Tote contents 1.0: A computer, a water bottle, a pair of flats, and something to read. Schlep one must, but it’s possible to do so in style.
Come September, new subscribers have not only the year’s largest issue of to look forward to, but also a collectible canvas tote with a silver metallic logo from the archive. This logo first appeared on the cover of the January 1, 1913 issue, featuring artwork by one of the magazine’s most fantastical artists, George Wolfe Plank. Just as Plank bent reality to his whim, so the letters swirl and curlicue around each other, echoing the curves of the oval-backed chairs supporting two elegantes in ballooning skirts, one with a plumed hat in which Wolfe has hidden his florid initials.
There’s something Aubrey Beardsley-ian about the illustration’s dotted line and a touch of Art Nouveau in the patterned draperies. It all comes together to form a picture of style that reminds us that in the end, whatever’s in your bag, imagination carries the day..
