Baggallini Big Sydney Bag

I bought this bag as a travel purse for an overseas trip. It was perfect! There are so many nice pockets (deep), and I was able to secure passport and documents neatly inside one of those pockets. The purse is lightweight but very sturdy. The zippers aren't flimsy. The hardware is a bit "clunky" looking, but I got the purse for practicality rather than looks, and it was great. My cell phones (2) went with me in one of the outside pockets. I tucked my digital camera into another outside pocket. And if you have a Kindle, there's a perfect pocket for it on the back of the purse. That same pocket is really good for keeping receipts. And, as I mentioned, all the pockets are deep. There are credit card slots built into the purse. I only used those when I knew I would need to access a card quickly (very handy, actually), but the card(s) didn't fall out. Also, there are two lanyards with hooks inside with which you can secure things you don't want to have to fish for, such as keys. I even attached one of them to a second, spare camera. There is nothing about this purse I don't like except maybe the large hardware, but I can live with that. For daily use or something heavy-duty like overseas travel, the Baggalini people know how to design a practical, nice-looking, sturdy bag. I bought the "Big Sydney" because I knew I would need the extra room. I'm really thinking of getting a smaller one just for everyday use. But this will be my travel purse until I wear it out!

I'm very disappointed in this bag and this company. The front latch fell of within a month of normal use. When I called the company, they offered to send me the pieces so I could repair it myself. They said this would take 4-6 weeks! Unhappy but trying to be understanding, I waited. 12 weeks! No hardware and when I contacted them again today, they offered to send me the hardware to fix it myself. In 4-6 weeks. Not acceptable. Poor customer service and apparently a poorly made product.

I ordered this bag based on the first measurements that I saw, 7 x 9 x 3 ... My Bad, should have looked down the page and questioned that it showed 14 x 9 x 22. This bag is really a BIG Sydney, much larger that I wanted. Also the silver zipper pull was a real pain, it swivels around and I had to play with it several times to get it straight to open or shut the zipper. This was something that I absolutely couldn't have lived with, and there was no way to correct it.I really like Baggallini purses, especially the material they are made of. For some reason this bag didn't look as good as the others, kind of cheap looking.So, I had to send it back.

I had really thought this would be the end all bag. BUT...Though I like the size alot, big enough to carry some books or a sketchbook,after that my needs weren't met.Sure there are tons of pockets, but all of them for my purposes are a little Too deep, where things will start to get lost. And as other reviewers have said about Baggallini credit card slots- they're useless- cards just slide out, as well as the pen holders being horizontal, again, useless... I also needed a place to hold a water bottle upright or other beverage container- commuter mug. and didn't find an appropriate spot, as well as the right size pocket for my for my iphone and/or camera without getting scratched by the huge zipper or endangered by the huge turnbuckle on the front pockets.The zippers I found to be rough and intimidating, even with a little wax and the hardware just over the top too large, though I like hardware..The designers just scaled up the sydney bag without making revisions as to usablity with the larger size.Great idea, try again. Also the strap is too slippery to use over the shoulder, though i mostly would have used cross body.I'm back to the drawing board.

I ordered this bag in hopes of combining my tote and purse contents into something large enough for daily working use. This bag is larger and has more pockets than I anticipated. Be aware there are two kinds of Sydney bags (the large and regular), so be sure when ordering wherever you double check the dimensions. I order in Olive (outer) /Spice (inner). The color contrast is fun. I like that each bag has it's own contrast. I've owned a few other Baggallini's and have been very pleased with the quality and durability. I've had one tote that until recently I used daily for school, work and travel; using regularly for about 6 years. This is akin to it's predecessors as it also seems very durable and I'm looking forward to putting it through the paces.The hardware is enormous and heavy (specifically the knob-buckle on the front of the bag). There are 4 outer front pockets: One knob buckle, the other two front pockets are combined into one; the main the same size/depth as the aforementioned knob one - both could hold two decks of standard cards one atop the other horizontally. One of the two has a small flush zipper pocket on the front of it. Then there's another deep/flat one running along the top of them that really doesn't have room for much of anything bulky; all have large hardware. There is a rear outer pocket that seals with a hidden magnet 2/3 the overall depth of the bag. Large main portion of the bag has two interior zipper pockets on either side; both deep. The main compartment is large enough for a couple of books if you so desired. I don't trust the horizontal pen holders at the top of the main part of the bag. If that wasn't enough pocket space, they include a mini-matching color coin purse.I like to wear it cross body; the strap is wide and seems like it'll hold up. Still trying to figure out the best way to "place" my belongings into the bag. My only complaint is the bag is heavier than I thought it would be, and is going to seem bulky - hence I don't see it for going out but for work and such when I need to carry a few things it's fine.