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We’ve tested the updated version of the Cuyana tote we previously recommended, the Classic Easy Tote, and added it as a pick. Cork Felt Coasters
A good tote is for the schlep. One day your tote bag holds your laptop and a couple of books, and the next it holds three bunches of celery and a melon from the farmers market. No matter its size or composition, a tote should be easy to pack and unpack, helpful whether you’re heading to a coffee shop or an office, and attractive and versatile enough for you to drag it to dinner afterward. With eight Wirecutter staffers giving opinions on our top 10 bags, we found the six tote bags we loved that covered a variety of looks, carrying needs, and budgets. And best of all: They made great schlepping partners.
“If I was Sarah Snook on Succession, I would have this bag,” said Wirecutter's Anna Perling during testing. She was contemplating the $250 Leatherology Belmont Structured Tote while referring to the impossibly chic-yet-corporate wardrobe of character Shiv Roy on HBO’s satirical comedy-drama about the owners of a global media empire.
It was an offhand comment about how an accessory can make you feel more deeply yourself, or help you dress up in the armor of someone else. Maybe we aren’t all Siobhan “Shiv” Roy on Succession—but maybe, with the right tote bag, we could look like we are.
Add a tote to your wardrobe if you need a fashionable way to cram all of your supplies into a bag for work, the gym, or the beach and want to be able to grab them easily. Whether you get one tote bag or two, a tote is an accessory that should make you feel prepared, no matter where you are. With the variety of materials and styles available, there may not be a single best tote for everybody, but we did find a range of wonderful ones.
The Baggu Duck Bag is a casual, durable, and comfortable tote bag that comes in a variety of colors for added personalization.
If your greatest wish is for a simple but good-looking, soft and unstructured, versatile canvas bag that lets you carry it multiple ways and will last for years, we recommend the Baggu Duck Bag.
It’s hard to pin the Baggu Duck Bag’s excellence on a single feature, but that’s where its genius lies: Its practical simplicity makes it a more universal choice than any other tote bag we tested. Almost the entire Wirecutter staff has used the Duck Bag before, and during our testing we received a lot of positive feedback about its style.
The Duck Bag is 11 inches wide by nearly 16 inches tall, and its flexible seams mean it can accommodate a large volume of contents. “I can stick my whole yoga mat in there,” one tester told us. And its shoulder strap extends to 40 inches, double the strap length of most totes we tested. You can adjust it to use the bag over your shoulder or carry it on your back, or you can use the short handles to carry it like a briefcase.
“It’s a good, unisex tote bag,” said Wirecutter's Sarah Kobos during testing. Overall, the Duck Bag was the most well-liked canvas bag we tested because of its utilitarian shape and understated appearance.
The Baggu felt sturdy over weeks of testing and didn’t pick up much dirt—and in our experience, the bags have lasted extremely well. Lesley Stockton, our food stylist and senior staff writer on the kitchen team, has owned a Duck Bag for 10 years and has used it for everything from lugging knife rolls and heavy clogs to hauling a giant food processor across New York City. Besides the expected amount of wear and tear, the bag has remained intact without developing any major rips or thin spots. In contrast to the care instructions for our other picks, Baggu recommends machine washing the Duck Bag and line drying it, though you can also wash it by hand.
The Baggu Duck Bag comes with a one-year warranty against defects in material and workmanship, which is common for tote bags, and 65 percent of the 100 percent cotton canvas construction comes from recycled sources.
The Duck Bag’s large main compartment snaps together, and the zippered pouch sewn into its inside is good for your keys, sunglasses, and wallet. “Throw some tampons in there,” said a tester. “No one ever has to know because you don’t ever have to see it!”
Senior staff writer Kaitlyn Wells, who is 5-foot-3, noted that the Baggu hit her body in the wrong place when she was carrying her laptop inside of it. A few of our testers who stood around Kaitlyn’s height also noted this issue, but they found that extending its straps and turning the bag into a crossbody bag helped resolve the problem. We also discovered that items you put into the Duck Bag can poke you through the fabric when you have it slung over your back. In addition, the Baggu is an unconstructed tote, which means that it’s floppy when it’s empty, and it can’t stand on its own until it’s filled with stuff.
