New L.L.Bean Collection Gets the Ironic Boat and Tote Treatment

A life-long L.L.Bean fan, Gracie Wiener began posting ironically monogrammed Boat and Totes on TikTok and Instagram just for laughs. Her feed featured totes in-the-wild and submissions from friends, monogramed with quips like “Oy Vey,” “Feral” and “Unhinged.” After a TikTok about her totes went viral, Wiener’s following grew exponentially, and by the summer of 2022, so did the surge in custom Boat and Tote orders.

Thousands began purchasing and personalizing their own totes with wry, witty and wild words and phrases, submitting them to be featured on Wiener’s accounts. Soon, @IronicBoatAndTote started trending on social media, and Wiener was sorting through thousands of creative entries from all over the country.

“I truly did not expect any of this. If you would have told me when I started the account how popular it would become, I would have thought you were pulling my leg,” Wiener said. “But it’s been a wonderful surprise.”

Soon after going viral, Gracie and her Ironic Boat and Totes were profiled in Air Mail, Vogue, The Cut, The New York Times and Harper’s Bazaar, to name a few, while her online audiences swelled by tens of thousands.

What started as an inside joke has since become a force, contributing to L.L.Bean’s strongest Boat and Tote sales in nearly a decade and the company’s No. 1 contributor to new customer growth this year.

This fall, a new line created in collaboration with Wiener will celebrate and expand the irony to apparel, accessories and home goods.

Available beginning Tuesday, Oct. 18, the L.L.Bean Ironic Monogram Collection is comprised of robes, pajamas, throws, holiday stockings, canvas pouches and L.L.Bean’s iconic Boat and Tote, each monogrammed with phrases personally selected by Wiener in collaboration with L.L.Bean. The collection includes a limited run of each product, monogrammed in fonts and layouts exclusive to the collection.

“This fall collection includes some of my favorite L.L.Bean products with cheeky sayings that have the Ironic Boat and Tote spirit in them,” Wiener said.

Several of the phrases draw directly from Wiener’s personal connection to L.L.Bean (she cried when she got her first pair of Bean Boots as a teen), with the trademark earnest humor of Ironic Boat and Tote. For instance, Wiener included one of her mother’s shorthand phrases for needing rest — “out of commission” — and applied it to L.L.Bean flannel pajamas.

Some of Wiener’s top picks from the collection include a Terry-cloth robe with the winking label of “business casual,” and a canvas pouch proclaiming “my junk.” And, just in time for the holidays, she recommends seasonal stockings embroidered with “favorite,” so siblings will “know where they stand,” Wiener joked.

“This collection offers a fun way to show your personality and sense of humor on a style staple that’s tried-and-true, but accessibly priced,” Wiener said. “With this collection, I wanted to make sure we reached a large audience, with a variety of phrases that appeal to everyone.”

The collection honors the diverse, ever-growing set of fans who are discovering the L.L.Bean Boat and Tote. Wiener has received feedback from fans who felt that — prior to Ironic Boat and Tote — monogramming was relegated to a niche customer and style.

“I was chronically online during the height of Preppy Tumblr,” Wiener said, “so I know that there’s a stereotypical kind of person associated with being preppy.”

Ironic Boat and Tote became a way for more people to display an authentic expression of self. In fact, the trend is helping new generations find their way to an old classic, becoming a symbol of the Gen Z “preppy renaissance,” but one that’s more inclusive, individualistic and enduring.

Wiener said that among her peers, “There’s a desire to return to pillar brands — iconic American brands — like L.L.Bean that have demonstrated quality.”

In a nod to L.L.Bean’s reputation for creating quality products that last, Wiener encourages fans to keep their monogrammed totes and reenergize them with new monograms or patches over time. Though individual monograms may come and go, the tough-as-nails Boat and Tote will last a lifetime.

“The bag itself will outlive us all,” Wiener said with a laugh.