What backpack is your tween using this fall?

[Anonymous]

Mine has one from LLBean. I've seen a few LLBean, a few Lulu and a few Jansports. LLBean is great - this is our third. She got new ones for PK3, 1st and 5th. She's going into 8th now. Maybe we'll get another next year for high school. But they hold up really well so it will be more for style than for necessity.

[Anonymous]

At my girl’s private, I’ve seen a bunch of large Longchamp Le pliages making a comeback.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At my girl’s private, I’ve seen a bunch of large Longchamp Le pliages making a comeback.

Guess I’m not the only one that noticed:

[twitter]https://www.businessinsider.com/longchamp-le-pliage-most-popular-back-to-school-bag-2024-8?op=1[/twitter]

[Anonymous]

[twitter]https://www.businessinsider.com/longchamp-le-pliage-most-popular-back-to-school-bag-2024-8?op=1[/twitter]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]https://www.businessinsider.com/longchamp-le-pliage-most-popular-back-to-school-bag-2024-8?op=1[/twitter]

Even the large ones are not very roomy. Based on what my middle school drags around in her backpack it wouldn’t work. Plus they don’t have the various pockets with zippers, water holder and others. They are nice looking but practicality wins out.

[Anonymous]

^^DP there’s cheap organizers on Amazon to put inside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]https://www.businessinsider.com/longchamp-le-pliage-most-popular-back-to-school-bag-2024-8?op=1[/twitter]

Even the large ones are not very roomy. Based on what my middle school drags around in her backpack it wouldn’t work. Plus they don’t have the various pockets with zippers, water holder and others. They are nice looking but practicality wins out.

My middle schooler often wears her backpack one shoulder only, early 2000s style. But I think the handles of a Longchamp would break her shoulder even more than what she is doing already.

Is no one else here a veteran of the tote bag as backpack era?

[Anonymous]

Jansport, North Face, LL Bean, Cotopaxi, Yeti

The last two are if you travel a lot and want to get just a single backpack that works for school, travel, camping, and everything else. I really love my Cotopaxi. Otherwise, most kids at school have one of the first three.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine's using last year's version of this: https://www.landsend.com/products/kids-classmate-backpacks/id_393365?attributes=8833,43321,43376,44151,44623 Northface also makes great backpacks that are more durable but also bigger.

Lands End is just cruel to buy for a tween.

North Face or plain old Jansport.

NP. Why?

There's nothing wrong with Lands End, some of my DD's friends have them. That PP is just a rich nasty snob. Normal kids have Lands End, kids whose moms' sole purpose in life is to stay pretty so her lawyer husband won't leave her maybe don't have them.

Plenty of rich lawyers buy their kids Land’s End and LL Bean. In fact, those brands are popular among that set and their backpacks cost more than a Jansport.

We’re talking about middle school girls. [b] Why would parents be choosing their backpacks? My 7th grader chose a Lululemon backpack, black with small black logo so you can’t see it. Not something I would choose but I’m not carrying it. When her friends come over they dump their backpacks and I wouldn’t have any idea where they all got there’s. I think anything goes with backpacks, they all have different taste.

I took my teen to LL Bean and said "pick a backpack large enough to fit your stuff" and she picked out a pretty mint green backpack. We're not made of money, my kids don't get a new bag every year and they're not buying whatever brand is popular at any given timer. That's just now how we operate, and it's never been an issue. I guess I've done a good job not raising materialistic brand obsessed kids.

She picked her own style backpack, you just picked the store so it’s not about you.

I looked online just googled kids backpacks and they all look the same. I couldn’t tell what company each of them was from. It’s the colors and designs that are different.

I don't know what you're talking about but PP said parents shouldn't be choosing their kids backpack and I was responding that I picked the store and my kid picked the backpack. I see absolutely nothing wrong with that - LL Bean has a good warranty (although not as good as it used to be) and the products are good quality. I know it will last a long time. And my kid has been happy with her backpack for years, so I don't know why I'm being criticized. No, LL Bean is not the height of fashion, but my kid doesn't care.

You’re not being criticized

[Anonymous]

My DD used an LL Bean backpack all through middle school, and it still looks brand new. For high school, she wanted a new backpack. Her first choice for style was Fjallraven, but she settled for a Jansport based on price and practicality (size, pockets, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine's using last year's version of this: https://www.landsend.com/products/kids-classmate-backpacks/id_393365?attributes=8833,43321,43376,44151,44623 Northface also makes great backpacks that are more durable but also bigger.