Size: 11 by 15¾ by 4¾ inches Weight: 13 ounces Strap length: 40 inches Closure type: snap button Colors: 12 patterns and colors, including “natural grid”, “brown cow”, “pinto”
You can cinch this versatile unstructured tote made from supple Italian leather to create a slimmer silhouette or leave it open to take full advantage of its generous capacity—but with just one small pocket, it isn’t easy to organize.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $250.
The Cuyana Classic Easy Tote is an elegant and lightweight leather bag that’s versatile enough for everyday use. We’d wear it just about anywhere (barring rugged outdoor adventures), as the Easy Tote’s soft, supple leather and unstructured shape give it a relaxed and subtly luxurious vibe that can easily transition from casual outings to a more formal workplace. It’s large enough to carry everything you could need for a long day, but you can also cinch it to create a more purse-like silhouette for lighter loads.
The Classic Easy Tote is a beautiful, spacious leather bag that retails for about $250. Although it’s the most expensive tote we recommend here, we’ve concluded that it’s well worth the money. The soft, pebbled texture of the Italian leather feels luxurious, but it’s not too fancy to use every day—the bag’s unstructured, slightly slouchy shape makes it cool and casually elegant.
At 21½ inches wide by 12¼ inches tall, the Classic Easy Tote is big—we’re talking hiding-an-actress’s-pregnancy-for-TV big—and seriously roomy. It’s equipped with two sets of handles: one, for wearing the bag on your shoulder, features a well-proportioned 10-inch drop, while the other set, with a 6¼-inch drop, is ideal for carrying by hand. The straps are pretty cushy and comfortable to wear and carry, but they don’t look bulky.
Our favorite detail is the Easy Tote’s set of two interior leather straps, which you can tie together to cinch the bag to your desired shape. Tied tight, the Easy Tote transforms into a fetching bucket bag; tied moderately close, a spacious purse; and left undone, a wide-open tote in all its glory. The soft, flexible leather easily conforms to whatever silhouette you choose, making the bag extra versatile.
The Cuyana tote seems well made and long-lasting. It has a two-year warranty, longer than the coverage on any tote we recommend aside from the Filson, which is covered for its lifetime.
The appeal of a big, open-top tote is the ability to throw a lot of stuff in it and carry it everywhere. Aside from its spacious main compartment, the Easy Tote has just one midsize open pocket that’s big enough for the fundamentals, such as a small wallet, a phone, and set of keys. This is not a bag for someone who wants to be hyper-organized, though if you do want that, Cuyana makes a cool-yet-pricey $100 bag organizer sized exactly for this tote.
Aside from its spartan organizational features, we don’t have many bad things to say about this bag. Like our picks from Baggu and Leatherology, this Cuyana tote is unstructured, so if you haven’t filled it and you set it down on the floor or your desk, it won’t stand upright. And those cool internal leather straps can easily come undone if you don’t tie them securely.
Size: 12¼ by 21½ by 5 inches Weight: 1 pound 10 ounces Strap length: 10 inches Closure type: none Colors: black, caramel, cappuccino, stone, dark olive, assorted seasonal colors
The L.L.Bean Boat and Tote is made from heavy canvas that will last you a lifetime, but it doesn’t have any pockets for storage. It comes in four bag sizes, with a variety of handle-size options and colors to choose from.
The L.L.Bean Boat and Tote is a structured and ridiculously sturdy tote bag, well suited to handling the abuse of regular trips to the beach or the grocery store. The Boat and Tote allows you more customizability than any other tote bag we found in size and handle length.
For added security, we recommend it with a zip-top for $10 more.
Textbook tote bags are textbook for a reason, and the L.L.Bean Boat and Tote is no different. You’ve probably seen this bag before—if not in your city’s hip neighborhood, seated next to cool 20-somethings, then maybe at the beach, where parents are secretly packing negronis in their thermos.
