The Bogg Bag Can Replace Your Beach Bag, Picnic Basket, and Grocery Tote

The first time I laid eyes on a Bogg bag was a hot July day in 2023 at the community pool in my New Jersey suburb. Its enormous pastel shape was impossible to miss, packed on one side with towels and goggles for a family of four and on the other side with neatly organized snacks in a quantity non-parents would find shocking. Its unmistakable similarity to Crocs was made all the clearer by the fact that the Bogg’s owner color-coordinated her Crocs with her bag. I looked over at the sad, tiny plastic thing I’d gotten from the impulse buy display at Target the month before for pool going and thought, I clearly did this wrong.

Eleven months later, after inertia carried me through the summer with that aggravating Target satchel, I asked other writers and editors here what they thought of Bogg bags as we were getting into our summer planning. No one had ever seen them before, including the other writer who, like me, takes her kids to a suburban pool. I’ve never seen a topic derail one of our pitch meetings as quickly as the Bogg bag. “I need this for the beach.” “This would work so well for a picnic in the park.” “It has to come with Jibbitz like Crocs do, right?” (It does, in fact, come with Jibbitz like Crocs do.)

They might have been all over the suburbs, but apparently Bogg bags hadn’t yet penetrated Manhattan or Brooklyn. But now they have, and it turns out all the things we thought we’d love about them—their size, their stability, their durability, the way they manage, for some reason, to draw the eyes of everyone who sees them—are real. After trying them out at the beach, the park, the pool, the grocery store, the office, and the subway, here’s what Bon Appetit’s shopping editors think about Bogg bags.

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Carina Finn, commerce editor

Is my XL Bogg bag so big that I can actually stand in it? Why yes, it is.

It’s also big enough to hold two beach towels, two large Italian combo subs, a variety of chips, a few books, sunblock, a change of clothes, and a mini Stanley cooler full of cold, canned beverages—all with space to spare. It also happens to be the exact same color as my favorite pair of Crocs. Would I bring this bag to the office, or a fashion-forward event? Absolutely not. But for all-day beach bops, I’m all about the Bogg.

Emily Farris, senior commerce writer

As the only literal soccer mom on the commerce team, I understand why this bag is so popular among my demographic. Now that my kids are well out of the diaper stage, I’m trying really hard to be a Tiny Purse Person. It’s not exactly working out for me, because most days, I still need a supplemental tote for water bottles, sunscreen, snacks, hats—the stuff you know you’ll need but can’t know when. A slouchy canvas sack has nothing on the Bogg Bag. Because it has a flat bottom and structured sides, I can leave it on the table or on the floor by the door and my sons and I can add to it as we need before we head out for the park or pool. During the week, it’s amazing for getting lunches, books, and show-and-tell items to the car in one trip. After drop-off, it’s empty again and I can use it for groceries. If something spills in the bag (which has already happened a few times in the short span I’ve had it) I just wipe it out and it’s good to go.

Alaina Chou, commerce producer

I doubt the makers of the Bogg bag envisioned it as a vessel to hold and transport the nine 40-ounce Stanley tumblers a food commerce writer has to test for work, but that has been its primary use case in my life thus far—and I have to say, it’s performed exceptionally well at the task. But now that my tumbler testing is over, I’m excited to take my Bogg on its inaugural trip to the beach, where I think its merits will truly shine. Unlike the large canvas tote I’ve used in summers past, the Bogg’s wipeable (and waterproof) material means I’ll never need to worry about tracking sand into my car or house again, while its sturdy base will prevent it from toppling over no matter how many times it gets hit with an errant frisbee.

Wilder Davies, commerce writer

The Bogg Bag has been around for a couple of years, and somehow, it managed to evade the many eyes of Condé Nast’s foremost tastemakers—until now. I placed the hunter green behemoth of a bag on top of my desk, which is situated along a prime thoroughfare in our office regularly filled with editors of Vogue, GQ, Architectural Digest, and Vanity Fair. Normally, staffers pass by me talking about business, brand deals, and bylines, but that day’s walk-and-talk was about the Bogg. Several people asked me if it was a Croc, others simply remarked on its imposing size, most just took an incredulous double take to behold it a little longer while passing by. Sarah Burke, editor in chief of Them, told me she could easily see it at Riis Beach. And when I describe the bag to GQ’s Avidan Grossman as the Telfar for suburban moms who love the beach, he suggested the more alliterative “Tallahassee Telfar” as a snappier moniker. Needless to say, it made quite the impression.

Noah Kaufman, senior commerce editor

Despite the impossible-to-miss aesthetics of the thing, I’m resisting the urge to claim that choosing to own a Bogg bag is some kind of lifestyle choice (I dispute the idea that there is such a thing as a “Bogg person”). But for someone with a couple of kids, the Bogg is a real problem solver. Its rigid structure makes it the easiest bag I’ve ever had to sift through to find snacks or toys thrown in and forgotten about. You can see almost everything in the bag at all times. It also provides some added protection if you’re moving something delicate like a birthday cake or a pie to a picnic. The attached plastic zip pouches protect wallets and phones from the always spilling kids water bottles (yes, I know there are “spill-proof” bottles. I own them. They spill. Don’t @ me) or the bottled cocktail I brought to a barbecue that fit comfortably in the cup holder. Definitely spring for the cup holder. You can’t exactly toss it in a closet for easy storage, but that’s sort of the point. It is impossible to lose, forget, or harm my Bogg bag.

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We should say that, like any statement piece, Bogg bags are relatively expensive. The big bags, which really are the perfect size for a whole day out, are $90. Even the teeny tiny Bitty Bogg bags, which are the right size to be a child’s purse, are $55. And there are companies out there making generic versions that look eerily similar for 30% less, but if you have anything to carry to any outdoor happening in the summer, we don’t think you can beat a Bogg.