Gum wrappers. Loose change. A tube of sticky, half-finished lip gloss. What do these items have in common? They can all be found shoved deep, deep down in the bottom-most trenches of our bags. While an everyday bag may sometimes seem to act as a mobile junk drawer, it can actually reveal a lot about a person’s identity.
Gen Z, in particular, have gone maximalist in the past few years, using their bags as an extension of their personalities. The small charms, keychains, and scarves that make up the outside of various purses, tote bags, and fanny packs may not seem to have much meaning beyond simple fun. However, these choices aren’t random.
The items unique to our bags are representative of our interests, aesthetics, and everyday needs and activities. They comprise our lives, revealing who we are and what our day to day lives are like.
It’s why celebrity “What’s in My Bag” videos are so popular. People enjoy these videos because it gives them a glimpse behind the curtain at who their favorite celebrity really is. People want to see the product recommendations, yes. But it’s the mundane and weird things celebrities store in their bags that make them seem more human.
Revealing the items we use every day can be vulnerable. It’s revealing a glimpse into our identities, in a sense. When you think about it, our lives reside in our bags. Who we are—and who we want to be—is all wrapped up in a mess of receipt paper, Labubu bag charms, and haphazardly thrown car keys.
So, how is Gen Z using their bags as a mode of self-expression? The best way to find out is to look inside.
Sol: Accessories in harmony
Sol uses a small, black shoulder bag with a long strap. A dupe for the highly popular bag brand Baggu, trending in recent years for their stylish and functional reusable bags, she lovingly dubs it her “baggupe.”
“I wanted a Baggu bag, but it was a bit out of my price range at the time,” Sol said. “So, l found a dupe online and got that instead.”
Her approach is reflective of a larger Gen Z mindset. What were once dismissed as “knockoffs” are now proudly called “dupes.” This generation isn’t shaming people for opting out of over-inflated prices. Instead, they’re finding or making similar products to reframe the conversation around accessibility and creativity.
Though simple in design, Sol personalizes her bag with a few accessories: “Right now, I have a George Harrison pin, a Paul McCartney pin, and a really cool charm pin I found at a thrift store. I’m in the market for a small scarf or ribbon to add on.”
In terms of what she carries around with her in her bag, Sol has a couple of go-tos. She doesn’t leave the house without a lip product. “I usually have a Chapstick, lip oil, and a lip liner,” she said.
Her non-negotiable items? “My perfume oils to smell good, my cigarettes just in case, and some type of mint or gum.”
It’s the weird products that truly give you a glimpse into a person’s personality, though. For Sol, her most unique item reveals her love of music.
“The weirdest item I carry with me is a capo for a guitar. You never know when someone will have a guitar and they ask if anyone can play,” she expresses.
Her bag reflects her musical influences and eclectic fashion inspirations: “My style influences are Enya Umanzor, beabadoobee, and Clairo. I also love to use Pinterest to look up outfit ideas for specific clothing items that I own.”
Einat: Plants on the go
Einat uses a canvas tote bag decorated with various trees and small diagrams of their composition and unique features.
Explaining why she picked the bag out for herself, she says, “I’m really into plants and when I went to the New York Botanical Garden for my birthday, I found this bag that had a bunch of trees with their scientific names on them. I felt like it really represented my passion and love for plants.”
Her whole aesthetic aligns with that love. From her degree in environmental science to her Monstera tattoo, Einat is an avid plant-lover.
“I think my two biggest inspirations are the overall environmental movement and fantasy/cottagecore aesthetic,” she said. “Anything mushroom, fairy, and plant related is what I live for.”
Her go-to products, which she keeps in her “everything pack,” help her stay prepared for any and all situations. The self-described mom of her friend group, Einat carries essentials like Advil, lip balm, a hand mirror, and floss, “cause you never know when you’ll need it.” She’s the person to go to when disaster strikes.
Her quirkiest item? A small, pink arcade slinky. Einat explains that even this has a semi-practical application: “I get bored easily and fidget all the time.” The toy doubles as both stress relief and a source of inside jokes with friends.
