The 15 Best Raffia and Straw Bags to Extend Those Summer Vibes

These bags will help break you out of that summertime sadness

Though I live in a tropical paradise, I find myself longing for a summer getaway more than ever before. I want to feel the sand in my toes and the ocean breeze in my hair. I want to sleep in and order room service (ok, this is clearly the kid free version of a trip). And I want to talk to people and make acquaintances, shake hands and give hugs, go out to eat, and linger late. None of these will be happening for us this summer. We are in a county with one of the highest rates of COVID right now, and Vlad and I have chosen to stay home, not travel, and stay as safe as possible until the rate of transmission calms down here.

I find myself taking mental vacations often, to our favorite island in the Bahamas at our favorite resort, soaking in that summer vacation feeling we all live for. I suppose it’s why I have started to fixate on raffia and straw bags. Many brands have released them for summer (and actually pre-order for fall) and I continuously find myself going back to look at them. Living in Florida, bags like these make sense for my wardrobe year round because it’s over 80°F most of the time and the beach is our playground. But I also think my new found liking to these bags is a bit deeper. At a time when we’ve all been home for months, and filled with anxiety and worry, a bag that reminds us of better times (and times that I surely took for granted) feels like the type of escapism that would fill me with joy and ease.

If you want to take a mental break of the handbag kind, here are my favorite raffia and straw bags. I feel like I won’t make it out of this pandemic without picking one up myself, after all sometimes a great bag is just the right mood lifter, which is why many of us love them in the first place.