The L.L.Bean Boat and Tote looks timeless. Its structured design means it sits upright, and its open top lets you easily reach in and grab something. Even when it’s not full, the bag sits mostly upright, ready to go when you’re grabbing it from the backseat or hurrying to get off the bus. The Boat and Tote is the answer.
The medium Boat and Tote bag is 13 by 12 inches, so it’s slightly wider than it is tall. It also has an open top, so you don’t have the same privacy that the Baggu affords to you (though for $10 more you can get a zip-top version). It’s ideal for grocery shopping; its openness allows you to take stock of the things on your list that you’ve grabbed and then beeline for what’s left.
Whereas the Duck Bag comes in one size, the Boat and Tote offers a range of options: It comes in small, medium, large, and extra-large, and two handle lengths. The standard 6-inch handles allow for better control, while the 11-inch handles accommodate carrying larger objects or slinging the bag comfortably over your shoulder.
The tote is made of heavy-duty cotton canvas and overlapped seams double-stitched with nylon. Thanks to its colored bottom, we didn’t spot any blemishes over the few weeks we tested it. The Baggu Duck Bag is canvas, too, and can tolerate machine washing, but L.L.Bean recommends spot-cleaning this tote. It’s especially structured, which makes it difficult to fold up and put away in a dresser. L.L.Bean claims that the bag’s straps are rated to hold up to 500 pounds; as I am unable to hold more than 150 pounds without crying, we were not able to test this claim.
The people in my life who love the Boat and Tote are adamant that it is the best tote bag you can buy, to the point of annoyance. Admittedly, it is that good. Although L.L.Bean no longer offers a lifetime warranty, its guarantee is solid: You can return the tote within one year of purchase, and after that, L.L.Bean will consider returns due to defective materials.
As we mentioned above, the L.L.Bean’s sturdy, upright construction may qualify as a flaw to some people, since you won't be able to fold it up to stick it in a drawer. It also doesn’t have any pockets, which may be annoying. As a result, it leans on your ability to organize (though we can help with that).
Size: 13 by 12 by 6 inches Weight: 1 pound 8 ounces Strap length: 6 inches Closure type: none (optional zippered version for $10 more) Colors: 10 colors, including black, blue, dark green, red, “natural”
A higher-end canvas tote, Filson’s Rugged Twill is lightweight, well constructed, and equipped with leather handles and an excellent warranty.
If you’ve been searching for a lightweight, well-constructed tote that will suit any occasion, whether you’re working at the office or planning to take your bag along on a romantic lakeside weekend away, grab the more refined Filson Rugged Twill Tote Bag.
Although inexpensive canvas totes are great to have for a quick grocery trip, turn to the Filson Rugged Twill Tote Bag when you want the catch-all qualities of a canvas tote and need to look like you’ve got it all together, too. Its simple but elevated design means that it can come with you to a prix fixe dinner out but also for a day of running errands and doing chores.
The Filson Rugged Twill Tote Bag is 14 inches wide by 14 inches tall, wider than our other canvas picks. It has four, expansive outer pockets: two large ones on its longer sides and smaller pockets suited to water bottles or umbrellas at its shorter ends. One of its bigger outside pockets also contains a key-clip lanyard. The bag’s sleek handles, made from bridle leather, give it a touch more sophistication than its competition offers, too. Editor Tim Barribeau described the look as “farmers market goth.”
Our staff panel ranked the Rugged Twill Tote Bag second among all the tote bags we tried, even above more refined leather options. “I feel like I could take this tote bag anywhere," said one tester. Another appreciated the Rugged Twill Tote Bag for its side pockets, comparing it favorably to the Bellroy Tokyo Tote, saying, “The Bellroy and the Filson are artsy PTA moms, but the Filson signifies a coolness that the Bellroy doesn’t. She reads Sally Rooney; she does pottery.”
