A tote-ally clear debate…so strap in (with one shoulder… or two)

Side-eyes are being thrown. Shoulder checks are being delivered (especially by backpackers, right into the shoulder where the tote is perched). Friendships? They’re fracturing. A war is on the brink. You can feel it in the glade air, maybe even see it from the top of the Campanile if you squint hard enough. It's brewing somewhere between Crossroads and the Clark Kerr fire trails. 

Now, picture a proper food fight – except instead of food, it's the contents of our chosen school bag. Backpackers hurling notecards, mechanical pencil led, rogue eraser tops, oh and watch out! A TI-84 calculator! Toters retaliate with gum wrappers, clawclips, empty lip glosses, one gold hoop earring, a Café Strada receipt, and a single crumpled paper – the final remnant of a hard week. Pure chaos. And honestly? It could happen any day now.

Just to give you a vision. Thanks AI. 

Lately, the tension between the tote wearers and the backpack advocates has definitely intensified. As I strut through the halls, tote perfectly perched upon my right shoulder, it just feels right. Do I have a pencil? No. Do I have a notebook? Absolutely not. But my lip combo? Girl, duh. And do I think that’s a problem? Not even a little bit. 

And despite looks from backpackers, you shouldn’t either. Because bags have evolved. They’re not just for storage, they’re style statements – full-blown extensions of your outfit. So why should anyone be ashamed? Well, backpackers, this one’s between you and me. 

Growing up, back-to-school shopping always meant picking out the trendiest backpack circulating at the moment, the one that made you feel instantly trendier walking into school (okayy PINK backpack, giveee ittt). But somewhere along the way, totes have started to creep in and steal some of the spotlight. Thus begins a quiet rivalry of sorts, with tote enthusiasts on one side and backpack loyalists on the other. 

Look familiar? It should.

It begins to make you wonder… what does your bag of choice really say about you?       Backpack wearers – are you the practical types, carrying half the library on your shoulders, demanding even weight distribution?                                                                                           Tote wearers – are we the effortlessly stylish ones, strutting down the hallway with only a laptop and a dream? 

Serious vs. Stylish. Functional vs. Fashionable. The debate rages on. 

Personally? You’ll always catch me with a tote. I literally could not care less about the so-called “asymmetrical strain” it’s putting on my dainty little shoulder – why would that matter when the tote perfectly matches my belt? Please. Show me what exactly that Jansport is doing for your fit. 

However, not everyone feels the same way. To help settle the debate, I turned to two of my roommates – each proudly, stubbornly, and quite dramatically camped on opposite sides of the bag spectrum.

My tote-loving friend, Maddie Brown, who owns quite possibly the most extensive (and impressive) collection of tote bags, argues with pride: “I wear totes because it’s like a belt, it adds to your outfit – it adds personality, it adds character, it makes an outfit more put together. It’s like a Mary Poppins bag, you can just throw everything in there.”

The bag is in fact empty… BUT the headband would be NOTHING without the matching tote.

Meanwhile, my backpack-devoted roommate, Zoey Dittmer, fires back defensively, clutching her overused (or as she calls it, “multiuse”) NorthFace backpack: “Totes are not efficient school bags. They lack internal organization, or even zippers to ensure nothing spills out. Anyone who uses a tote as their school bag is simply performative”

Okay but performative ass pose. This is the vibe you get in when wearing a backpack :(

So, while one side insists a tote bag is bottomless magic, the other dismisses it as an impractical chaos – which okay, I can admit to be a little true. But… performative? Ouch. Is carrying a tote performative?? I had to think about that one. And honestly? I think she’s right.                  

And I think I’m obsessed with that. 

Because perhaps that’s what makes a tote such a vibe – it is performative, unapologetically so. It’s a fashion statement, and the runway is the walk between your apartment to Doe. The 10-minute Berkeley time sprint between Dwinelle and Evans. The placement of your collapsed tote by your feet when you sit down for class. Should I go on?

 I don’t just carry a tote. A tote carries me. It carries my outfit, my vibe, and – as a bonus – my MacBook + some lipgloss. 

At the end of the day, both bags simply have their perks and their pitfalls. A tote? Stylish, expressive, and surprisingly capable when it needs to be. A backpack? Dependable, ergonomic, and perfectly able to match a vibe when chosen with care. 

Both bags can do it all – but only one can do it all for you.

 I carry a tote while my best friend sticks with her backpack, and we have been able to carry on our beautiful friendship, coexisting perfectly besides one another (well, she has to stand on my left side since I carry my tote on my right shoulder, but you get the point).

To my tote wearers: I trust you’ve got everything you need tucked away (somewhere in there).                                                                                                                                                  To my backpack wearers: I trust you’re rocking that backpack with the same flare tote wearers reserve for their shoulder bags.

 So, settle all your stuff into your tote, or into your backpack. 

There will be no bag fight. 

Cause I just settled this argument.