Einat’s bag, much like her, is practical, playful, and prepared for anything.
Leo: One bag, infinite expression
Leo has carried around the same green corduroy tote bag for five years.
“It has so much wear and tear as well as sun damage on the handle, but it’s the perfect shade of green and usually always goes with my outfits. Plus, I’ve broken it in at this point, so it’s practically molded to my shoulder.”
Spaciously proportioned, it acts as a functional item while still matching his overall vibe and personality.
This kind of longevity is typical of Gen Z. Many are conscious of getting long use out of their products instead of dumping it as soon as a new trend comes along. This often means that many items are thrifted or re-purposed. This makes it even more fun to customize the items to their own preferences.
As a huge reader, it’s safe to assume that Leo’s bag will have some kind of book tucked inside. He prefers to read when he has some free time and is bored instead of scrolling on his phone, so his current read is always on-hand.
Alongside a good book, Leo can’t go anywhere without his travel-sized Billie Eilish No. 2 perfume, “just in case I need a refresh.”
The item unique to his bag is something that brings him a little bit of comfort throughout the day. He explains, “I carry around my little pendant I got from Lancaster Pride Fest. It’s a chain depicting original art of Trixie and Katya, the drag queens. It’s like a good luck charm at this point.”
When it comes to style, Leo enjoys experimenting across the gender spectrum. “I play with gender expression to the fullest with some days being hyper masculine gym bro while some days I feel hyper feminine.” He said, “My closet is always a mishmash of traditionally masculine athletic clothes and traditionally feminine dresses!”
His most notable inspirations are Brittany Broski and Cavetown. The former inspires him to not be ashamed of his interests, and the latter more stylistically influences his playfulness with gender expression.
His bag, just like his wardrobe, is versatile, well-loved, and uniquely his.
Abbie: Hobbies in hand
Abbie currently uses a large black bag plastered with pins and a few keychains. She tends to switch out which bag she’s using based on function and the vibe she’s feeling at the moment.
For this one in particular, Abbie was drawn to the size and its simple design in order to add her own flair to it with her accessories.
“I got it at Old Navy for $10; I remember seeing it on the website and wanting it because it’s like a ‘hobo bag,’ I think that’s what it’s called,” she explains. “I love how roomy it is without looking like a tote bag. It also doesn’t hurt that much to have on my shoulder, which is a perk.”
For Abbie, her bags are a way to express her personality and share her interests. She likes to keep it playful, adding pins and a couple keychains to spruce up the simple design.
Her love of Marvel and D.C. superheroes shines through with her Spiderman decal and Superman pin, her latest obsession. Her Sonny Angel keychain, a popular trinket, dangles off the side, adding a cute, personalized touch.
Tucked inside her bag are Abbie’s essential products: band aids, pads, tampons, deodorant, and a hair brush all packed in a little pouch. She also keeps a small pill container with different medicines, which she switches out from one purse to the next.
The item unique to her own bag is a pouch with her favorite packs of hot tea: earl grey, peppermint, and chamomile.
When asked about her style inspiration, she immediately had an answer in mind: “I fear I’m going to be basic and say Harry Styles has definitely influenced my style and has made me more confident to wear [items] and put [accessories] on my bags that I truly want and like.”
Lydia: Second-hand style
Lydia uses a lime-green purse that she totes around with her around the city and on her many Amtrak adventures.
The bag immediately caught her eye at the thrift store, crammed alongside the donated bags. She shares, “I thrifted my bag from Salvation Army! It’s my favorite color and it stuck out on the wall of bags from across the room. Since it’s green and from my favorite thrift store, I can’t imagine any bag representing me better.”
Lydia doesn’t personally accessorize her own bag, the vivid green already perfectly encapsulating the vibe she’s going for. However, she likes seeing how people play around with the accessories on their own bags, particularly homemade bead charms.
A girl’s girl through and through, her non-negotiable products in her bag are Tylenol and some tampons, “because you never know who will need them.”
