Last fall I spent time thrift-shopping in Tokyo, trying on vintage Levi’s and noticing how the Japanese seemed to have a keener sense of American style than many Americans do. Sometimes travel sharpens appreciation for home—and that’s when I suddenly became fixated on a plain, perfect canvas object: the L.L.Bean Boat and Tote.
The tote feels elemental, like a red apple on a teacher’s desk—unadorned, utilitarian, and quietly iconic. It conjures an idealized East Coast life: Nantucket beaches, weathered boathouses on the Maine coast, and ivy-covered college quads. Owning one seemed like a way to channel the simple elegance of style icons such as Carolyn Bessette Kennedy.
I didn’t want to waste suitcase space in Japan on something I could buy at home, so I waited until I returned to New York. But my preferred version—medium with long handles, a zip-top, in black—was on backorder. I thought I’d buy used, but vintage sellers in NYC often list them for around three times retail. I spent some time dithering.
“Demand for the Boat and Tote is up 43% year-over-year,” says Alex Intraversato, L.L. Bean’s chief merchandise officer, noting that some styles and colors sold out faster than expected. The Boat and Tote has driven new buyer growth over the past two years.
The bag’s story stretches back to 1944 in Brunswick, Maine. Leon Leonwood Bean originally designed the tote as an ice carrier for customers who bought block ice for home ice chests. The oatmeal canvas was double-layered at the base to prevent leaks and could hold up to 500 pounds. The design briefly disappeared from catalogs—possibly because of wartime supply issues—but returned in 1965 as the Boat and Tote, this time pitched as a boating carry-all with nautical red-and-blue accents (Bean loved boating). The construction still uses the same heavy-duty fabric once used in conveyor belts, and the V-point closures at the bottom corners add durability and help distinguish the tote from lookalikes.
Part of my obsession is playful cultural forces as much as practical ones: the quiet-luxury aesthetic and its low-key style icons; the internet’s ironic monogram trend (think cheeky embroidered phrases); designer collaborations—such as a high-priced reimagining—and celebrities from Chloë Sevigny to Rihanna who have been photographed carrying the bag.
Limited availability only made me want it more. I pictured the tote as the ideal travel companion—an honest carry-on, beach bag, or weekender—that also looks charming when casually displayed at home. More importantly, it’s a bag you don’t need to babydoll: it’s built to take a beating and will probably look better for it. Wear and patina signal it’s been used and loved—a kind of lived-in stealth wealth.
To mark the bag’s 80th anniversary, L.L.Bean partnered with American vintage curator Wooden Sleepers to present thoughtfully worn examples. Time is the true agent of aging—achieving that ideal battered look can take a decade—so vintage pieces or curated resale finds can command high prices, sometimes approaching $400. That raises the question of how to find a vintage tote that has just the right amount of weathering.
“It really starts with a feeling,” says Brian Davis, curator at Wooden Sleepers. He looks for intangible qualities: subtle fraying of handles, naturally faded straps, paint splatters, patches, or frayed edges. He loves the “salty” bags—the ones that show real life. Like a pair of vintage jeans, you can’t fake the authenticity of a piece that’s truly been lived in.
The appetite for vintage L.L.Bean products underlines the brand’s enduring reputation for quality. My father still talks about L.L.Bean button-downs that have survived countless washes, and friends have carried Bean backpacks from middle school through college. That commitment to long-lasting, American-made goods resonates globally.
“As a culture, the Japanese hold those brand values in high esteem, which has led to an amazing cultural exchange between L.L.Bean and Japan,” Intraversato says. L.L.Bean opened its first store outside Freeport in Tokyo in 1992; three decades later, with around 20 stores in Japan, the brand’s presence there has been both a commercial success and a source of creative input.
In a fashion landscape dominated by fleeting trends and overpriced synthetics, there’s something almost radical about celebrating a $50 canvas tote. And fortunately for me, the Boat and Tote is back in stock.
