvas bag never left me.

Meet the Rue de Verneuil Traversee in size large. Simple with a bit of French elegance, this bag is sublime. She is not, however, cheap. She is $500+ USD, but I will be carrying this beauty into my 50s (at minimum). My current favorite thing about this bag is that you can fold her flat in your suitcase. So when I travel for work, I can bring the bag as a backup tote for schlepping things to the office without carrying her full on the plane. I can confirm she will hold a crib sheet, pillow, blanket, stuffy, lunch box, water bottle, extra shoes, and a rock collection for show and tell. It comes in several sizes (I love the very large all black) and so very many colorways.

Lots of my influencer friends have tried to convince me to buy the Alex Mill relaxed canvas tote, but I just can’t. It’s a nice bag at a good price, but it is so specifically of this moment that in five years, it will be buried in my closet. This RdV bag will be carried and used well beyond that because it is so chic and simple.

I own several Cuyana bags — from laptop bags to purses — and this Easy Tote is my second favorite. Yes, second. (Her taller sister is my favorite.) But she is here because she is the one that I use to haul work things, kid things, and travel things. You can buy pouches and organizers to make her less cavernous, but with or without them, she is useful and lovely. The leather also feels buttery and incredible and has held up beautifully over multiple years of carry diaper wipes next to a laptop.

If you want a similar tote in leather or suede, but you need it to cost under-$200, the Quince bags are surprisingly nice. A friend rolls up this woven bag in her suitcase when she travels, and it’s gorgeous in person.

Do you have a favorite work/Mom tote that is just meant to haul things like an 18 wheeler you can sling over your shoulder?

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