This is a beautiful bag in black and I am sure the tan color is beautiful also. I am 68 years young with mushy muscles. This bag is so heavy It hurts my arms to lift it. I bought 4 of these bags. One for myself and one for my daughters.. So far one daughter received two o, a tan and a black. This daughter has a 19 month old and a 4 year old. She is giving both bags back to me. She says, they are so heavy that if she fills it with her needs, she wont be able to lift it. Gorgeous bag, but too heavy. Will probably return all of them. So sorry LLBean, I will keep trying.
I purchased the Leather Messenger Tote in brown, large. It took me nearly two years (yes, I'm picky!) to find a single-compartment leather tote at/under 250 that I'd be able to carry-on an airplane or in my motorcycle tour pack that has the room I need and the ability to keep the contents inside. This one is one of the very very very few that fit the bill. The messenger-like fold over aspect to it was the tipping point as I'll love the extra space when needed but most of the time it likely won't be stuffed completely. And between the fold-over top, the clasp, and the zipper it will keep the contents tucked inside when shoved under an airline seat.
First impressions upon unpacking are that it is indeed large. I foresee no issues putting what I want in here and toting it around. My thick bulky laptop (15 x 10 x 1.5) for work slips right in and almost disappears with plenty of room for lots of other things such as my purse, my tablet, my Nook, and so on. Yay!
The 13" height mentioned in the product description is with the flap folded down; up it's ~17". There's an unmentioned detachable mini purse inside, approximately 6" x 3" x 1.5", canvas and leather. "Bonus" I suppose.
I love the thick textured leather. Someone in another review called it coarse ... well it is "textured full-grain leather" so it is definitely not a smooth look or feel so if that's what you're looking for look elsewhere.
The handles are leather one side and webbing the other, which I wasn't really expecting but as I look at the item online again that's clearly pictured, just not called out in the description. My only concern with the handles is that the seam in the leather is top center and I've had purse straps fail at just such a seam point before. Hopefully the webbing layer will prevent that, and if not I suppose I'll get to try out the famed L.L. Bean 100% satisfaction guarantee.
The interior pockets are all on one side. There's one that should fit most smartphones, one for something narrower, both of these with a little leather strap with velcro-like keeper. Then a couple of credit card sized slots, and some pen slots. I wasn't looking for any interior pockets so they should be fine for me.
The only disappointment for me was the color. I ordered the brown, and in the item pictures it looks like a rich dark brown. In reality it appears to me to be much more of a saddle brown. Not a deal killer for me, just not what I was expecting and I hope it will darken over time and with use.
Other than the concern about the seam on the handles, it seems very well constructed, feels great, and I'm looking forward to putting it to use on its first trip next week.
Wonderful bag for hauling files, etc. back and forth to work. The leather quality is very nice. I've been using it about a month now and it looks as good as the day I received it despite my abuse! The only suggestion I have for LLBean is to change the inner liner color to something other than black and to add more interior pockets.
This bag is the perfect size for work and play. Very rich looking! The leather is a soft beautiful brown color. The handles are long enough to use over your shoulder. I did not give it five stars because the color is not as dark as in the picture. In addition, the leather is smooth in some areas of the bag and more textured in others.
