A laptop tote for stylish geeks

Begone, drab black vinyl computer bag

Samantha Grice

Saturday Post

December 11, 2004

Say you recently started working from home. It's all great at first (no rush hour, Ellen DeGeneres at 10). But after a few months you think getting out of the house, being around people, changing out of your pajamas and showering might improve your productivity, so you decide to relocate to Starbucks.

And there you are, wearing the best in coffee-shop chic -- mukluks and an artfully flung scarf. But, of course, the moment you sling your big, sloppy, black laptop bag over your shoulder the look is ruined.

It happens to smartly dressed people all the time. Still, it's important to remember, unlike other work-related fashion faux pas (business suits with white L.A. Gear sneakers), the dearth of stylish laptop bags is not your fault.

Entrepreneurs have been slow off the mark with this untapped market, which is surprising, since most laptop owners are young people looking for something that goes with their tangerine iMacs.

As a result, otherwise fashionable folk have had no choice but to schlep the ubiquitous black vinyl laptop bag or risk the safety of their as-yet-unpublished novel in a cute but unpadded purse.

Fed up with those alternatives, Toronto-based Melissa Zalev was spurred into action and in no time the Melissa Beth laptop tote was born.

A perfect balance of form and function, her retro-inspired totes -- the Pocket Full of Puter design, for example (that's Puter, as in Com) -- offer padding within and Teflon-coating without.

According to Zalev, she put together a few designs last March, while working for an accessory and handbag manufacturer. "I bounced my ideas off them and everybody was really excited," she recalls. "It was like, how cute would a hot-pink laptop case be?"

But as not every woman is the hot-pink type, Zalev came up with a variety of colours to appeal to all sorts of women. "I have some that are bright orange, which might not be appropriate for a lawyer, but then I also have some that are eggplant or charcoal grey, which look professional and sophisticated."

It's not as if there aren't any stylish laptop bags on the market, but the nicer ones tend to be ridiculously overpriced. "Kevin Costner's wife makes cheetah-print ones and they're nice, but they are $700," she says. Zalev's are $200.

So far, only her Pocket Full of Puter model is available, but in the new year she'll be bringing out her animal print-inspired What-a-Croc tote, her tweed Tweedy-Pie bag and a velour Get Off My Case design.

And for those who don't own a laptop? Not to worry. "I have laptop totes that look like handbags," says Zalev. "I use them for that. They're great for travel -- you just remove the laptop compartment and you've got yourself a day bag."

© National Post 2004