Lands End is just cruel to buy for a tween.

North Face or plain old Jansport.

NP. Why?

There's nothing wrong with Lands End, some of my DD's friends have them. That PP is just a rich nasty snob. Normal kids have Lands End, kids whose moms' sole purpose in life is to stay pretty so her lawyer husband won't leave her maybe don't have them.

Lands End and Jansport are the same price but the latter isn’t babyish. It IS cruel to purposely buy lame gear and make kids social targets when it’s easily avoidable.

My daughter just asked for a Lands End backpack, so I bought it for her. It isn’t babyish at all. Just looks like a regular backpack. https://www.landsend.com/products/kids-classmate-large-backpack/id_337384?attributes=30936,43321,43555,43562

She is well-liked and very nice (not a mean girl at all). I doubt it will make her a social target.

This backpack is nice/fine and versatile. I agree not to get something with big hearts all over it, but a solid backpack or maybe a stripe in a color like red/green/black/navy is something I see a lot. You just don’t want a print that looks like the pottery barn backpack my first grader wears.

PP here w the Lands End backpack w rainbow hearts (yeah, I don't know why I'm back here, either). I did ask them if they might reconsider the design, which they might soon find too little-kiddish, but they confirmed this is the one they wanted. Maybe relevant, maybe not: tween is nonbinary, has eclectic tastes, would rather stand out in terms of style than go w the crowd, has many loyal friends and is widely liked, is one of the few kids in their grade who's never been bullied. I have absolutely no interest in encouraging anyone, let alone my kid, to moderate their taste bc they might become a social target by others who find it "lame," "babyish," etc. If and when that happens - over a backpack, something else, or nothing at all - we'll deal w it and become stronger for it.

YMMV, as w all things.

[Anonymous]

Do nobody's kids use State bags? That's what all the kids at our private elementary use. Many of the designs are babyish but there are plain ones too. But I wonder if style is evolving past State for middle school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do nobody's kids use State bags? That's what all the kids at our private elementary use. Many of the designs are babyish but there are plain ones too. But I wonder if style is evolving past State for middle school.

I’ve only seen State bags in the younger elementary kids at my youngest kid’s school. Once kids have an opinion about their backpack they usually aren’t choosing these.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do nobody's kids use State bags? That's what all the kids at our private elementary use. Many of the designs are babyish but there are plain ones too. But I wonder if style is evolving past State for middle school.

The families at my kids' public school are not going to waste their money on a $200+ backpack, that's absurd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine's using last year's version of this: https://www.landsend.com/products/kids-classmate-backpacks/id_393365?attributes=8833,43321,43376,44151,44623 Northface also makes great backpacks that are more durable but also bigger.

Lands End is just cruel to buy for a tween.

North Face or plain old Jansport.

NP. Why?

There's nothing wrong with Lands End, some of my DD's friends have them. That PP is just a rich nasty snob. Normal kids have Lands End, kids whose moms' sole purpose in life is to stay pretty so her lawyer husband won't leave her maybe don't have them.

Lands End and Jansport are the same price but the latter isn’t babyish. It IS cruel to purposely buy lame gear and make kids social targets when it’s easily avoidable.

My daughter just asked for a Lands End backpack, so I bought it for her. It isn’t babyish at all. Just looks like a regular backpack. https://www.landsend.com/products/kids-classmate-large-backpack/id_337384?attributes=30936,43321,43555,43562

She is well-liked and very nice (not a mean girl at all). I doubt it will make her a social target.

This backpack is nice/fine and versatile. I agree not to get something with big hearts all over it, but a solid backpack or maybe a stripe in a color like red/green/black/navy is something I see a lot. You just don’t want a print that looks like the pottery barn backpack my first grader wears.

PP here w the Lands End backpack w rainbow hearts (yeah, I don't know why I'm back here, either). I did ask them if they might reconsider the design, which they might soon find too little-kiddish, but they confirmed this is the one they wanted. Maybe relevant, maybe not: tween is nonbinary, has eclectic tastes, would rather stand out in terms of style than go w the crowd, has many loyal friends and is widely liked, is one of the few kids in their grade who's never been bullied. I have absolutely no interest in encouraging anyone, let alone my kid, to moderate their taste bc they might become a social target by others who find it "lame," "babyish," etc. If and when that happens - over a backpack, something else, or nothing at all - we'll deal w it and become stronger for it.

YMMV, as w all things.

THANK YOU. This, exactly. God help the kids who are growing up with parents telling them that the stuff they like is lame.