glass_icarus | a completely frivolous post

Since I am having bag trauma at the moment, you guys can perhaps benefit from my headaching?

The trouble with me and bags is that I am well-indoctrinated by my mother, who believes that having many pockets is THE BEST THING EVER, and I happen to concur. While you may have noticed that I'm not the most organized person (I mean, just look at the contents of this journal!), I am a sucker for good organization systems when it comes to things what I carry around all the time. The 30+ year old leather bag my mom handed down to me is still my favorite and it has set my standard for "reasonable/practical design" pretty high. The thing has DIVIDED SECTIONS in addition to various useful pockets, okay? I can put books and my laptop and umbrella and wallet in there and still have room for all kinds of random stuff! And I can find everything I need in it in 10 seconds or less!

The only downside to it is that it's heavy (I don't so much mind the beaten-up), and I've become accustomed to the more lightweight cloth bag I've been toting around. Which... I'd keep using, but NOT ENOUGH POCKETS. I already hate digging around in the un-pocketed clutter for everything I'm looking for, and school will definitely exacerbate that problem. Also, I ~~am lazy when it comes to switching bags~~ love multipurpose things and would prefer to have a fairly durable (& if non-waterproof, washable) bag that will serve equally well for school, dance practice, grocery runs, various goings-out in the city, and random short-period travel adventures/overnight stays. *g* I am demanding, I know! And this isn't even getting into my aesthetic preferences!

Anyway, I am still trying to decide on something that meets my criteria, but here is a brief rundown of several makers of (what I consider) nice bags on etsy:

» sineminugur: really nice & practical designs, cute fabric choices; okay budget-wise & shipping-wise
» ikabags: ecofriendly, practically designed, cute fabric choices; not low-budget & awful shipping costs
» namu: I like the shinkansen designs, but not so practically-pocketed; pretty good budget-wise & shipping-wise
» CrazyBoy: nice practical bags; less okay budget-wise & shipping-wise
» tippythai: stylish and practical (some designs more so than others), water resistant fabrics available; okay budget-wise & shipping-wise

Alternate suggestions/thoughts would be more than welcome!

eta; I has achieved a satisfyingly-pocketed solution! \o/ (I still think the etsy ones win on style, though.)