The Filson Rugged Twill Tote Bag is made from 100 percent cotton abrasion-resistant and water-repellent twill. The canvas is stiff enough that the bag can stand up on its own, and the inner seams are bound to protect them from fraying. It has a reinforced base, too. Filson recommends cleaning the bag by wiping it or brushing it.
The bag is well built and feels like it could last for years. If you’re not convinced by the bag’s added charisma vis-à-vis its outer pockets and leather handles, the Filson Rugged Twill Tote Bag comes with a lifetime warranty (the only bag to do so among our recommendations).
You get a main compartment with four side pockets; two are about the same width as the bag and can fit a 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the other two are about the size of a stylish water bottle.
The handles on the Filson Tote were stiff at first, but they softened over a few weeks. Some of our testers expressed wishes for an inside pocket, too.
Size: 14 by 14 by 5¼ inches Weight: 1 pound 12 ounces Strap length: 29½ inches Closure type: none Colors: “twine”, red, tan
The simply designed Leatherology Uptown is enveloped in a rich, full-grain leather and has a surprising number of pockets inside.
*At the time of publishing, the price was $185.
The Leatherology Uptown Vertical Tote is an attractive, versatile, and unstructured leather bag whose bohemian elegance makes it easier to dress up than similarly drapey canvas bags.
This leather tote is one of a more expensive breed of bag that allows for a sophisticated take on the everyday canvas tote. In many ways it’s an elevated version of the similarly unstructured Baggu bag. It could come along on a picnic, sure, but we think a simple, sleek tote like the Uptown Vertical Tote will do its best work when you’re headed to a spot where you need to impress, such as at a job interview, or if you need to carry a few things to a Valentine’s Day dinner after work.
The Uptown Vertical Tote is 14¾ inches wide by 15½ inches tall. “It's the perfect length,” said one tester. “I could fit my laptop in here without anyone knowing.” It has three inner pockets; on one side it has two deep, open pockets with a gorgeous leather trim along their top, while on the other side it has a shorter, wider zippered pocket for storing a wallet or keys. Its shoulder straps put it at an ideal height underneath my arms, and other testers—of varying heights—liked them, too.
When it came time for staff votes, the Uptown Vertical Tote handily beat every other leather tote bag option we tested—people loved this bag. It landed near the top slot on everyone’s list.
Wirecutter's Anna Perling couldn’t stop spouting effusive compliments when she finally got her hands on the tote. A snippet: “My favorite; I love her so much. She feels buttery-soft! Beautiful texture.” Our photographer agreed: “I want to touch this one forever. It feels so supple.” (The amount of emphasis necessary to convey all of our testers’ general excitement over this bag is perhaps surprising but well deserved.)
The Leatherology Uptown Vertical Tote is a joy to touch in part because it’s made from full-grain leather. It has a black cotton-twill lining that works as a protective barrier against any spills or messes that might plague it. Leatherology recommends simply wiping the bag clean if you get its exterior dirty.
The Leatherology Uptown Vertical Tote comes with a one-year warranty, which is standard among the tote bags we tested.
Inside the Leatherology Uptown Vertical Tote, you’ll find two open pockets and one zippered pocket. (A surprising amount of organization for a leather tote.) While its two open pockets start around a quarter of the way down and extend to the bottom, its zippered pocket starts about a quarter of the way down and extends about halfway.
Like the Baggu Duck Bag, the Leatherology Uptown Vertical Tote is an unstructured bag, which means that when you place it on the ground, it collapses onto the floor. Although some Wirecutter testers liked that it didn’t button or zip on the outside, other testers wished they had a way to close the bag at its top. One tester said, “I would like a button so that if you drop it, your belongings don’t go flying everywhere.”
Size: 14¾ by 15½ by 3½ inches Weight: 2 pounds 4 ounces Strap length: 9½ inches Closure type: none Colors: black, Bordeaux, navy, tan
The Universal Hayden Tote Bag is a great choice for anyone who doesn’t want to drop their entire paycheck on a genuine leather tote bag.
The Universal Thread Hayden Tote Handbag is the bag we’d bring to a fellowship straight out of college—its faux leather belies its affordable price.
