Backpack alternatives for high school girls

[Jenny3]

I'd check Macy's or outlet stores for clearance totes; you could find a great deal on a designer bag and get the warranty too

Not sure what her style is, but maybe a Thirty-One bag? I have a few of those and they seem pretty rugged, although not sure about carrying heavy books every day. Maybe Abercrombie? Or Hollister? Also check out TJMaxx or Marshall's - they often get in good, quality name brand bags for much less.

When my DD was 15, she too wanted a tote vs a backpack. We got her one at American Eagle. After about a week of carrying it, she pulled out the Jansport backpack. Style was not worth the uncomfortable back pain

 

[jrmasm]

Another brand to consider, Lesportsac. They may be a little more than what you want to spend but it's not hard to find them discounted. They make a lot of different styles and have many patterns.

 

[tikistitch]

I think you should just set a budget for your daughter and let her find what she wants that holds everything within that budget, regardless of what brand it is. Explain to her that this is the last bag you will buy for her and if anything happens to it or it gets stolen, she will have to work to earn money and save for a new one.

A bag from LL Bean, Abercrombie, Pink by Victoria's Secret, or Aeropostale is still a brand name, and can be just as expensive as buying a Coach bag on clearance at Macy's or Dillards, or from the Coach outlet. As long as it stays on the budget you set, let her research options and find the right bag. She may be able to find a sturdy alternative from a store like Ross or Marshalls, but it might run the risk of still being a name brand.

 

[momof3ds]

I'd laugh at my kid if she came to me complaining about this. My answer would be use a backpack or get a job and buy whatever bag you want with your own money.

My kids use the same backpacks for 2-3 years (lands end or ll bean). Then, they get a new one. Last year, my oldest (10) said her friends were asking her why she didn't get a new bag for the new school year. I told her she didn't need a new one. Well, a friend gave her something she got for free and it lasted about a month. Back to the original backpack she went.

 

[Leajess99]

Dd15 has to carry a ton of books around for school. Evidently, it is trendy to have your parents shell out many hundreds of dollars for you to have a huge Coach bag for this purpose, but sadly, dd has the wrong parents.

I've bought her a couple of huge purse-type bags and while she likes the look, they don't hold up. She just had the straps come off the third one for the year so far. She also admits that her friends trash the expensive Coach bags with some frequency, but mom and dad just buy new ones.

Last year, she used a Vera Bradley tote. It worked great, but evidently, no tenth grader would be caught dead carrying a VB tote.

If you have a high school girl and she needs to carry a big school bag, what does she carry that will last more than a month, not cost a fortune and doesn't make her a social pariah?

My daughter has my old LL Bean backpack from when I was in college but she stopped carrying it and now just carries one of the drawstring bags as she doesn"t carry as many books this trimester. My daughter is in 9th grade and there is no way I would spend tons on a backpack.

 

[luvdisney00]

Wow! I am so surprised to hear that so many HS kids think Vera Bradley is for old ladies or wouldn't be caught dead etc..I work in a large suburban High school in NJ and Vera totes are all the rage among the girls. Many have coach or Michael Kors but VB still seems to be the #1 thing. My teenage daughters both have the "Vera" and it is a perfect school bag.

For the OP in addition to LL Bean or Lands End or Thirtyone, I'd say go look at TJ Maxx, lots of great quality bags at excellent prices.

 

[ceecee]

VB is still popular in DD's HS...that being said she wanted a cow print backpack this year so she found one online for $50 (after I bought her a VB at the outlet sale for $35 and she used it for two months). I told her if she could sell it on Ebay, she could buy the Jansport one. She took the photos and sold it for $69! I think a large Coach purse would not be the easiest to carry books around in anyway.

 

[Pigeon]

I'm not really asking for parenting advice, I'm asking about what kind of non-Coach bags high school girls carry. I appreciate the suggestions from many of you. It's given me some good ideas to discuss with her.

 

[mefordis]

Wow. Touchy today? What I'm saying is that sometimes the designer items are better made and last longer than cheap alternatives. Once you have replaced 3 cheap $35 bags you might as well have purchased the well made designer bag instead. Of course, if your DD is not responsible with her things (lost iPod, cell phone and Northface jacket) I can understand that you would not want to buy her something valuable that will be left unattended somewhere.

I agree completely. Pay the $$ and buy something that will last for a couple of years. It is worth the investment. As long as the child is responsible, that is.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

I agree completely. Pay the $$ and buy something that will last for a couple of years. It is worth the investment. As long as the child is responsible, that is.

The only downside to getting one that will last for years is that some kids like to get a new bag to start a new year. Hopefully OP can find a moderately priced bag that will last the rest of the year and then her and DD can revisit the plan for next school year.

 

[Pigeon]

I agree completely. Pay the $$ and buy something that will last for a couple of years. It is worth the investment. As long as the child is responsible, that is.

There are lots of reasonably durable items manufactured that don't carry Coach prices. The Vera Bradley bags are a good example. The one my younger kid has now cost me under $40, buying last year's colors and looking for codes. She's on her second year with it and it's fine.

