The outside is a soft faux leather, made of polyurethane, with adjustable handles and a removable strap for slinging it across your body if you need to. There is, of course, stitching elsewhere, but I threw this bag around while it was filled to the brim and it held up. A cargo netting front can expand and contract to fit whatever you need in there—a bike helmet, a small bag of groceries, shoes. When I first got to college in 2012, every cool girl in a sleek outfit had a black and brown bag under her arm. It comes in a medium and a large version; the medium is adequate, but you need the large if you have a laptop bigger than 13 inches.

If I switched to a slim card wallet instead, I could even carry around my Beats over-ear headphones. It keeps your valuables safe and organized, thanks to the removable dividers inside the main compartment—this setup works particularly well for cameras. WIRED senior associate editor Adrienne So said she likes the colors and how low profile it is, but the pockets had very little give, so you won't be able to pack your entire closet for this day trip.It's compact but still fits a 13-inch laptop in its faux-fur-lined pocket, and there are organizational compartments to fit pens, a phone, a wallet, or earbuds. A large zipper pocket runs down the middle of the bag, and a padded laptop sleeve is secured with a Velcro strap.

They're also cute, available in several colors and patterns, and fold down into little squares so you can keep a few in your car. Cheap purses have flimsy faux leather and fragile straps, but an affordable tote is much easier to find. It's pricier than all the bags on this list and has gotten more expensive than when we first tried it. The WIRED conversation illuminates how technology is changing every aspect of our lives—from culture to business, science to design.Like on the backpack, there's a pocket for a 13-inch laptop, a smaller one to fit a tablet, notebook, or Kindle, plus a large main compartment for everything else. The interior divider can be tightly strapped in to compress what's below it, plus there's a “WetPak” pocket for storing damp items. All profits from this bag go to the nonprofit Sustainable Surf and its Waste to Waves program, which focuses on recycling Styrofoam packaging. The breakthroughs and innovations that we uncover lead to new ways of thinking, new connections, and new industries.

Although we haven't tried it, we've used a bunch of this brand's lineup now—including several backpacks and totes—and all are well made and sophisticated-looking.It is the essential source of information and ideas that make sense of a world in constant transformation. It won't hold your laptop but it's the perfect size for essentials like your wallet, phone, and e-reader, plus accessories like lipstick and a hair clip.