Tory Burch York Tote

Designer: Tory Burch

Name: York Tote

Color: Carnation Red

Price:$295

URL: toryburch.com

 Story:

They wrapped my York Tote because they saw it was my birthday!

I purchased this bag last October in 2014 as a birthday present to myself for my 21^st birthday. I had wanted a bag like this for a while and there are so many designers and brands that offer totes exactly like this that are perfect for traveling, school use, or office us. I purchased this bag mostly for traveling since I am taking all of my classes online, I do not need a bag for school. Since there were so many different options out there, I had a hard time making up my mind (especially since I’m known for not being able to decide).  Some other options included the Michael Kors Jet Set Travel Large Tote, the Louis Vuitton Neverful GM, the Kate Spade Cedar Street Medium Harmony, and Rebecca Minkoff Medium M.A.B. Tote.

All of the bags listed will fit a laptop along with many other items such as a wallet, cosmetic case, and other electronic devices. However, the major difference between these bags and the York Tote is that they do not have a padded sleeve for your laptop. The Jet Set Travel Tote used to come with a sleeve inside (I know this because my mom has one in black for when she has to go on business trips) but it no longer does.  I highly recommend each of the bags mentioned but I also recommend doing a lot of research before you finally decide which one you want to purchase.

The York Tote:

I ended up purchasing my York Tote at the Tory Burch store in Tampa, Florida located inside the International Plaza and Bay Street (mall). I really wanted a bag like this and the reason I purchased it was because it was my last day to decide which handbag I wanted to go with. I selected that particular mall because I knew it had a Louis Vuitton store, a Tory Burch store, a Kate Spade store and plenty of stores that would sell the Michael Kors tote and Rebecca Minkoff tote such as a Michael Kors store, Dillard’s, and Nordstrom. So it was the perfect place to make my final decision on which tote I would be purchasing.

I knew that I didn’t really want the Michael Kors tote because my mom already owns it and I know if I needed to borrow it she would let me. So that crossed one of the options off of my list. I was not really in love with the Rebecca Minkoff Medium M.A.B. Tote, I prefer the M.A.B. tote Mini because it is so small and adorable so that crossed another option off the list leaving me with 3 other choices. I knew that I did not really want the Kate Spade tote because I have so many Kate Spade handbags already and I really wanted something I didn’t have or something that I know would last me a really long time. This left me with two options, the Tory Burch York Tote and the Louis Vuitton Neverful GM.

Obviously I ended up selecting the York Tote and there are several reasons why which I have listed out below:

Attached Interior Laptop Sleeve:

The first reason I selected the York Tote was mostly because of the padded laptop sleeve that was provided inside the bag. Since most of the other bags did not offer this feature that is one thing that really made this bag stand out to me. I thought it would be more convenient than having to carry my laptop around in a separate bag or in a separate laptop sleeve placed inside of a different tote.

Many Compartments:

The inside of this bag is amazing, in the middle of the bag there is a padded sleeve for your laptop (I have a 13-inch MacBook Pro and there is still like an inch of room on each side and some room left on top), it also has 4 other open compartments on the inside and another zip compartment. When I am traveling, I like to keep my plane ticket and id in the zip compartment to keep it safe and to make sure I don’t loose them just incase I need to use the restroom before boarding the plane. Other than that, I don’t really keep anything in the zip compartment. One of the 4 open compartments is just the right size for my iPhone 5. The next compartment next to the one where I keep my iPhone is the perfect size to fit my iPad mini with a case on it. I absolutely love it. I am not really sure if that’s what you are supposed to use that compartment for but it works perfectly for me.

On the opposite side of the tote, attached to the zip compartment is two more open compartments which are both the exact same size and I tend to keep my MacBook charger in one of them and it fits perfectly. In the other one, I don’t really have anything specific that I put in it, I will just usually put a pen in it, sometimes a snack, or my iPhone charger and portable iPhone charger. Also, attached to the inside is a little ring so you can clip something to it and on the other side is a clip that you can attach keys to.

Color:

Another reason would be the color, which is carnation red. A few reasons I decided to go with this color is because I thought it was a very pretty color, at the time I did not own any pink handbags or totes, and because at the time a certain percentage of the proceeds went to fund breast cancer research since it was October when I purchased the bag and October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Straps:

The straps on this bag are very thin which I previously mentioned but you kind of get used to them after a while and I highly recommend not overstuffing the bag with stuff you may not necessarily need. They are also adjustable and they have three different lengths. I prefer to keep mine on the last hole to make the straps the longest they can be.  The straps are a little stiff at first and hard to move down or up to the next hole but once you manage to get the first one undone the next three become a little easier.

Other important reasons/information:

Another important detail is what the purse is made out of. The leather is Saffiano, which is a very durable leather and should last quite a while and it will not scratch as easily as other leathers. When I buy a handbag, I prefer to buy Saffiano because they are very structured and I know that they will last me a long time as long as if I make sure to take care of them which I do because of how much money I am spending on the bag.

Another one of the factors that helped me decide is the fact that I currently did not own any Tory Burch handbags and that I had recently purchased a Louis Vuitton Speedy Bandoulière 30 back in March of 2014 and since I am trying to have a variety of designer handbags, I thought it would be best to buy something from a designer I didn’t already have.

Also, the next day, after I purchased the tote I got on a plane in Tampa and flew to Las Vegas, Nevada to celebrate my 21^st Birthday with my family. We had the best time and I can’t wait to go back (I’ll share some pictures from the trip down below). I used the bag on the plane to Vegas and back from Vegas and I do not really have much to complain about it other than the fact that the straps are very slim and if you over stuff the bag like I did (because I’m a student and I had to do some school work on the 5 hour plane ride) the straps will start to hurt your shoulder and leave impressions on your skin. 

Also, as I have previously mentioned in a recent post, I received the matching wallet for Christmas from my parents. I love having the matching wallet and I really wish they had a matching cosmetic case to go with since I will be using this bag mostly for traveling. However, Tory Burch currently does not offer the matching cosmetic case in the same color as the handbag I selected. Hopefully she will eventually offer it in the carnation red.

I love this bag but the only reason I regret purchasing it is because of the lack of matching accessories. If I had selected another color such as black I would be able to have a couple different options for wallets and a matching cosmetic case. Other than that, I love this bag and I would not have purchased a different one.

Thanks for stopping by! Stay tuned for another post featuring this handbag where I feature what I tend to keep on my carry-on and how I organize it.

Photos from Vegas:

The view from our room 

My Family

Me trying to gamble

My Sister and Me

Dolphins at Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden & Dolphin Habitat