You can tell a lot about a person by the bag they’re carrying.
Not just the style of it. Not the color or the shape or whether it matches the outfit. But what’s actually inside.
A tote filled with notebooks, sketches, samples, and a laptop moves differently through the world than the same tote carrying sunscreen, fruit, a paperback, and a beach towel.
One walks quickly. Purposefully. Head full of lists and ideas and timelines.
The other lingers.
A new mom might carry crayons, crackers, tiny toys, wipes, and emergency snacks packed in a Dumpling bag between her own things. Her bag revealing that her day revolves around caring for (or distracting) someone else.
Another woman in her Dumpling bag carries reading glasses, ibuprofen, receipts folded too many times, safety pins, battery packs, lipstick - Not because she’s disorganized, but because life has simply become layered.
It's and interesting idea - that what we carry changes how we carry ourselves.
It fascinates me. That our bags hold the evidence of our actual lives. The practical parts. The hopeful parts. The chaotic parts. The prepared parts. The season we’re currently in.
We choose how our bags look from the outside to complete an outfit - to finish the story that our clothing and other accessories are already telling. But what’s inside the bag tells a more honest one.
It reveals what someone values enough to keep close.
What they’re responsible for.
What they’re preparing for.
What they can’t leave home without.
What they’re afraid of forgetting.
What kind of day they expect to have.
And sometimes, the bag itself becomes part of that identity.
From the beginning, Sapana carried bags.
Block print pouches. Vintage embroidery. Suzani pieces. Dhurrie totes and clutches. Before blanket coats became the thing people recognized us for, our bags were often the first thing customers carried home from us.
This edit revisits that part of that story, with some explanations behind our chosen patterns and colors. You're also going to see some new pieces too. And, I'm excited to share those stories as well.
What we carry says more than we realize. Having put that idea out there .... I think I'm going to go clean out my purse. ;)
The Carried Edit drops Thursday, May 21st at 7:30pm