Secondary school bags for girls

[SophiaWinters]

Hello everyone, I'm new here and hope that I'm posting this question in the right place!

My daughter will be starting secondary school in September and has asked for a new school bag. She doesn't want to use a rucksack which she has been using at primary school.

We have been looking around online trying to find something suitable. Many of the girls we have noticed use bags similar to those in this link www.amazon.co.uk/Original-Gola-Redford-Messenger-Shoulder/dp/B004WJTE9S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1340482142&sr=8-1 however my daughter doesn't like these.

She has seen this bag www.amazon.co.uk/ROXY-CITRUS-SHOULDER-BAG-Lost/dp/B004KS3L5O/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1X3PZJM9JTWSM&coliid=I5E1RQZ6J5CJO do you think it would be suitable? I want to make sure we don't buy something only to find that after a few weeks it's not suitable or that what my daughter thinks now is a good bag will not be seen that way at secondary school.

What bags do your daughters use and what is popular at secondary school for girls right now?

That looks pretty good to me. Dd has something similar. Because sheets of paper get crumpled in it I bought her a set of a4 plastic wallets.

Ditto. dd too has similar. Be warned that they like to change bags regularly depending on current trends

Thinking of buying DD this satchel from Accessorize, they have other colours/patterns in store.

Thank you everyone for the helpful replies :)

I suggest Adidas Messenger Bag. Loads of colours, so you cant go wrong. All the kids in my DS's secondary use them.

Marking my place, DD1 happily uses a perfectly sensible outdoor shop ruck sac.

Fashionister DD2 wants something hip.

Grrrr she has a perfectly good ruck sac from primary, but no that would be sensible.

DD1 says her lot use lots of cheap and useless handbags and shoppers that last 5 mins.

All the girls in DD school use oversized handbags in the cr

All the girls in DD school use oversized handbags in the crook of their elbow and wiggle about like WAGS. Drives me crazy! DD uses a messenger type bag & gets picked on for it. Bloomin hate that secondary schools have become so nasty.

JoeB I agree,
Teasing for style of bag, trousers or not breaking uniform rules makes me

I don't know if DD1 gets teased about her bag, she gets teased for most things.
Dyslexia and social skills not seem to mix, it's very hard to explain.

Suffice to say that it makes her the most adorable teen because she just can't be bothered with any of the fitting in nonsense.

My dd uses a backpack. Most of the girls do at her school or big canvas bags from Primark. I think her bag is roxy or addidas.

Here's a decent backpack. I think it's cool and look, it's reduced too!

Billabong rucksack/backpack. Tried messenger bag and it didn't fit A4 although it said it did. Couldn't get all dd's school books plus small lunchbox and drink into it either and found they were flimsy. She doesn't like weight on one shoulder either which you should also consider. Backpacks are popular at dd's school for girls at the moment.

no matter what you purchase she will want a new one very soon after starting depending on what the majority at her school are using.
Then, towards the end of her school life she will only use the smallest of bags which struggle to even fit a pen (but it will fit a phone )

My dd is in year 7
She has a roxy rucksack that she loves
They carry a lot of weight so rucksacks are best.
Hang out at the new school and see what they have perhaps?
Let her choose her own bag though

I would only buy it two weeks in, so she can suss out the current 'it' bag... Or hang round the school gates a lot now!

Addidas messenger bag, it seems to be the in thing at DS and DDs school. They can just about cram everything into it and they come in loads of colours.

dd started with a back pack in Yr7 and was quite happy with that. This yr (Yr8) they all seem to have messenger bags. They do have to carry quite a bit of stuff around with them though, so if you buy flimsy, buy cheap as you will be replacing it.

Primark do reasonable bags for about £8 I think and a lot of girls at the DDs school have them. Have to bank on replacing them every year or so as their books are really heavy and eventually the handles give way - but they're not too bad. They come in a variety of colours and patterns - similar to the amazon one you linked at £22.

OP - the gola bags are rubbish imo! The straps will snap under the weight before too long if my dd is anything to go by.

That being said, they all have them, but the 'new' trend seems to be for the northern soul ones instead, see www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i%3Ashoes%2Ck%3Anorthern+soul&keywords=northern+soul&ie=UTF8&qid=1340628416 - seems about the same to me, but what do I know?!

Pickledsiblings, my son who is in Year 8 uses a Jansport rucksack (not the same as the one in your link) and it has been excellent. I originally bought a cheap rucksack from Tesco and the zipper went after the first day of school. We returned it for a replacement and that broke a few weeks later. I have learned that cheap isn't durable. The Jansport rucksack has lasted nearly all the way through Year 7 and right through Year 8. We have been so pleased with it and it's still going strong so no need to replace. The boys mostly have rucksacks so that has been easy.

For my daughter we stopped outside her future secondary school this morning to have a good look at what the girls are using, we saw only one girl with a rucksack. Lots of over-sized handbag type of bags so I think the one I linked in my original post might work - until she changes her mind! She needs something roomy as it will be books plus she'll be taking a packed lunch most days and she has Type 1 diabetes so needs to carry some extra supplies and equipment with her too. Who would have thought choosing a bag for school would be so difficult, everything I see as being practical and big enough she doesn't like and everything she likes is way too small and impractical. We will keep looking but for now the one I linked in my original post is looking like the most hopeful candidate as it's one she likes :)

backpack here, but tbh the whole town is very sporty and outdoorsy. no handbag bollocks to be seen, thank god.

It's hard to tell from the picture how big it is, but might a rucksack like this do? DD hasn't mentioned the dreaded school bag yet - I'm hoping it won't come up and she'll just use the one she's got at the moment!

Have you checked the uniform restrictions?

At the school DS will go (ordinary state comp) to there are Draconian Regulations about school bags - plain black no logos etc.

BringBack we'll be in our local town this Wednesday as she has an inset day, will pop into Accessorize and take a look at the bags there.

Blu, there are no restrictions on bags in the uniform blurb. Only mentions that coats must be black with no large logos but nothing about bags. From what we've seen the other girls using there doesn't seem to be any restriction.

I also saw this but unsure if it's a little large and the price is a bit steep, especially if she might change her mind after a few weeks. I prefer it though as it has the across body strap. I'm tempted though because if she doesn't want to use it after a short while I wouldn't mind it for myself lol

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00602GGPU/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00