What’s In My Bag(s)

My gym bag, my work bag, my carry on bag… every bag

There’s been a serious uptick in Y2K-era-magazine-style content lately. Here in SubstackLand we’re seeing letters from the editors, “get the look for less” round ups, and newsletter layouts referencing the teen catalogs we used to beg our moms to buy us in the checkout line. Over on Instagram, accounts like @takethetoysfromtheboys and @anniecollage have practically turned their feeds into the pages of a pre-social-media September issue, complete with runway recaps and collages galore. J.Crew finally brought their catalog back after years of begging from their army of devoted fans.

But one thing that never left us (aside from a feverish obsession with the Olsen twins) is the time-honored “What’s in my bag?” feature. Vogue has a popular bag series on each of their YouTube channels (American, British, and French)—Emma Watson’s bag tour alone has racked up 14 million views. Harper’s Bazaar UK does a version called “Inside My Beauty Bag” that focuses on—you guessed it—beauty products. Even Amoeba Records does their own version.

I lap up every single one of them.

What is it about the contents of someone’s bag that is so captivating? When done honestly, loose Tic Tacs and crumpled receipts included, it’s a peek into the bag owner’s daily life. I love knowing that Stassi Schroeder has accidentally been carrying around three bottles of eye drops and a Slim Jim for who knows how long. Alexa Chung has endometriosis, a fact I know because she told us so as she pulled Nurofen out of her Chanel bag. Emma Roberts keeps an “anxiety rag” in her bag: a shredded piece of fabric to use as a sort of fidget spinner/comfort blankie. Fascinating!

And I’m not the first to it in the newsletter space, by any means:

Grace Atwood

recently wrote about what’s in her travel bag,

Michele Ouellet

filmed a charming little video version for her newsletter, and

Erika Veurink

shared my sentiment that the “What’s in my bag?” schtick is never going out of style.

So in the spirit of all those who have come before me, I present you with my own “What’s in my bag?” feature. This doesn’t stop at my everyday bag, though; we’re peeking into all of my bags—my gym bag, work tote, out-to-dinner pouch, carry-on, and poolside stash included.