Month: October 2017

Moose Leather Adjustable Tote (Customized) – Get it here!

Happy Saturday, All!  Is anyone else doing the Orangetheory Fitness Hell Week?  If so, “Thigh-Day the 13th” was brutal (kudos to whoever was clever enough to come up with that name!).  Typing is about the only thing I can do because my fingers are the only thing that’s NOT sore.  So, time to get caught up a little.  Somebody asked for more photos of my  Moose Leather (aka The Leather Shop) customized Adjustable Tote.  If you saw my earlier unboxing vid, then you know there was some controversy on the sizing of this bag.  So, on my unboxing post, I took photos with the measuring tape so you could decide for yourself if this is the right size for you.   Long story short, I took a ton of photos.  So, I was tickled that somebody asked for MORE photos….finally, there’s somebody else out there that obsesses (really obsesses) over a bag before they purchase it.  Basically, I’m a purse stalker and I’m glad to know I’m not alone.  So, you know who you are and I applaud your crazy.  If ever you want to see MORE PHOTOS of any of my bags, hit me up and I’m all too happy to oblige.  Welcome to Crazy Town; I’m the Mayor.

HOW’S IT WEARING?

It’s wearing quite well!  I was a little nervous because the info sheet it came with said something to the effect of – Store the handles inside the bag so that it doesn’t scratch the exterior.  That gave me a bit of pause because if the dangling handles might scratch the bag, how badly might it get scratched from my use and abuse.  In general, I don’t baby my bags (though there’s always a few exceptions!) so I was concerned that it would look really beat up. I’ve been carrying this thing Monday through Friday for about three (3) months and on the daily it’s holding:  a laptop, hard sided sun glass case, hard sided glasses case, essential oils pouch, my giant clunky keys, phone, laptop cord, phone cord, and  a lunch purse with my wallet and other non essential essentials.  Did I mention I ask a lot of my work bags?  A few days, I even had some presentation type stuff to do so there was also a bunch of files.  Well, I’m pleased to report this bag came out the other side looking no worse for the wear.  I really can’t see any deep scratches, just a bit of wrinkling here and there.  The bag basically still looks really new.  One thing about this bag – – I never NEVER put it on the floor.  Not to say that it couldn’t handle being placed on the floor, I just don’t like the idea of it. Plus, I didn’t pay up for the “feet” so it would literally be the leather just resting on the floor – no thanks.  So, that step alone probably saves some wear and tear on the bag.  I also only carry it to work so I don’t have it on my person for very long either (vs. my weekend bags, which I might carry for hours at a time).

WORK BAG OR WEEKEND BAG?

Weeeell, a LOT of people say they got this bag and have forsaken all their other bags and this is their weekend and their weekday bag.  It’s a nice bag for sure and it’s got enough interesting features (and colors!) that I can see why you’d carry it on the daily.  For me, however, this is strictly a work bag for a few reasons:

1.   It’s very structured.  I like my weekend bags to have a bit of give to them.  I relax, I mean really relax (like no makeup, sweats / “athleisure”, uncombed hair type relax) on the weekends so for me to carry this bag would be like someone wearing high heels with their cut off shorts.  Again, this is just my personal opinion and if you want to rock this bag seven (7) days a week, more power to you.  I like my bag to match my mood and mentally this bag says work to me so I tend to pick a more slouchy and / or small bag for weekend wear.

REDS, YELLOWS AND BROWNS, OH MY!

You can customize a ton of feature on this bag.  I chose this yellow/ orange / natural for the main body and the brown for the side / bottom and topped it with red handles. I saw that someone else did all black with red handles and I thought it made the bag look very sharp and sophisticated whereas my bag is more whimsical.    All that said, the person requesting the photos wanted to see some shots of the colors of my bag.  That said, all these photos were taken rapid fire on the same day in about seven (7) minutes.  You can see it really depends how the light hits it.

The body of the bag is darker than this photo would lead you to believe, but I still like this photo because you can see all of the good detail on the front.  The front and back exterior panels have no pockets.

The way the main color of the bag is shown in this picture is closest to how it looks in real life.  It’s got an orange undertone that I think will continue to darken.  The brown sides are also pretty true to life in terms of color.  I love that the snap is permanently affixed to the brown panel instead of the orange / main panel. That way, if you have a tall water bottle in there that won’t allow you to snap the pocket shut, the snap doesn’t get in the way at all – smart design!

Ok, the main body is not nearly as dark as this photo, but it’s still a nice shot of the back of the bag. No pockets, just a bit of branding and some rivets and contrasting stitching. Overall, a very clean looking bag for something that has a ton of organization on the inside.

I wanted to show you how bright the interior is. The contrast of the unlined bag with the dark pockets and red trim makes it really easy to find things.  There’s pretty much a pocket for every conceivable need though I wish I had made one side of the bag a laptop sleeve since I don’t need quite so many pockets.

I wanted to show you an aerial shot so you could see all the pockets in their glory.  There’s even pockets on the interior sides of the bag. I have a red tote bag stuffed down in the center just for depth purposes.   The side pockets are designed so they don’t get in the way or take away from the full use of the bottom of the bag…if you didn’t hear me the first twenty (20) times, this bag is really smartly designed!  You can also see the placement of the key fob on the side so your keys dangle out of the way.

A close up shot so you can see how all the stitching is a double row.  I’m not an expert on sewing, but I think it just speaks to how everything on this bag is built to last.  Why sew once when you can sew twice?

Here’s a close up of the key fob.  You can just hang your keys from the D-ring directly or you can use the other end of the dog leash which is an actual key ring and then just unsnap this when you want your keys.  The other side of the bag also has an identical D-ring.  People seem to be obsessed with D-rings these days so I guess the more the better, For me, one is plenty.

Here’s what it looks like if you use only the short straps.  Basically, if you’re using the short straps, the long straps MUST hang on the outside of the bag.  Looks fine to me, though I may have some Version 2.0 suggestions when I finally get around to doing my full video review of this bag.  I’m always a shoulder carry gal, but this bag changed me.  I carry it almost exclusively by the short handles. It feels like a feminine version of a briefcase to me and I love that!  

For what it’s worth, I get compliments on this bag from a wide cross section of the population (hipsters, lawyers, business people, receptionists, etc.).  It’s just a bag that speaks to a lot of people.  Hope this helps you understand this bag a bit more!  Happy shopping!