A lifetime of weekends away and I never wrote a word about a bag. This is the exception
A letter from Caroline, about the bag she first saw on a porch in Lake Forest
A lifetime of weekends away and I never wrote a word about a bag. This is the exception.
Six things this one gets right that weekend bags get wrong, from a woman who sells dresses and does not review luggage.
Caroline · The Veranda Wardrobe · North of Chicago · 5 min read
Let me be plain about who is talking. I am Caroline, I am fifty-two, I live north of Chicago, and this is my shop, so I will make money if you buy one of these. What I have never done is sit down and write about a bag. What I have done is pack for a lifetime of weekends away, out of holdalls that went soft in the middle, a hard case that scuffed on its first trip, and one wheeled thing we do not discuss.
So this is not a review. It is a woman who was wrong about a bag, saying so.
The one I am writing about is a quilted duffle shaped like a camper van. A peace sign on the nose, daisies down the side, a stitched sunset around the back. I first saw one on a neighbour's porch in Lake Forest, sitting on the steps waiting for the car, and I thought it was a novelty. Read on.
Here is what a lifetime of packing taught me
Weekend bags come in two piles. The sensible pile, black nylon that sags like disappointment and looks like every other bag on the rack, which is how coats end up in the wrong car. And the smart pile, stiff little cases that scuff, weigh something before you have packed a sock, and hold less than they promise.
Sagging and invisible, or stiff and heavy. Those were the weekend options, and I had done my years in both.
This is the first bag I have come across that is neither, and it comes down to six things.
1
It does not look like luggage
It looks like somewhere nice to be going. The whole scene is quilted into it, the van with its round nose and its windows, flowers along the bottom, trees or a sunset around the back depending which one you take.
On a rack of black bags it is the one people look at. It is also the one nobody picks up by mistake, and that turns out to matter more than it sounds like it should.
2
It takes a proper weekend
Two outfits, a spare pair of shoes, a wash bag, a book and the cardigan I pretend I will not need. The opening runs the length of the top, so you can see the whole inside at once instead of digging down through layers for one thing.
3
The quilting is the clever part
It is soft on the outside, so it goes into an overhead bin or under a seat without an argument. And the padding faces inward as well, so what you put in is travelling behind a quilted wall rather than one thin layer of nylon.
4
The handles are part of the show
Two quilted handles over the top for your hand or your forearm, and a longer strap that adjusts when both hands are full of keys and a coat. Even the practical parts got decorated, which is not something I say often about a bag.
See the whole collection5
Two honest sizes, measurements included
The 16 by 8 by 8 inch one does an overnight, the gym, or the bag you keep at your feet. The 18 by 9 by 9 is taller and wider all round and does two or three days with room for shoes.
We print the measurements plainly, and I will tell you outright that most women are happier with the bigger one. That matches my experience of weekends, and of life.
6
It earns its keep between trips
This is the part I did not expect. It is the right size for the gym on a Wednesday and for an overnight at a daughter's house. It is a cheerful thing to carry into a room that is not having a cheerful day.
A black holdall lives in a closet between outings. This one does not really get put away.
Against the weekend bags you have been buying
You can find a weekend bag for fifty dollars anywhere. I know, because I own the evidence. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Most $50 weekend bags
- Black nylon that sags like disappointment
- Identical to every other bag on the rack
- Thin walls between your things and the world
- Handles stitched onto one panel
- One vague size, no measurements
- Lives in the closet until the next trip
This one
- Quilted all over, a whole stitched scene
- A camper van nobody mistakes for theirs
- Quilted walls, so the inside travels padded
- Two top handles and an adjustable strap
- Two honest sizes, measured in inches
- Gets used on the days that are not trips
About the price
$49.99 for the 16 inch and $54.99 for the 18 inch, down from $100.00 and $110.00.
Half price is usually where I start asking what is wrong with something, so here is the honest answer from my side of the counter. These come to us in a print run. When a print is gone we do not get that one back, because the next run is a different set of designs, and that is the reason the price sits where it does.
If you take more than one, and a fair few people here are buying the second as a gift, the discount comes off by itself at checkout. Ten percent on two, fifteen on three, twenty on four or more. You do not need a code and I do not send one.
If you have a weekend, a grandchild's game, a night at your sister's or a Tuesday overnight anywhere in your future, and the bag you would take is a black nylon apology with a ribbon on the handle, this is the one I would put in your hands myself, while your design is still there.
— Caroline
Quilted Retro Van Duffle Bag
$110.00 from $49.99
- A stitched camper van scene, quilted all over
- Takes a proper weekend without a wrestling match
- Quilted walls, so the inside travels padded
- Two top handles and an adjustable shoulder strap
- Two honest sizes: 16 x 8 x 8 in at $49.99, 18 x 9 x 9 in at $54.99
- Part of a whole collection of nineteen designs
- Free shipping across the United States
About the writer. Caroline is fifty-two and runs The Veranda Wardrobe from north of Chicago. She is the shop's own voice rather than an independent reviewer, so this letter is written from the shop's side of the counter. This page is an advertisement for The Veranda Wardrobe. Free shipping in the United States · 30 day returns. Prices current at the time of writing.