Get these bags here: Love 41 & Saddleback Leather
A best of the best compilation for weekend bags, work bags, lunch purses and wallets!
WEEKEND BAG – Ah, the elusive weekend bag….it needs to have a little bit of organization (spots for keys and a phone’ll do), but be something a little fun and different. It’s got to be a good enough size that I can throw my fleece in there, fun stuff for the kiddo and the laptop if I need it to; a good weight so you know it’s solid, but not so heavy you never want to carry it…the search is over. Hello, Love 41 Bucket Bag in Tobacco. Love that this bag has a North / South orientation instead of your standard East / West. I’m kind of a Tobacco girl, but this one comes in two (2) other colors, if you’re not. Plus, I love this fun color for a weekend bag! Honorable Mention goes to the Love 41 Simple Tote. The particular one that I have happens to be the Hair On Limited Edition Lovely Collection, but the specs are the same as their standard Simple Tote. This Simple Tote is just that – a tote to carry a lot from here to here, no pockets, no nothing, just a great, simple bag!
WORK BAG – Ok, this one is a little tougher to find. I have gone through a LOT of work bags. A work bag needs to fit my laptop in its case, have organization basics (i.e., spots for keys and phone), shoulder carry option, be tough enough to carry a lot of weight and bonus points for helping me stay organized. Hands down, the best bag I’ve ever had for work is (drum roll, please) – Love 41 Pocket Tote! I know I did a review of this bag before (click here to see my previous review) and I did have a lot of wishes for Version 2, but it doesn’t mean I don’t love this bag. It’s kinda like when your husband is dressed to the nines, but then his shoes don’t work. You still love him and you’d still be proud to be seen with him, but it could be just a little bit better! Honorable Mention – This might seem like a strange choice, but this award also goes to the Love 41 Simple Tote Hair On Edition. How can this have leapt into a parallel universe and gone from Weekend Bag to Work Bag? Simple – add a purse organizer and voila, suddenly this bag has all the organization you need to be a work bag!
LUNCH BAG – I have a lot of big bags! What can I say? Almost all my bags need to be able to carry my laptop. That said, I don’t always want to carry a big bag. If I’m just heading out to a meeting or lunch or coffee, I’ll leave my big bag and bring just my (you guessed it!) lunch bag. I always throw one of these in my larger work bags and it just helps keep things simple. No mad scramble to grab keys, wallet and phone before I head out to lunch, I just grab this beauty. The All Star in the category is the Love 41 Triple Pocket Crossbody. Sadly, it’s discontinued, but you can still see them pop up for sale on the Facebook groups or EBay. This is like the mini version of the Pocket Tote! It just helps me stay really organized. I used this as my purse for a whole week during a convention and it was perfect for daytime, cocktail hour (take off the straps!), walking around and meetings. Honorable Mention goes to an old faithful – the Saddleback Leather Small Clutch! I feel like a bit of a traitor because this bag has seen the most daylight of any leather I own (see my dedicated review of it here)…I just find the Triple Pocket to have a tad more room and it can be dressed up.
WALLET – I feel like my wallet story reads a lot like a Goldilocks fairy tale (“…this one is too hot, this one is too cold, this one is just right”). I’ve had the mother of all wallets which is THE BIG LEATHER WALLET. The problem with the big wallet is I put more in it and more in it and more in it and it never runs out of room. Before I know it, I’ve got a wallet the size of my head and it weighs five (5) lbs! I’ve had the itty bitty wallet which is just right for nights out or small purses (Saddleback Simple Wallet) and gets my Honorable Mention. But now, I feel like I’ve got my wallet story down pat and that story is, oddly, a wallet made just for….fly fishing? Yup, it’s for fly fisher leaders, whatever that is, but secretly it’s the world’s greatest sort-of accordion wallet for women. I say sort of because it doesn’t really fan out like a true accordion, but I can’t fault the wallet for that because, hey, it’s made for fly fishing. You can watch my wallet evolution here.
MEDIUM PURSE – Where or where is my perfect medium leather purse made by a leather artisan? Bonus points if the company gives back, but hey I’ll settle for quality products and a great guaranty! I’ve searched high and low for contenders in this category and so far….crickets! I’d love to give my All Star or even Honorable Mention to some deserving leather artisan, but alas the search continues. Who do you recommend?