I think that by this point my tote fetish has been well documented...I've always found it hard to resist a versatile cotton bag that I could use to carry groceries, as a summer handbag, as a shoebag/extra handbag for travel, and countless other uses...especially when the majority of my collection have cost less than a fiver. But now, like Napoleon, I have met my Waterloo...or, to be more precise, when the humble cotton tote hits the $1,000 price point I question what the world is coming to? Okay, Chanel's canvas tote is the only one that actually reaches the magic number...Bottega Veneta's linen bag (which at least has leather handles to use as some vague price justification) rings in at $880...Lanvin's bag is cute, though not $680 cute. Suddenly...insidiously...after all this...YSL's $245 version seems...almost a bargain.
get over to a muji shop and pick up a perfect canvas bag for $24 or less, then add any pin, scarf, ribbon, flower, button or drawing you want to it.
Speaking of Muji, I know when they first opened their Soho branch they were offering lightweight cotton totes for a buck. I think they still sell them. I've been using the five I bought for over a year now, to carry everything from books to groceries, and the handles have never broken, or anything else. I've been meaning to use some color inkjet iron-on paper to add some details to them... maybe soon.