I use a smaller Lesportsac for my everyday purse, but needed something bigger to use when traveling in Germany. This was perfect! I was able to fit in the guidebooks and brochures I used during the day. The adjustable strap allows for the security of wearing it across your chest or just one shoulder. The many pockets made it easy to organize all of the travel stuff I was carting around everyday. Can’t recommend it enough.
Rating: 5 / 5

I purchased this in a discontinued pattern called Jaipur, which is very similar to the pattern here called Viva, except Jaipur’s stripes are designed to look hand-painted. I paid less than half of the list price for this purse, since I bought it at a discount store. While this purse seems well-made, and is big enough to carry most things women carry with them in the course of a day, I do not believe it is worth the list price. The zippers they used don’t move easily – I have to use two hands on them most of the time (mainly to close the zippers). The strap is kind of thin, somewhat like a seatbelt (except thinner than a seatbelt). It has no padding whatsoever. The adjustment buckle is plastic. There is only one zipper compartment inside the purse. However, it does have three slim pockets on the outside (if you put anything that isn’t thin in these you’ll notice that the item will cause an ugly bulge inside and outside the bag). The lining on this pattern is black, which is a bad idea. (It is about time that all purse manufacturers abandoned dark-colored linings for purses.) One major plus is the dividing wall – this means you have two fairly large areas to keep things in, and everyone doesn’t have to see all that’s in your bag when you just want to take out your wallet. Also, the expansion zipper feature is nice to have, though I expect most people would just leave it expanded all the time. I would only zip up the expansion zipper if I were packing it in luggage to take on a trip. It is very lightweight, which does make it a good choice for traveling. All in all, I wouldn’t purchase it again unless I could get it again for less than half of list price.

By the way, the label on the inside of this purse indicates it was made in the Dominican Republic. The profit margin on this must be pretty high when people pay $78.00 for them.

4/11/10 – I’d like to add, after using this for a few weeks, that two additional things stick out as annoyances on this purse: There are no pen slots, and the strap doesn’t have swivel connectors. (The fittings on the strap are plastic, which is strange for a purse in this price category.) This means the strap is more likely to get twisted when you put it on your body, and it’s not easy to get it untwisted while wearing it.
Rating: 4 / 5