Bag tours have been a part of popular culture, going as far back as magazines in 1945. It has seen a recent resurgence on TikTok. Through the “what’s in my bag?” trend, users show off the items and through them, their identities, in their bags.
Remembrance
Mary Shawhan, a sophomore communications and public relations major from Louisville, said that she always carries a Sonny Angel in her purse as a reminder of her friends, who love to open blind boxes.
She said that her friends buy blind boxes together, toy collections that keep the toy inside hidden, according to Robotime. Shawhan said that she films her friends as they open them.
Eventually, Shawhan said one of her friends bought her a fake version since she isn’t into them the way her friends are.
“I’ll even put it in my backpack if I’m leaving my purse behind,” Shawhan said. “I just always have my little Sonny Angel in there; I like to think of it as my little good luck charm.”
Shawhan said she feels like the Sonny Angel also represents her femininity, something she shares in common with a lot of her friends.
“I love being a girl,” Shawhan said. “It just feels good to express myself in that way. I care a lot about expressing myself in my outfit and like how I dress.”
Shawhan said that she follows the statement “look good, feel good.” She said she likes to be prepared for anything she or her friends may need on the go, especially a hairbrush and lip products.
“I like to brush my friends’ hair for them with my hairbrush,” Shawhan said.
She said that lip gloss was one of the first makeup products she ever tried, and reminds her of the preparedness she and her mother share.
“My mom would carry lip gloss in her bag,” Shawhan said. “She had this one that was called frosted animal crackers, and she would always let me borrow that one.”
Shawhan said it feels good to have something that connects her to her family, specifically her dad. She said she carries Altoids that her father gives her every time she goes back home since she started college.
“My dad always carried Altoids on him,” Shawhan said “When I was younger, I thought they were so gross, but now that I’m away from my dad, I appreciate them more.”
She said she thinks her bag reflects that she’s a person who thinks pretty hard about things.
“Having reminders of people and things in my bag just makes me happy,” Shawhan said.
Simplicity
Leonardo Vazquez, a senior art history and foreign education major from Sebree, Kentucky, said that he likes the option of keeping simple things in his backpack, like his Bible and playing cards.
Vazquez said the Bible was gifted to him by people he loves dearly in his hometown and helps him stay connected to it while he’s away.
He said that inside of his Bible, he keeps a photo of him where he was dressed up as an elephant as a small child. He said he doesn’t remember taking the photo, but he looks happy.
Vaquez said that the simple item of the Bible serves as a reminder of the simplicity of his hometown.
“I have all these plans that I have for the future that are big,” Vasquez said. “Whenever I start reading the Bible and then looking at that picture, it’s a good reminder of where I started.”
Vazquez said he’s kept a deck of cards with him for the past two years to play games by himself or with his friends.
“It’s very clean, very classic, very vintage, which is what always has stuck with me,” Vazquez said.
BOTTOM: Leonardo Vazquez’s daily bag lies in Jody Richards Hall. (Photo by Bradi Hawkins)
Vazquez said he likes to carry things that make him feel good, like his sunscreen and moisturizer.
He said that since he’s started traveling, he’s gotten to see many different styles, with the European style sticking out to him and affecting the things he carries in his bag.
He said that he also likes to carry a bottle of cologne with him. Currently, he has one from House of Creed in his bag. He said he not only enjoys the sophisticated and fresh scent, but also being able to recommend scents to his friends.
“It’s a conversation starter, for sure,” Vazquez said. “It’s so helpful to have an actual bottle for them to smell and then for them to get excited about [it and] maybe checking the brand out.”
He said that Italians dress very put together.
“The fact that it’s like 90 degrees over there in the summer, and then they’re still wearing a suit with no sweat,” Vazquez said. “It’s just pretty crazy.”
Vaquez said he prioritizes simplicity in his bag because he feels like it’s important to know what he has to do each day to not waste time.
Purpose
Jane Rowland, a sophomore biology major from Hendersonville, Tennessee, said they feel like everything has a place in their everyday tote bag.
Rowland’s pencil case, their favorite object in their bag, has many compartments that they use to make art during class.
“I really like [to use blending stumps], some charcoal, and watercolor paintbrushes, because I also love watercolors,” Rowland said.
Rowland also said that makeup is one of their favorite hobbies and that they love their makeup bag. They said they like to use it to express the way they feel.
“On days that are more masculine, I do lighter makeup,” Rowland said. “On days that I want to go all out, I like to do more goth makeup, or fun stars and shapes.”
Rowland said they feel like the thing that represents them the most is a cat squishy gifted to them by their significant other. They said that it is a stress-relieving comfort item they don’t like to be without.