The items unique to her bag are her moss agate and rose quartz, “just in case.” Moss agate is the stone of abundance and new beginnings. Rose quartz—the love stone—is used to promote love and compassion. Both are absolute essentials in my book.
Lydia has a unique style perspective. She gets most of her pieces from thrift stores and combines them in a way that makes them completely her own. Her biggest fashion inspiration over the years points back to one space, though: Pinterest.
“Being active on Pinterest since I was 12 years old has been the largest impact on my personal style,” she shares. “It’s been my number one source of fashion inspiration for over 10 years and has helped me curate my style as I’ve grown and my interests have changed.”
Accessories as identity markers: When more becomes meaningful
In recent years, Gen Z has moved away from the minimalist trends that seem to currently have older generations in a chokehold. Of course, some Gen Z trends focus on minimalist elements—the clean girl aesthetic comes to mind. However, the almost excessive use of accessories is having a huge moment right now amongst teens and young adults.
If you can stick a charm on it, Gen Z has already done it. From phone cases to water bottles and anything else they can carry, maximalism through accessory usage is on the rise. But why?
@joobyrumi #makingof water bottle charms🍰 . . #handmade #phonecharm #owala #smallbusiness ♬ original sound – JoobyRumi
It seems a common theme is Gen Z’s propensity to embrace self-expression, for both themselves and those around them.
Leo said, “I think Gen Z has turned to maximalism due to this shedding of fear of expression that the older generations tend to inhabit. We feel so much at once and that turns into genuine interest of a chosen topic and hence characterization of the self. It’s a beautiful thing to witness, and just simply makes all the difference when you meet another person with fun style and interests!”
Einat agrees with this sentiment. She believes that Gen Z projects creativity and authenticity, both of which are promoted by the generation’s use of maximalism in terms of their fashion and decor choices.
Abbie brought up another point that Gen Z is trying to bring more fun back into their lives. Times have been tough over the past couple of years, to put it lightly. Practicing maximalism by including fun accessories and toys into our lives is a way to bring back some of that childlike wonder and excitement for the world.
She explains, “I think because the other generations are so minimalistic and beige, we want to bring fun back, especially with how the state of the world is right now. I think it’s something that gets us through the hardships of life. If a keychain blind box helps you through the day, who cares? It’s fun!”
Sol agrees, adding that the trinket trend, a largely Gen Z practice of collecting and displaying small decorative items, has been on the rise as of late, which most definitely intersects with this trend.
@kiafraserr the desire to gather #fyp #trinkets #antiquetrinkets #antique #whatsinmybag #chic #sade #dukeandexter #women #girls #justagirl #foryou #lipstick #maisonmargielafragrances #silver ♬ original sound – h
Lydia makes an interesting point that maybe this all has to do with consumerism. Although it may seem like buying a bunch of toys and random accessories is just capitalism running its course, maybe it hints at the opposite: a generation sick of being tugged from one trend to the next.
“Trends on social media come and go so quickly and so many of those micro trends involve buying new things,” she explains. “I think Gen Z has started combining trends through accessorizing, leading to more maximalist outfits.”
This generation has been through so many life-changing events at such a young age. It’s no wonder they’ve come up with small ways to introduce some fun back into their lives.
The Y2K influence makes sense when adopting a wider lens of the trend and the people who are contributing to it. As a generation, we were all kids between 2000 to 2010. It was certainly an economically turbulent time for many people in America. However, young people look back on this time fondly.
It was a time where we didn’t have to worry about the state of the world around us. It was all about Lisa Frank stickers plastered on notebooks, Webkinz plushies that were toted around everywhere, and Tamagotchis used as keychains on our backpacks.
Using these little charms and getting creative with accessories is a return to that Y2K playfulness we experienced as children.
While this trend is certainly all about showcasing individual style and personality, there’s some commonalities that hint at a larger shared mindset. Accessorized bags aren’t just fashion, they’re small, portable reflections of who we are.
