Is This the Best Travel Tote of All Time?
Finally! A bag that looks no worse for the wear. (Photo: FashionABLE)
I should not have nice things. This is a refrain my mother has told me over and over again due to the fact that I have a tendency to destroy every expensive and classy thing I have ever owned. I’ve never hung a purse properly up on a hook. I put things on the ground that should never touch dirt. Cookies often find a way to crumble in my bag and one time I got gum all over the bottom of a beautiful Mulberry Bayswater.
I also tend to carry a lot of things with me in a carry-on bag, trying to fit my entire life into one fashionable tote. And even though I know that it is more practical I still believe that using a backpack as a carry-on is for quitters.
I recently got my hands on the Mamuye Tote from FashionABLE and I have fallen in love with it. Not only is this leather shoulder tote roomy, but it looks better the worse I treat it!
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The bag itself is spacious, sturdy, and can hold all of the ridiculous things I insist on carrying. And when I get it dirty or wet or covered in crumbs it just has added character.
Road testing the tote on a stroll around the Eiffel Tower in Paris. (Photo: Goncalo Silva/Flytographer)
The cool thing is that the story behind it is equally as compelling. FashionABLE employs women who have overcome a variety of hardships, ranging from prostitution to addiction to homelessness to a general lack of opportunity. Globally, they work with women in Ethiopia and Kenya to create their gorgeous leather products (like my new beloved bag) and woven goods like scarves, blankets, and tea towels. Locally, they employ women in Nashville, TN, to hand-make their extensive jewelry collection.
The bag has become a favorite of celebs like Julianne Hough, Minka Kelly and Olivia Wilde.
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In the past four months I’ve taken the bag on 10 planes to Paris, Aspen, Sun Valley Idaho, Cannes and Milwaukee. Very different places to be sure, but it fit right in at each locale from a very fancy party with the President of France to a snow polo tournament in Aspen (it’s a thing!) to a dive bar in the Midwest.
The Mamuye comfortably fits my computer, my wallet, my yoga pants, two hardcover books, my passport, a bag of snacks and my makeup case. This is the tote hanging out in the South of France at the Intercontinental. (Photo: Jo Piazza)
The company also has some small leather items that I will be adding to my collection before my next trip, like this passport wallet and this luggage tag.
If you haven’t gotten a holiday present from me yet then it’s probably still in the mail. Yes, now you all know what I got you this year. You’re welcome and don’t worry about getting it dirty.
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