BOTTOM: Jane Rowland’s daily bag lies in Jody Richards Hall. (Photo by Bradi Hawkins)
“I want to be a source of comfort to someone, and that’s what it is for me,” Rowland said.
Another comfort item Rowland said they keep around is a moisturizer their mom gifted them with their childhood name on the lid.
“She was very generous,” Rowland said. “She didn’t have any for herself, but she gave it to me and that was very sweet.”
Rowland said that the bag itself had also been gifted by their mother, with their childhood dog printed on it. They said that they feel it’s more reflective of their personality rather than their appearance.
“I just like to stay tidy and organized,” Rowland said. “I hope other people see that.”
Creativity
Makenzie Mcintyre, a junior interior design major from Bowling Green, said that she’s a creative person.
“I [put] my personality on everything, hence the scrapbooking on my laptop, my iPad, and my sketchbook,” McIntyre said.
McIntyre said that her laptop is the thing with the most personal significance in her bag, covered in photos of people drawing and building things. She said it has been with her throughout her entire college experience, with her entire life being in it.
“I feel like every version of myself, from interior design to music business, is on that laptop,” Mcintrye said. “ I have documents from basically my entire college career that I can look back on and be like, ‘Oh, I did this and I said this or I wrote this’.”
Mcintyre said she was pursuing music business in Nashville at Belmont University before realizing that she was scared of the industry ruining her love of music and wanted to veer away from it.
“I kind of realized I would walk into a building on a campus and [think] that the lighting is super cool in [there],” McIntyre said. “Why don’t I take my love for feeling comfortable in a space and make that my career instead.”
Mcintyre said that since starting in interior design, she’s had her “interior design cheat sheet,” a notebook she carries in her bag everywhere.
“I use it daily,” McIntyre said. “Every time I learn something in class that sticks out to me, I’ll write it down in there so I’ll never forget it.”
She said that she has an emotional attachment to the notebook, using it as a reminder of styles she likes, as well as a place to write ideas.
Alongside her notebook, McIntyre said that an interior design major couldn’t go without their architectural scale, a ruler she uses daily for drawing and modeling.
McIntyre also said that she is also always carrying and wearing her headphones, something that she allows to motivate and inspire her work.
“Whenever I’m anxious, or even whenever I’m really happy, it allows me to transform myself and see the world differently just based on the music that I’m listening to,” McIntyre said.
She said that she will use music while she is drawing or thinking of ideas to place herself in a certain mood or aesthetic.
McIntyre said that her creative energy surrounds her, even in her free time, which she spends playing instruments, scrapbooking and journaling.
“It’s just what I like, truly,” Mcintyre said.
Discovery
Jayvyn Stone, a sophomore fashion merchandising major from Shelbyville, Kentucky, said that his bag reflects him because it shows inconsistency in the best way possible. “inconsistency, but in the best way possible.”
Stone said that everything in his bag changes daily, which he likes because it makes him go through his bag. He said he used to lug around a big, old backpack, which he felt didn’t fit him so he decided to downsize many things in his life and return to the fundamentals.
“Everything’s getting cycled in and out of that bag and being used for something different,” Stone said. “[I’m] building those habits where I go through my bag every day and pick out the stuff that I’m [going to use.]”
Stone said he had a self-discovery book, as he’s currently converting to Buddhism.
“I’m such an indecisive person,” Stone said. “I literally need direction, I need structure. [So, I’m] just trying to find a facet where it’s personal.”
Stone said he also had an encyclopedia of clothing garments after getting an interest in construction and design, which he tries to read a little each day.
“It’s really just like a good exercise for any of my stuff that I put out,” Stone said. “Because now I know exactly what the name of this garment is, what purpose it serves, but also like what I can put [in it].”
Stone said he feels most represented by his red book, a notebook that he used to find what he likes in style and clothing.
“I just literally sat down and listed out every single thing that I like,” Stone said. “It kind of grounds me to [think] ‘Okay, this is me.’ I can flip to the book and get a sense of what I’m trying to do.”
Stone said even though doing a daily series last year where he recorded all of his outfits, he still hasn’t figured out his style and just wears what he likes.
The item with the most personal significance in his bag is his 3DS, where he plays games that hold weight with him as a source of childhood media. He said he has had a 3DS ever since he was young and would play Pokémon and Animal Crossing, but he currently enjoys playing Tomodachi Life.
“Playing all those games taught me to try new things and [to not] be afraid of it,” Stone said. “Laugh at your first skill that you’re trying to learn, get over that hill of being afraid to try something and learn more about yourself going through it.”
Stone said that he feels like individuality and expression is important to him because everyone is trying to figure themselves out and grab the answers now, but it takes time to do so.
“Individuality is pretty much the only frontier that hasn’t been commercialized yet,” Stone said.