As a millennial, I’m not ashamed to say I love TikTok as much as any Gen Zer out there. I was recently scrolling through the app while working from home—er, I mean, after work!—and came across not one, not two, but three different videos all referencing a classic, affordable staple: the L.L.Bean Boat & Tote Canvas Bag ($30). Don’t you love it when the algorithm figures you out?
Showing off a perfectly preppy outfit complete with an L.L.Bean tote, Tiktoker @jesicaelise said: “Very rarely will I let you forget that I spent way too much time at a private school.” I felt that one. The video went viral with nearly half a million views and over 500 comments, with users gushing over their love for the timeless, incredibly durable tote bag, which debuted back in 1944.
I also came across @aileciajones’s video and then finally @mippapiddleton‘s, in which she says she was influenced to buy the tote because of the two aforementioned videos. A lot of people on TikTok adore the monogram service that L.L.Bean’s website offers and have used it to write funny phrases on the bags instead of their names.
And if that wasn’t enough proof of its surging popularity, I’ll also add this: After I pitched this story, our social media manager said she just bought one last week because she saw an image on Pinterest of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy wearing it in 1997. Meanwhile, Chloe Sevigny and Reese Witherspoon carried—get it?—the bag into the 2010s.
While the bag is enjoying newfound fame on TikTok, it has clearly never gone out of style in the 78 years since it came on the market. Scroll down to see the TikToks and celebrity photos, and shop the bag for yourself.
