Just about everyone knows about my obsession with LL Bean products. Mix that with my love of handbags and things get a little bit dangerous. One of my latest LL Bean purchases does not disappoint one bit.
When we moved, one major downside (about the only one!) is that I’d be standing for my commute of all 5 stations on two different train lines. When we were in Chelsea, my 1 train journey was very much a case of sitting down for 15 minutes with spare seats all around me and then I’d get off the train. I carried my smaller Oroton bag and then would always carry another bag with me for my lunch, magazines, books and other junk I tend to cart around everywhere. Two bags doesn’t cut it when you are trying to balance with your fingertip on a handrail in a packed train – so I knew my two bag days had come to an end and I’d have to look for something more practical. I do not like using a back pack as I like to access stuff at my side and always stress about people opening the bag behind me. So I was left with having to get a large handbag but it is hard to find one that is suitable for work, comfortable to carry, strong enough and also fits over coats in winter comfortably.
I had always been keen on the LL Bean Town and Field Tote. I remember I first saw it on an episode of Martha Stewart which was dedicated to handbags. You can see it near the end of the segment What’s in a bag.When I received a LL Bean gift card for my birthday I ordered the bag that night. Quite simply, it is the best bag I have EVER used. I got the Cordovan color so it would be fine to use in summer and winter and have been really happy with that choice. The lining is a print of ducks, deer, fish and other Maine-like things.
It carries EVERYTHING! My lunchbag, handbag organizer, books, cross stitch, magazines, mail, umbrella, makeup, check book, iPod, iPhone, headphone case, shopping – EVERYTHING. I also used it for my carry on on our flight to Australia. It is hard wearing, classic, has lots of interior pockets and allows me to have both hands free on the train. It is big but comfortably big as it squishes down in size when you don’t have it really full. The only thing that would make it better would be if it had little stoppers on the bottom. But that is a very small fault for what I think is the perfect bag for carrying everything you need.
Reading the reviews on the website alone tell you how good it is. While it isn’t super cute or fashionable it does its job – and when you have your hands full on a packed train every morning – that is all you need!
This is how the bag looks (and the color I chose) –
A couple of times I did the Flickr What’s In Your Bag photo – here is my entry on what I was taking to uni and what I would carry to work. Here is my bag after I got the handbag organizer. This is how it looks before it goes in the bag and this is what it looks like in the bag. That latter black Oroton is the one that I still have and still looks like that. It is fantastic – just not big enough. 🙁