it's hard to put into words what last week was like. i awoke at 4:30 AM on sunday and looked out my living room window and saw our cars about to be submerged with water. i ran to get warren up; he raced outside in boxers and crawled through the tailgates to save our cars. as he waded back to the front door, we stood in shock. we went to the garage and opened the doors....inside we saw a swimming pool of what use to be our stuff....it was floating, our refrigerator was turned upside down. fear filled our eyes as we stared in shock, wondering what was going on. i ran to find my cell phone to start calling our friends. we began running through the house, wondering what to get, and what to do. i was not calm. my precious children slept in bed totally unaware of what was about to take place. warren looked at me and grabbed my hands and said "shannon, i love you. water is about to come into the house. we have got to go." i ran to the children's room and woke them up. i handed them backpacks and told them to put their favorite toys in them. taylor cried and walker stood in shock still half asleep, not knowing what was going on. i ran to the kitchen and saw that water was pouring in through our floor vents. i opened the chest with our pictures in them and ran to put them on my kitchen counter. it was time to go. we carried our children in our arms as we waded through the waist high water. my cell phone rings, it's one of my best friends who lives a block away...panic is in her voice as she says her family is trapped and they cannot get out. water has risen to the stairs of the second floor. they are rescued by a boat. my phone rings again, it's my in-laws saying, we can't make it to their house b/c the bridge is flooded. we race to our dearest friend's house in the neighborhood. i don't know how their house did not flood. as daylight comes, we look outside her windows and see X marks on all of the houses on the opposite side of the street. we walk to the end of the block, it's unreal. what once was a street, is now a lake. we watch as the water rises and breaks the window's of homes. our friends back their john boats into the water and take off to save the ones that are still trapped. helicopters loom above us. it's something i will never forget.
i have been forever changed. i have seen my home's walls being cut in half, my floors being ripped out, my kitchen being sledged hammer, our belongings being picked up and thrown into a dumpster..... i have seen true love from family, friends, volunteers, church members, and strangers. i have cried, hugged, laughed, cussed...you name it, we've done it. our community is so incredibly strong. they have lifted our hearts and prayers. we are humbled and our lives have been forever changed....thank you for everyone that has reached out. we feel incredibly blessed and loved; if there is one lesson to learn in life, it's that there is so much good out there....
I was back and forth about purchasing the Petra tote for well over a year -- mostly due to the $365 price tag for a simple leather tote. I first became interested when they introduced the beautiful cognac color; unfortunately, that seasonal color was no longer being sold when I finally committed to purchasing the Petra Market.
I ultimately decided on the black Petra Market tote since it's a timeless color that pairs easily with the majority of outfits. Everlane has since released 'coming soon' photos of new Petra fall colors that will be available on Oct 15. If I hadn't already purchase the black tote, I would totally go for this beautiful camel brown below.
Now before I get into the actual review of the bag, I have to share my experience with receiving a defective bag and what a wonderful job Everlane's customer service did to rectify the situation.
So the tote comes in a drawstring dust bag and has clear protective layers covering the chrome hardware on the straps. To my disappointment, when unboxing my new bag I noticed an odd tarnish to the hardware as I peeled away the protective plastic covering for the first time.
At first I thought I could wipe off the weird tarnish (or whatever it was) since it looked like a fingerprint -- but nope, the stains would not budge at all. It almost seemed like whoever handled the hardware had some kind of chemical on their hands since the photo above clearly looks like a fingerprint.
I emailed Everlane's customer service with photos of the hardware but didn't expect a quick reply since it was Saturday morning. But wow, they responded within 15 minutes! The customer service rep informed me the defective hardware is definitely not normal and immediately ordered a replacement bag to be shipped. He also sent me a prepaid shipping label so I could send back the defective bag for their team to look at. Now that's what you call superb customer service.
I received my replacement Petra Market tote in a few days, and it was in perfect condition.
Now, on to the actual review!
Pros:
High quality, durable Italian leather
soft, smooth, fine pebble grain
High quality stitching
stitches are tight, straight, even, and well-secured
I'm personally not a huge fan of bags with extremely visible logos, but this is strictly personal preference.
The "Everlane" logo is nicely hidden on one of the inside pockets
Size: holds a whole lot
Dimensions: 21.4" top, 15" bottom, 13.75" height
The Petra Market is a bit large for my personal daily use since I don't carry much, but this size is great if you're carrying notebooks, a laptop, flats/commuter shoes, etc.
