I’m looking to replace my old bags for life with something a tad more....

[mckenzie]

... stylish, user friendly, cool, funky.
I’m not sure what but I know that when I borrowed my friends Fortnum and Mason ones the other week (because I’d forgotten that I had taken mine out of the car), they somehow made my weekly food shop just the tiniest bit less tedious.

The F&M ones aren’t really me though. Is there something style wise similar perhaps but less

TIA

Baggu bags are great. They're really light, the designs are cool and what is brilliant about them is that if you put a bottle or something else tall in them, the way they're designed, just the angle of the handles I think, the tall thing never falls over when you pick it up. They also hang off a buggy handle very well.

Surely the whole point of bags for life is you use them til the arse falls out of them and then go to the supermarket and get them replaced?

I have had my current bags for years and years. (They are not plastic bags for life.)
They are stained, one is torn, some fold into squares, some don't fold at all. One is so old I can remember it being in our old house!

I'm not replacing them because I'm being fickle. (I can see that perhaps my initial post sounded that way). I've been thinking about replacing them for about a year and it was only using my friend's bags that has now pushed me to make the leap.

The plastic bags for life really don't last that long, don't hold that much and collapse when you try to fill them.
Hessian bags really might outlive me, stay open and ready in the trolley, hold enough that I can carry but not overfill, and the Tesco OKeliy ones fit perfectly over my shoulder

I use jute bags from BabaMe.com all have different patterns or designs and really cheer up a boring shop

I have a sailcloth shopping bag from www.ratisland.net which I suspect really is a bag for life, and is robust enough to hold as much weight as I can lug home from Lidl.

I'm very pleased with it and believe it's made of offcuts so reasonably 'green'

I find the big square canvas ones most useful.
They look like this and probably don't meet your definition of stylish.

I also can't think if they sell them in UK supermarkets, but we have a few that we picked up in Spanish and French supermarkets and as well as using them for grocery shopping, we've used them for beach bags and all sorts of other uses.

My local tesco is still selling this pattern bag - aren't they in all stores?

I don't know what they changed the shape of the Orla Keily bags- that one that is on sale at present is not as wide as they ones that they sold before but a bit taller. It's a really odd shape

I make my own from cotton or linen tea towels. I've got loads of printed tea towels that my MIL had bought from visits to NT properties and similar and never used. (No idea why she seemed to collect them?) It doesn't take long to run a few simple bags up. Cheaper than buying new.

I have this set. I’m not sure it’s worth £20, but the individual bags are great. And fold up really small so they actually get used because they live in my bag, not in the car!

www.zpm.com/products/Butterflies-Cream-Red/Shopping-Bag-Set-in-Butterflies-Cream-and-Red.aspx

I just have a hessian M&S one. Going strong and looks alright.

Thanks for all the posts. Because I tend to do the Scan and Shop in the supermarket and weigh and add up as I go along at the market, I’d like the bags that open and stay open. Like the Lakeland ones.

Waitrose have some really nice ones, especially the Heston ones with animals on, but also Bridgewater ones.
Seasalt too.

Waitrose do canvas ones which I like - generally have one hessian one and then the rest can go in it to make it easier to cart them around

Here in Germany these are the reusable shopping bag of choice, and they do stay open. Doubles up nicely as a picnic basket as well!

Food banks use unwanted bags if you need to get rid of any that are not knackered, ie: being forgetful and having to buy more.

Rather than have plastic ones that split and go into holes we have a selection of hessian and canvas ones. Had some for about 10 years until they got stolen. Ebay have the out of date styles if you want to ensure you find one you really like.

I’d like to add to my comments above about ZPM that their after sales customer service is amazing! Buy with confidence!

www.zpm.com/products/Purple/Purple-Reusable-Bag.aspx