The Universal Thread Hayden Tote Handbag is a vegan leather bag, and it’s a great leather-style option if you avoid leather goods or want the leather look but don’t want to carry leather made from cowhide. It has more pockets than many of the totes we tested: If the Cuyana tote is the most impractical design pocket-wise, the Hayden may be the most organizationally practical—and reasonably priced—leather-style tote we tested. Its size allows it to sit comfortably on the shoulder, and it can fit a variety of goods underneath its top zipper, too.
The Hayden Tote Handbag is 11¼ inches wide and 13½ inches tall. Both of its leather-style brethren in this guide are much wider and taller, but they typically cost at least five times as much. It has one open pocket on the outside and three interior pockets hidden below a top zipper, an added-security feature that we liked.
On one hand, many Wirecutter testers immediately identified it as being cheaper than the other leather and leather-style options on the table. (“I freaking hate this bag.”) On the other hand, many other testers found it at the very least “fine,” and we think that if you’re spending $30, “fine” is an okay way to feel.
The Universal Thread Hayden Tote Handbag’s exterior is made from polyurethane, and its inside is lined with polyester. It doesn’t feel outstandingly constructed; its straps didn’t seem strong during testing, and its stitching threatened to come loose more than once. Although it may last only a year or so, it generally costs a sixth the price of leather totes we liked.
The Universal Thread Hayden Tote Handbag has lots of pockets and organization: one slip on the outside and three inner pockets (one zippered). The cherry on top is its zip closure, which keeps everything inside protected—but there are still gaps between the zipper and the sides of the bag, so it isn’t weather resistant.
The Universal Thread Hayden Tote Handbag isn’t the cutest we tested: Its one outside pocket was the most divisive feature on any of the bags we tested. People hated it. A pocket on the exterior of a bag is a nice perk, though, and you can easily turn the bag so that the pocket is toward your body and hidden out of sight, both because it’s kind of eyesore and because your possessions are safer that way.
Many Wirecutter testers took issue with the Hayden’s zipper top, which doesn’t cover all the way across. That’s true—if it starts raining, water can easily sneak past the zipper top and into your bag—but the added security is nice.
We tested the Hayden in light brown, which proved to be a pleasant and multipurpose color. Many of the other versions of the bag are aggressively unpleasant to look at—but as long as you stick to brown or black, you should be fine.
Testers noted that its straps weren’t strong, its stitching threatened to come loose, and it might wear out after a year of use.
Size: 11¼ by 13½ by 5¼ inches Weight: 1 pound 8 ounces Strap length: 23¼ inches Closure type: zipper Colors: taupe
I’ve spent hundreds of hours researching and testing for various Wirecutter guides over the past three years, including those for laptop backpacks and touchscreen winter gloves, so I’m well equipped to take on a guide that integrates utility with style. In addition to perusing content from other style outlets on the topic of totes, I scoured best-seller listings for popular online retailers like Amazon and well-worn favorites from Baggu to Linjer.
We put together a list of more than 40 tote bags from manufacturers that were well known and respected (such as Baggu, Cuyana, Filson, and L.L.Bean) and from smaller brands with outstanding editorial and customer reviews (like Leatherology, Linjer, and Steele Canvas), along with a handful of highly rated totes sold on Amazon.
We looked at totes that were large enough to hold a 12-inch laptop along with a book, a notebook, an umbrella, pens, a USB battery pack, a pair of headphones, and some charging cables. We didn’t universally look for total enclosures, laptop slots, or waterproofing, as we did for our guides to laptop totes and purse organizers. We then narrowed our list of bags down to 20 totes based on specifications, aesthetics, materials, and a variety of prices.
When we received the bags, we spent a few weeks testing the contenders before finally assembling a panel of nine Wirecutter employees—all with different bag uses and situations in mind as well as a variety of aesthetic sensibilities—to test the final 10 totes and see if we couldn’t come to some happy conclusions together. Our testers rated the bags on look, feel, size, weight, usefulness, material, and durability.