Adjustable 9 inch drop handle straps
3 notches (adjustable by 2 inches)
At 5'4'' I can hold the tote by the handles at my side without it touching the ground
Durable ultrasuede interior
the ultrasuede is very soft yet doesn't scratch easily
Two functional interior canvas pockets
Both interior pockets are large and have a snap closure
Cons:
Price: $365
I think the price tag is fair for how much quality leather is used to construct this well-made tote. But it's definitely enough $$$ where I felt the need to really take time to contemplate the purchase.
Small feet rivets
small chrome rivets at the bottom of the bag are too small to be functional
sides of the bag will slouch and touch the ground when placed down
No zipper or clasp closure
I know most totes are open at the top and I personally rarely zipper up my purses that do have a zipper, but I do use and prefer magnetic clasp closures.
This Everlane tote is completely open at the top. This isn't a huge issue as I carry it on my shoulder so it's safely tucked under my arm and close to my body.
Quality control
Considering the first Petra tote I ordered had defective hardware, I think Everlane can work on their quality control a bit.
Photos:
The Petra Market shipped to me in this uniquely shaped box
Includes a nice drawstring dust bag
Upon unboxing: handles are nicely protected
I love the slight upside down trapezoid shape rather than a rectangular silhouette
Close up of the fine pebble grain texture of the leather
The leather is a perfect thickness: sturdy yet not too stiff
Straight and even stitching
Sleek chrome hardware
Adjustable shoulder straps (3 notch options)
What the strap looks like when set on the middle notch
The extremely tiny foot rivets on the bottom of the bag
The "Everlane" logo is nicely hidden on the interior of the tote
Interior canvas pocket with snap closure
The two interior canvas pockets are very large/deep
Size of the Petra Market on my 5'4'' frame
I can fit my 13" macbook pro, notebook, wallet, keys with plenty of space to spare
This bag has the potential to hold so much!
One of the main reasons I kept going back and forth about purchasing this bag was because I never saw it in person and couldn't find any videos online that showed the details of the bag, the quality/texture of the leather, etc. I told myself if I buy this bag, I will post a video on YouTube.
I hope this helps someone with their decision!
Comparison to some other leather totes on the market: Plain leather totes are sold by a plethora of brands with prices ranging from affordable to slightly outrageous. Some other brands with similar style totes include: Mansur Gavriel, Madewell, Cuyana, Tory Burch, Kate Spade, and many more.
I seriously considered the Cuyana classic leather tote since it's only $150 and available in various beautiful colors, but it's slightly smaller and I personally didn't like how pebbled the leather looked. I also prefer the slightly trapezoidal shape of the Everlane Petra over the more rectangular boxy shape of the Cuyana tote. Sidenote: if you're looking for a leather tote with a zipper, Cuyana has them for $195.
The Mansur Gavriel large tote comes with a small detachable pouch/wallet but is slightly smaller than the Everlane Petra Market, doesn't have adjustable shoulder straps, and has a higher price tag of $595.
Madewell has a standard leather tote for only $168 which is a great price! Again, this tote is smaller than the Petra Market and has a more rectangular/boxy silhouette. The stitching on the Madewell tote just doesn't look as sleek as the Everlane totes.
Tory Burch has a smaller leather tote for $395, Kate Spade's leather tote runs around $298, Ted Baker's version of a leather tote goes for $289, a Nina Ricci shopper tote is $990, and a Mark Cross pebbled leather tote is $1,295. These are all lovely totes but they are generally smaller and have more hardware and/or the logos plastered on the exterior for the bag. I just love how simple, sleek and chic the Everlane Market looks.
If you're not looking to shell out too much for a simple tote, there are often similar faux leather options available at H&M and other retailers that often go for less than $50.
The Everlane site states the "traditional retail" for a tote like the Petra Market would be $1300, and they break down the transparent pricing of their tote to explain how they derived their retail price of $365.While $365 is not cheap, I still feel it is a reasonable price tag for the quality of bag. What I'd like to see is some improvement on the chrome finishes as I have doubts it will withstand the test of time considering I initially received a tote with "faulty" hardware. Only time will tell.
I still need to give my Everlane tote more wear and tear before I can come back and do an update on how it holds up.
Let me know what leather totes you've owned and how they have fared with daily use!
