I am a 30+ mom of teens who works full time, drives to work, drives the kids to activities and drives to go coupon shopping. Once a week I take public transportation - my husband is off that day and uses the car.
I am a VERY picky bag lady, and have spent MONTHS scouring eBay, ALL of the main 'bag' stores, asking around, checking reddit for recommendations, all to reach my final goal of finding the right bag for ME. I'm broke and I'm only buying ONE bag this year because, well, I need a bag.
DISCLAIMER: THIS REVIEW MAY NOT BE FOR YOU. But in my months of searching I would have loved to have information about generic brand bags available, from people who had the same criteria as me.
I ordered this bag because it met a very specific list of criteria - I was looking for a bag that:
1- Had a top Zipper (to keep my stuff from falling out)
2- Had a handle drop large enough for me to get my arm in without having to struggle. I wanted to be able to grab it, sling it on my shoulder, and go.
3- Was NOT black - this is going to be a year round bag for me and black just doesn't go well with summer outfits
4- Had a DOUBLE handle. The way I function, I reach into my bag often while shopping, working, running errands - I needed to be able to get into the bag and get what I needed WITHOUT taking it off my shoulder
5- Had STRONG, WIDE handles - many bags have these little 'shoestring' handles, that end up cutting into your shoulder once you load the bag up.
6- Had outer pockets - when I finish at the store with a transaction I need to be able to slip the receipts, change, unused coupons SOMEwhere that they would not get lost in the rest of the bag.
7- That was JUST the right size - I've struggled recently with bags that met ALL my criteria but were just a bit too small for my needs. I needed a BIG bag for all my stuff so that Im not carrying a bunch of bags around everywhere.
8- Leather or QUALITY faux leather material - again this bag will function as my only bag (aside from beach visits) for the foreseeable future, so I wanted some quality, durable materials that can take a bit of a beating without looking raggedy in 3 months - and Im really rough on my bags.
9- LOW cost - I'm not a fashion icon for my friends and pride myself on my frugal lifestyle, so a name brand/designer bag did not fit my persona, or my budget. I actually wanted it specifically to be NON- name brand, for me it means I found something that's tailored to MY purposes and not mass produced for fad followers. My price range was pretty set - I wasn't going to be able to pay more than $100 for a bag.
10-That was firm enough to stand by itself - I don't want to have to reach all the way down to the ground to pick up the handles of the bag. Besides, ground time will also end up making the sides of the bag wear out that much more quickly.
11- Wasn't to 'dressy' or too 'casual' - my workplace is quite casual in their attire - so the bag needed to fit well with a dressy 'business casual' ie, slacks/blouse, and ALSO 'Casual' casual - jeans and T-shirt (which is Friday wear for many of us).
So I picked THIS bag. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07N1DTTC7/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The studded feet are a plus, I expect they will extend the longevity of the bag.
It was shipped in an appropriate box - the sellers did NOT try to squish the bag into a flat mailer.
I've had the bag now for about a week and it definitely meets all of my expectations. I am FINALLY happy with a bag!
The only thing I find to be a bit of an issue is that the handles tend to be a bit 'slippery' on my shoulder - from time to time when I reach in to the bag, instead of just one handle staying on my shoulder, they both will slip off, and I'll have to stop to readjust the bags position before taking anything out.
HOWEVER I haven't 'fully stocked' the bag yet - Im still organizing my daily makeup/toiletry bag and haven't carried it around with me this week. Once I add it to the bag, the additional weight may just solve the problem of the slippery handles. If not, I'm partial to a 'shoulder grip' product that will give the handles a bit more 'sticky' so that hopefully it wont be a problem. I'll provide updates on that piece as time passes.
Submitted April 16, 2019 at 02:28PM by sarathecookie http://bit.ly/2Phg9k4
