The Best Clear Bags To Get You Through The Security Line

I’m often asked how I come up with topics to write about on this blog and the truth is topics usually find me. It takes one, two, even three or four times but usually themes start to appear in my life. They come up in conversations with girlfriends, on my social media feeds (google always knows what’s going on in my head), and things happening in my own life. You know what has been popping up in my life A LOT lately? Clear bags. Every concert and sporting event in the last few months has required me to have a clear bag. So I’ve been on the hunt for some stylish clear bag options, because trust me when I say, you are going to need one! Add one of these to your Christmas list.

Outfit Details:

Open-Stitched Sweater || Faux Leather Joggers || Snakeskin Clear Purse

In November our family went to see my alma mater, the University of Michigan, play the University of Maryland. We went to this football game two years ago when Michigan last played Maryland in the D.C. area. This year as I approached the security line I glanced at the ticket that had been handed to me moments before. That was when I noticed the warning in big, bold type prohibiting bags. At that moment, as we inched toward the front of the security checkpoint after having already spent twenty minutes in line waiting to enter, the purse slung across my body felt like an albatross. In my mind I quickly processed the possibilities. It was a long walk back to the car and my foot was (and still is) in a boot. Option two: I could take a chance that my bag was small enough to somehow pass through security. The ticket didn’t specify a size limit for bags it just listed every possible bag type that was prohibited, including fannie packs. The lawyer in me quickly looked for exceptions to the rule in case I could somehow argue my way in (unlikely to work out but still worth a try) but I was well aware that the bag slung around my body was technically a fannie pack. I knew I was done.

My memory recalled that I had been in this position before, several months earlier, at Audi field where D.C. United plays. In that instance, my purse kicked me out of line and into another lengthy line for locker rentals. No size exceptions, simply no bags allowed. I did not want to do that again. If you want to see how this story ends, my daughter and I made a Tik Tok about it. You can watch it here. I’m really not an active Tik Tok user but our solution reminded us of a popular meme so we memorialized our story in video. It’s the somewhat funny true story of how we made it through the security line that day.

Just last week, the clear bag policy came up again: this time at Ford Field in Detroit on Thanksgiving Day. Again, I barely made it through security to enter. The small purse I was carrying just barely fit in the white tray that denotes whether your bag is too big for the stadium. Notably, clear bags of any size are permitted. Like I said, sometimes it takes me a while to learn but eventually I do. I got the message loud and clear: time to invest in a clear bag.

Here are some of my favorite stylish clear bags to make getting through security a breeze at your next sporting event/concert/festival.

Lesley Forde Photography

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