I have always been a fan of the backpack and having a backpack that might stand out from the crowd a little bit. Like, if you’re going to sling luggage onto your back for the whole world to see, it should make a statement, yes?
My senior year of college, I was sitting outside of my sorority house and a kid from the theater dorm walked by with a lime green and electric orange Reptar backpack. I immediately knew I had to have it and hightailed it to the Hot Topic at Quakerbridge Mall. I was informed by their friendly employee, Jeff (yes- I still remember him) that it could be shipped to the store at no extra cost but there was one left in the country. In Hawaii. My Reptar backpack came to me from Hawaii. And I called Jeff at least three times to make sure that it was still on its way to me. Flash forward to film school, where I was running on coffee and raw energy between work, commuting to GW, and living out of my backpack- Reptar was there. Every Warped Tour since 2011? Reptar was there. When I left my backpack on the metro full of my gym clothes for the week? Reptar was still there, waiting for me at the Glenmont station for me to come retrieve it. The senior superlative I was given by the admissions office where I worked in college was, “Caroline ‘Reptar’ Downing, Rider’s Favorite Rugrat.” My friend Nathan recently introduced me to his friends with the opener, “This is Caroline. She broke into the zoo once and has a giraffe onesie and a Reptar backpack.” I freaking love that silly backpack, and it has almost taken on a personality of its own.
But let’s be honest. I’m closer to 30 than I am to 21 (ew) and dinosaurs are not office appropriate, even if if just for lugging my yoga stuff to the office and beyond. I had a Deux Lux backpack that I loved, but it wasn’t quite big enough for work. Then, as per usual, Target came in clutch and I found a black, marble pattern backpack that was a steal on clearance from the Eddie Borgo collab. It’s the best size, still fun, and I don’t feel foolish using it in a non-playful setting. I don’t think there’s any shame in the backpack game, but I am glad that I found one more suited for my adult life. With that I bring you backpack picks that put the “fun” in “functional”- some ridiculous and some you can totally pull off as adult-ish.
1.Pink Contrast Bow Backpack||2.Betsey Johnson BETSEYFIED GUMBALL BACKPACK||3.CATS MEOW BACKPACK||4.Crocodile Embossed Metal Bar Accent Backpack||5.Grey Eyes Pattern PU Backpack||6.Urban Originals ‘Lola’ Perforated Backpack||7.Amici Accessories Faux Leather Quilted Backpack||8.Herschel Supply Co. Mini Heritage Backpack||9.French Connection Indy Marble-Print Nylon Backpack||10.Marc by Marc Jacobs Domo Arigato Milk Marble Mini Packrat||11.Leeza Marble-Print Mini Backpack||12.Gabriella Rocha Lavinia Backpack with Fringe||13.Neiman Marcus Isla Faux-Leather Backpack||14.Herschel Supply Co. Heritage Petite Backpack||15.Charlie||16.Dawson||17.Monty
{the last three are Urban Expressions– use my code CLOVE25 to get 25% off backpacks 15, 16, 17 and anything else on their site!}
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