In testing, I loved the Linjer Soft Tote for its smooth texture and sturdy straps, but it costs nearly $400—at least double what our other leather-style tote bags cost—and we couldn’t justify its price. Some testers also took issue with its rounded straps, though I personally liked them. The more expensive leather tote bags we recommend here were just as good as the Soft Tote was in our tests, so we passed.
Although I had high hopes for the Steele Canvas Steeletex Beach Tote going into testing (it’s cute, it’s black, and it’s even utilitarian), our Wirecutter panel did not like the look or feel of it, preferring the L.L.Bean overall. Testers were confounded by this bag’s nylon material and the brass grommets on its bottom (which were meant to help shake out unwanted sand from the beach). I think the Steele Canvas looks chic, and though it may not be as useful as the L.L.Bean, it deserves credit for being a great beach bag.
The Bellroy Tokyo Tote 2, one of our picks for the best laptop tote bag, was available only in an earlier design iteration when we first started testing for this guide. Although we think this version is a fantastic tote for commuting to the office—especially with its copious internal organization, its protective laptop area, and its durable zip-top closure—it’s stiffer and not as deep as our other picks, so it isn’t a standout choice for a daily carryall.
We were drawn to the Baggu Giant Pocket Tote’s splashy selection of patterns and cool front pocket design. Unfortunately, this tote was hilariously big and baggy and had not even a wisp of structure, so it crumpled as soon as we emptied it. The denim design that we tested (no longer available) looked as if a pair of very large jeans had been torn apart, restitched, and sold under a guise of usefulness. It was not useful.
The Dalix Heavy Duty Cotton Canvas Tote had notably weak stitching, despite being one of the most popular tote bags sold on Amazon. It was structurally similar to the L.L.Bean Boat and Tote, at just a third of the price. But if you want something that will last for a while, we recommend saving up for the L.L.Bean instead. One of our writers and testers told us, “I know that L.L.Bean has really high quality standards, and a great warranty policy. I can tell, touching the Dalix, that it’s not as nice.”
We found that the Herschel Terrace Tote (no longer available) was too big and baggy for everyday use: Multiple times we smacked into people on the subway with it, and the material made what could’ve felt like a thinnish bag look puffy, bloated, and uncomfortable.
Multiple testers described the Leatherology Belmont Structured Tote as “matronly.” Many people said that they liked it but that it was not for them. When you have a group of people saying that, you begin to realize that the Belmont may not be for anybody. And it usually costs $200. Although it’s a nice tote, it didn’t fit for any situation we could find.
Like the Belmont, the Leatherology Zippered Downtown Tote is quite expensive, and it faced more criticism in our initial rounds of testing than the other leather bags. It was ugly to look at, according to testers, and its pebbled material was a mark against it rather than for it.
The Lululemon Pack the Pocket Tote was baggy and had no structure, and it’s discontinued now.
We found the Madewell Transport Tote too narrow compared with our other leather bag picks.
Although we expected the Nisolo Canvas Tote to be smaller compared with its competition, it was much too narrow and thin to use every day, like the Madewell bag. The Baggu, which we found infinitely more useful, was half its price; the Filson, while double its price, was sturdier and offered an improved warranty, too.
The Nodykka Tote Bag is an affordable vegan leather tote bag from Amazon, but absolutely no one in our initial tests liked it. The straps were too thin and flimsy for some testers, and the feel of the bag itself was too wobbly for others.
The Patagonia Market Tote felt too much like a free printed tote, even though it offered a small inside pocket for added storage. It was cute but not comparable to its competition, and not worth its $30 asking price. But if this is something you’re looking for, it’s otherwise fine.
Justin Krajeski is a former staff writer reporting on everyday carry at Wirecutter. He previously wrote about tech at Wirecutter. He carries things every day. He’s very well versed in carrying.
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Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times. Our journalists combine independent research with (occasionally) over-the-top testing so you can make quick and confident buying decisions. Whether it’s finding great products or discovering helpful advice, we’ll help you get it right (the first time).
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