Stylish parents everywhere have been leading a uprising that you probably haven’t heard of yet. The revolution has no name, but the idea is simple: Maternity and fashion are not at odds! Expecting clothes, baby gear, and even accessories like diaper bags are now available that are chic, stylish and downright trendy.

Let’s focus on diaper bags. These used to be a trend trainwreck when it came to style. Burlap or canvas? With or without Mickey Mouse patches? That was the extent of choices just a few years ago. But now there are dozens of diaper bags available that are so trendy some celebrities are wearing them…even when they don’t have a baby. These designer bags are styled after the hot trends in handbags, including stressed denim, vintage fabrics, and brass fixtures. It’s not just about good looks on the outside, however. Today’s top diaper bags are also full of organizational features, unlike the gigantic diaper sacks from a few years ago. Standard features in all the most popular brands include numerous pockets, insulated baby bottle warmers, and separate compartments for baby gear and mommy gear such make up, cellphones and even laptops. Lastly, these baby bags are designed to make it easier than ever to travel with the baby. Many feature removable diaper changing pads, for example, or a impervious section to hold dirty duds when there isn’t a trashcan in sight. These are the features that contemporary mothers demand, and diaper bags deliver. When all the features are wrapped in up a stylish clutch that celebrities like to wear to the most popular clubs in the world, then you know you have a winning product. Budgeting for these bags is also easy; there are styles for every pocketbook. My advice is to decide what features are most important for you and your lifestyle, and then go investigate with a price range in mind.

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In the not-very-distant past, designer diaper bags were a status symbol for the rich and famous. That era has ended, as now there are many lines of useful and stylish baby bags that are also affordable. I call this the democratization of designer diaper bags. Many design elements and options on diaper bags are available to the contemporary shopper, and for a lower price than ever before.

Beginning with fashion trends, it’s now easy to fit right in with the season’s hottest fads because the major baby bag players are keeping up with the top designers in the US and Europe. One example of this is fad of having grommets on handbags; this was popularized by top models and quickly led to one of the most popular diaper bags of all time, the Nest Whipstitch. Italian leather, vintage fabric, trendy colors and design – this is how today’s designer diaper bags are built, giving parents a chance to accessorize while on the move like never before.

This is no flash-in-the-pan fad, however. Today’s designer diaper bags are more popular than ever due to not only their attractive design but also the functional improvements of the bags. Today’s diaper bags are not canvas throw-alls but highly tested bags with dozens of specialty pockets and features, such as removable diaper changing pads and water-proof sections for laptop computers. As demand for these specialized bags increased, so did production, leading to affordable choices to compliment the high end design bags that started the trend.

©2012 Diaper Tote Shop. All Rights Reserved.

The most dynamic element in today’s fashion bag market has got to be designer diaper bags. The lowly diaper bag, once a dependable joke in fashion circles, is now one of the most popular bags around, ever since the celebrity circuit began to personally endorse the bags. When movie stars like Brad Pitt, Will Smith, Janet Jackson and Ellen endorsed designer diaper bags, an entirely new market was created in demand for these attractive baby bags. Is there real value in today’s bags though, once you strip away all the celebrity appeal? In short, the popular appeal is based not only on new design elements, but also the extreme customizability of these designer diaper bags.

I looked into four main brands in my analysis: Mia Bossi, Nest, Storksak, and Ramalama. The first thing I discovered is that all these bags are called “designer” bags, yet they are not all priced at high designer prices, but rather cover a wide spectrum of prices. You might expect that celebrities would endorse only the most expensive of the brands, such as Ramalama’s high end leather bags, but often celebrities preferred the more accessible brands such as Storksak. For example, the popular Storksak Emily bag has two thermo-insulated side pockets that are easy to reach, as well as a removable diaper changing pad. How bizarre: is it true that Hollywood’s A-List is promoting products that are truly valuable, and not just fashionable? With designer diaper bags, that certainly seems to be the case!

©2012 Diaper Tote Shop. All Rights Reserved.