 

[anniemck]

We live in a pretty affluent area. Most high school kids (boys and girls) carry Jansport backpacks.

This is what my kids always carried as well, and if you have a VF Outlet near you they are very reasonably priced.

 

[Sagginit]

when i was in high school i had a jansport backpack all four years. i rarely used it though, i hardly took books home so i used a purse and carried books by hand in hallways.

in college i had an llbean style bag i got at target one year, a tote from aeropostale one year, and then a bag i got in chinatown my last year (pearl river mart has a website too). i have pink bags i got for free that i use as totes now and they hold up. when i was in college lots of girls had serious designer bags (i went to a private school). i kinda liked picking non designer bag each year and showing my style/personality. while teens don't always listen to adults you may want to take that approach.

 

[4mousefans]

Oldest daughter carried a VB large messenger-style bag for her last two years of high school. She now has a VB backpack for college. Both are in great shape, even after months of use.

Youngest daughter is Adidas all the way. She begged for an UA backpack her freshman year...I gave her my budget and said whatever additional cost was up to her. She parted with her cash and after less than four weeks, the UA backpack fell apart. After going between UA customer service (ha!) and the sporting goods store, we were finally given a refund. She promptly went back to Adidas. Those backpack LAST...she must carry thirty pounds of books and there isn't even a sign of wear.

 

[allison443]

My dds (in high school and college) along with many of their friends have Longchamps bags. They carry books and at times their laptops also. I have one I use for commuting to work-it holds a lot and is very sturdy.

I'm not sure what your price range is-the Longchamps tote we have is about $150 but so far they've gotten daily use for almost three years and still going strong. (I'm not sure of the range of prices of these other brands mentioned, but I think that's probably less than the Coach totes you were talking about?)
Anyway it's not an ostentatious bag-very classic looking.


I will agree with others and say VB and even Coach is not currently "in" at dd's high school. Michael Kors seems to be the most recent flavor of the month....

 

[anelson81993]

My sister (15 years old, sophomore in high school) carries a giant Pink-brand over-the-shoulder cloth tote bag, which could probably store several small animals if she felt the need to store small animals in her bookbag. She also owns a couple canvas tote bags and one canvas over-the-shoulder bag. I got the feeling from her that canvas totes are currently popular at her school. She got one of the canvas totes for Christmas this year, used it for the first two weeks of the spring semester, and it's already starting to break. She promptly returned to her Pink bag, but when she doesn't need her books for any reason (tests in classes and such), she carries one of her canvas bags.
I'm in college now, but when I was still in high school I usually carried regular backpacks. I usually took 2 or 3 AP courses at a time, and didn't care what my books were stored in, as long as I wasn't carrying them all on one shoulder. Now, I carry a team logo backpack for my university. I'm not sure what brand it is, but it has survived 3 semesters so far, 6-7 classes per semester, as many as 4 or 5 textbooks (plus binders and my computer and such) per day. I'll probably have to replace it after this semester, but for now it's working great.

 

[mefordis]

There are lots of reasonably durable items manufactured that don't carry Coach prices. The Vera Bradley bags are a good example. The one my younger kid has now cost me under $40, buying last year's colors and looking for codes. She's on her second year with it and it's fine.

Are these the type bags the girls are carrying? Just curious.

http://www.coach.com/online/handbag...71-en?t1Id=62&t2Id=5000000000000155671&tier=2

 

[MAJPLO]

I have a classic blue jansport backpack that I use now when we are traveling and I use periodically (two or three weeks at a time several times a year) for work. When I use it for work it is basically used the same as it would be used by a student with books, binders, and papers. It is the same backpack I carried on a daily basis while I was in high school. I graduated in 1993. I think it has held up pretty well. but I'm sure it is probably social pariah material.

 

[mhsjax]

Dd15 has to carry a ton of books around for school. Evidently, it is trendy to have your parents shell out many hundreds of dollars for you to have a huge Coach bag for this purpose, but sadly, dd has the wrong parents.

I've bought her a couple of huge purse-type bags and while she likes the look, they don't hold up. She just had the straps come off the third one for the year so far. She also admits that her friends trash the expensive Coach bags with some frequency, but mom and dad just buy new ones.

Last year, she used a Vera Bradley tote. It worked great, but evidently, no tenth grader would be caught dead carrying a VB tote.

If you have a high school girl and she needs to carry a big school bag, what does she carry that will last more than a month, not cost a fortune and doesn't make her a social pariah?

Wow, our HS girls don't carry big coach bags. They carry what they need a couple of classes at a time. They aren't allowed to carry big back packs from room to room, they simply stop by their locker and pick up what they need at the time. They do use just a regular back pack to haul everything to school the first time.



I do have to say, that Vera Bradley isn't carried here by any HS student that I know of.

ETA, OK just spoke with DS who is in HS. I stand corrected. They can carry big back packs to classes, it is MS that can't, anyway he said most girls just carry regular old backpacks, and he does know about Coach and Ver Bradley, ( he has a sister).

 

[kneedeep]

Another brand to consider might be Scout- the high school students at DD's K-12 school love them-- they have cute patterns and are made of a ripstop-type material that seems to hold up well.