Check for it here (Customizable!): Adjustable Tote
The Leather Shop Adjustable Tote, an Unboxing!
Ok, fellow leather crazies….it’s been a while since I posted, my apologies! I have been busy traveling, doing videos (and videos and videos) and keeping busy working out. Anyways, I’m glad to be back on the website and this leather tote is the perfect excuse to do a little article. Plus, I got some great questions and comments from my Facebook group and YouTube subscribers that I wanted to address here.
Here’s what I’m loving so far about this adjustable Leather Tote!
1. Very thoughtful design – It’s got two (2) options for carry and the shorter straps fold perfectly into a square shape to lay flat on the interior of the bag, taking up no room. I did the unboxing video at the end of the long day and, although I had the thought that maybe those suddenly square handles could transform, I didn’t give it a shot. Luckily, one of my fellow FB group members was kind enough to point this out. In addition to the clever handles, it’s got pockets on all four (4) sides of the interior of the bag, not to mention the two side pockets on the exterior. Talk about organized! I’m running out of excuses on why my bag gets so messy.
2. Customization – You can alter the height, the width, add a cross body carry strap, add feet to the bottom, customize the color (or three!). There’s not too many leather artisans that give you this kind of leeway. I previously commented that I wasn’t crazy about the idea of a magnet closure and Ken suggested the snap closure instead – great solution!
3. Uptown – This feels like the uptown version of a lot of my other work bags that are more velvety in nature since the leather is more polished / smooth. Granted, the colors I chose are whimsical, but I’ve seen it in all black w red straps or very dark tan with black straps and I think any of those color combos would fit right in at even the stuffiest of offices.
Lastly, I had someone ask for measurements and I thought, sure, I can tell you the measurements, but we know the “exact” measurement of a leather bag can be a bit controversial so I thought I’d just show you instead and let you see for yourself. There’s no exact measurements – are you talking about the interior, the exterior, the bag when it’s empty (or full), etc. Long story short, I decided to capture pics of the measurements that I would want to know. Apologies for the crooked tape measure, my arm was getting exhausted holding the bag and tape measure out there. Fear not, however! I literally ran out to the mall and bought this silly thing (you’ll see it in the next video!) to help with measurements for when I do the full review so they’ll be more even. Without further ado – the measurements!
I measured just the front panel length at the top of the bag (12″). Reason being, to me this is the true length of the bag since the leather on the sides is meant to be for depth, rather than adding to the length. Although, as you can see, it’s not 100% structured, so you do gain a bit of room because of this….
Hence, why I also chose to measure the full length of the bag, meaning edge to edge, including whatever portions of the side depth are naturally visible from the front. This measures 16″. Although it looks like the left corner is not anchored, that’s just an optical illusion.
I wanted to also measure the true length at the bottom of the bag, which is often different from the top in a tote. Here, the front panel measures 13″, 1″ wider than at the top…just perfect for my laptop!
This measurement is the full length of the bottom of the bag, including whatever portions of the side leather naturally are visible from the front, since it does add to the width. This measures about 14″. Keep in mind, the bottom of the bag joins the side of the bag at an angle so the lower you go, the smaller the measurement gets.
This is the “resting width” (totally made that up, but sounds appropriate) of the bag – – meaning, with the bag empty, how wide does it expand when you’re just holding the bag? That’s about 3″.
I also wanted to measure what I consider to be the full width of the bag, which, to me, is the width of the bottom panel. That comes in at about 5″. The bag was “smooshed” (again, another very technical term) for packing purposes so I had to push out the crease with my hand to take this measurement. My guess is that after some use, this measurement will expand to 6″ once the crease is fully ironed out.
Lastly, the drop length and the height of the bag are bag basics, so not to be forgotten! The drop length is a very comfortable 13″ and the height of the bag (not including the brown part that’s technically the bottom, though visible from the front) is 11.5″.
FTC Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post.