My new apartment has a Bikram yoga studio next door, and three times a day, neighborhood people begin the steady stream down the street and up the stairs to its bendy arms. They are usually already dressed for hot yoga--tiny shorts and little tank tops, most of them looking as if they are made of very fancy, space-aged wicking materials that actually have tiny space-aged air conditioners woven into the fabric. I am going to guess that they blew all their money on their fancy gear, because you would not believe how many of them are dragging their floppy, unsecured yoga mats along with them under their arms, over their shoulders, on their hips, loosely rolled and unwieldy, or covered with really big rubber bands. That is no way to treat an important piece of equipment! It also doesn't look so great, and really, more than a little discombobulated.

What does look great and not at all discombobulated--adorable yoga mat bags in excellent fabrics. They're inexpensive enough to not blow your space-aged workout clothes budget, and they're way cooler than rubber bands could ever hope to be. And they make you look a little less disorganized and crazy, which is always a plus.