Red, White & Blue Bag :: 紅白藍帆布袋

Since the 1960s, Wah Ngai Canvas (華藝帆布, established in 1954) and its founder Lee Wah 李華 are known as the maker of the iconic red, white and blue nylon bags, literally, 紅白藍帆布袋. Films used to have these bags to store corpses in, but nowadays they use suitcases. LOL I also have an actual 紅白藍袋 that I use to move bulky items around and when not in use, it's folded up. These are as sturdy as the IKEA bags.

Now, the popularity of these bags meant that they're an avenue to do social good. A concept shop run by New Life Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association have the disabled and mentally-challenged workers up their mental health by sewing these bags in workshops in Kowloon and sold all over the world. They're obviously priced a lot higher than what you can buy off of Taobao, Shopee and Lazada. As consumers, we then choose where we want to spend to get these bags. I simply want neat and tight stitching. It's meant to be brand-less. It's supposed to be the antithesis of a brand, or at least not a designer brand. 

I have some of those in nylon, and a mini version as a stylized tote made of fabric. The fabric tote was a fun buy from Hong Kong. I was in Cheung Chau and walked into a shop selling handmade fabric bags. The lady boss could make a few for me in the desired designs if I had another day to return to pick it up or 2.5 hours to wait for her to make one bag. I couldn't. So I simply took what was available on the racks. There was one in water-resistant frabic. The lady's stitching was top-notch, and she made an extra layer of fabric for the bottom of the bag. 

Sure, the nylon ones are used mainly for dog things and activities or supermarket runs. But this fabric tote — I'm very fond of. I don't just use it to carry random extra items around or as a shopping bag. On some days, I also use it as a bag-bag. I don't need to lug around designer bags all the time. They're just stashed at home. If I feel like taking them out, I will. If I don't, then I don't. I don't feel any social pressure to do so (got past that); I needn't live up to anyone's sartorial expectations.