This post has been sitting in my drafts for a month or so, just waiting for me to finish it up. Today's the day! I know Vera Bradley is one of those things you either love or you hate. The people who love it usually have gobs of it and the ones who hate it are sometimes pretty vocal about it and it's bright colors and trendiness. I think I actually fall somewhere in the middle. I love, love, love my Vera Bradley travel bags, but I'm not really a huge fan of it when it comes to purses. That's just my opinion; if you have a VB purse, I'm sure it's great.
But really this post is all about my travel set and how much I love it. I got my first piece - the large duffel bag in Apple Green - when I was nearing the end of my senior year in college. My roommates carried their duffel bags on all our road trips, and I was ready to follow suit. A few months later, I began the interview process for a job that would require me to travel more than 50% of the time. At that same time, I found out the Apple Green print that I loved so much was being discontinued. So obviously, I told myself I needed to buy all the pieces immediately. This brings me to reason #1 Why I Love Vera Bradley:
1) I was able to complete my travel set by purchasing all the pieces off eBay, new with tags. For a recent college grad with no job (I didn't even end up taking the traveling job!), this was key because I had no money. I was able to find all the pieces I wanted in my soon-to-be-discontinued pattern for a lower price than on the store's website. To add to my large duffel bag, I purchased the small duffel, a mini duffel (that I guess they don't sell anymore?), a garment bag, a hanging toiletry bag (similar), a makeup bag (similar-ish), and a jewelry bag (similar).
If you aren't familiary with Vera Bradley bags, these are all soft quilted fabric bags. They aren't the ones you want to check at an airport, but they are great for road trips. I am able to cram so much into my duffels and they can always be wedged into a tiny spot in the car. (Plus, since they aren't a hard-cased suitcase, my bags never get squished on the bottom.) So the #2 reason Why I Love Vera Bradley is that they hold a lot, can squeeze in anywhere, and are comfy to carry. (The straps are sturdy and long, but made out of the same quilted fabric instead of tough leather straps.)
I've been tossing these bags into the back of the car for 7 years now which means they can get pretty filthy. Reason #3 Why I Love Vera Bradley is that they can be thrown into the washing machine for cleaning. I actually have pictures to support this reason. After one of last trips, I decided it was time to give my most used bags a good cleaning (I rarely use the garment bag, and the jewelry bag and mini duffel are used 50% of the time). Here's my pile of dirty bags.
I can actually lump reason #4 Why I Love Vera Bradley in with these pictures too: the colors are still nice and vibrant; they haven't faded. Here are my bags after running them through the washing machine - and no, not on gentle cycle.
I know you can't see much difference in those pictures, so let me go in closer on a couple of them. First, my toiletry bag. I take this with me on every overnight trip - even if it's just one night and I'm only going to my parents' house. This is where I keep my toothbrush and toothpaste, deoderant, hair brush, q-tips, moisturizing lotion, etc. Three of the pouches have a plastic pocket so you can the contents inside.
Here's a side-by-side comparison of the bag before and after going through the washing machine.
Ok, so not much of a noticeable difference. But bear with me and I'll show you the most drastic change - my makeup bag. I use my Vera Bradley makeup bag all the time, my makeup stays in it. I don't just drag it out for road trips so it gets pretty gross. Since I was getting ready to wash it, I took a moment to also clean up all my makeup and throw some old stuff away.
Just wiping all of that off made a huge difference, but the bag still looked really nasty.
A quick cycle in the washing machine (and dryer too) and look at the drastic difference!
Ok, so let's sum this up. If you're looking for some good travel totes, you should choose Vera Bradley because
1) You can usually catch them on eBay for lower prices. 2) You can stuff them full of tons of stuff. 3) They're machine washable. 4) The colors don't fade, even after 7 years of washing.
And just so we're clear, Vera Bradley has no idea who I am and did not compensate me in any way for writing this post. I just thought I'd tell you all about a product I'd love. That doesn't mean that if they wanted to pay me I'd say no. In fact, I'd say heck yes because I kinda want to try out one of their pieces of rolling luggage. Anyone have one already? Do they hold up through airports?