Canvas Tote Bag Patina

Campus bookstore tote bags handed out at orientation start stiff and bright, but after a semester of carrying books and groceries the cotton softens, the corners round, and the logo fades to a ghost. Handles darken where your hands grip them and the bottom develops a permanent crease from sitting on floors and bus seats. The plain canvas tote became a default bag for good reason: a flat rectangle with 2 handles folds to nothing empty and expands to hold a surprising amount when full. Accumulating 5 or 6 totes from different sources, a museum, a coffee brand, a farmer's market, creates a rotation that matches bag to errand.