Roots Small School Tribe Bag


I purchased the Small School Tribe bag from Roots in the beginning of October and I've been loving it!

I was on the hunt for a new bag and a couple months ago while re-watching Letters to Juliet, I was reminded of the amazing leather messenger bag that Amanda Seyfried's character was always toting around.

I knew it looked familiar so naturally I googled it and it turned out to be a Roots bag. I went to my nearest Roots store to buy one immediately.

I was using it for a few weeks before I started to notice how uncomfortable the strap is on my shoulder. The strap is fairly thin about an inch or so thick which tended to dig into my shoulder due to the weight of my MacBook.



I  realized that unlike the bag on Letters to Juliet, mine didn't have a shoulder pad. I contacted Roots and though the bag doesn't come stock with a shoulder pad, you can have one put on.

If you follow me on Twitter, you already know the debacle I went through with this. I took my strap to my local Roots store with promises of having it back within a couple weeks.... However, six weeks later and I only now have it back in my possession.

Here's the story:
 
I took my strap in on October 21st. The only thing I wanted was the addition of a shoulder pad. After a few weeks, I went back to the store to check on the progress and was told that they would see what's taking so long (because apparently leather goods/customizations are done at a factory in Toronto). I never got a call so I went back again a week later. After that visit, I ended up tweeting my frustrations. The next day, I received a call to tell me that they had lost my strap (not quite sure how) and would be giving me a new one with a customized shoulder pad. So all that and $20 later, I was finally able to pick up my strap yesterday (on December 1st).

Though I am happy with the strap and glad to be able to use my bag again, I would not go through that process again. If I had known it would take over a month to do such a simple thing, I would've just forgone the whole idea.

Nonetheless, I am back in my love affair with this bag.

     

This is the long awaited shoulder pad in all it's glory! And I'm not sure if you can tell but the hardware on the bag and the hardware on this new strap is different. The bag has silver hardware but the strap has brass hardware.



The strap on this bag is a little too long for me. I had to punch quite a few holes in it in order for it to suit my height of 5'3". This was the same for my original strap so I was a little annoyed that I had to do this all over again. I used a leather hole puncher that I found in my dad's toolbox -- such a handy tool, you can use it for belts, too. I think I did over 10 extra holes.

Since there is a lot of excess leather, I just wrapped it around into a knot.



The bag is a great size for me. It holds my 13 inch MacBook Pro, a small binder (or a folder of papers), an agenda, and some pens/highlighters/post-its.


Overall, I love this bag! It's a great transition piece from school to work. It's the perfect size and it's a great style. I would highly recommend it if you're looking for a new messenger. I believe it retails for $288. Definitely worth the price because the leather and craftsmanship is high quality.

What's your work or school bag?

xo,
Aleeza

4 comments:

  1. I love this bag!! Ever since that movie!! (:

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Where did you buy it, I want one too!?

      Delete
  2. Such a lovely bag and I love the little touches on the inside pockets. I hope she brings you joy for many years!

    camouflage backpack
    camouflage duffel bag
    camouflage flask
    camouflage knives
    camouflage tote bag

    ReplyDelete
  3. The quality of the leather is fine. It looks pretty executive. By the way thanks a lot for such a nice and beautiful posting.

    ReplyDelete

Instagram