Review on Covelin Women'S Genuine Leather Tote - Soft, Stylish Shoulder Bag by Ryan Fitch

I got this purse in 2 colors: the royal blue and the mint. The colors are exquisite and exactly as represented in the photos, and the finish is strikingly gorgeous and very elegant looking.It does appear to be leather (underneath a very thick "vinyl-y" coating), but the "leather-look design" on the exterior (that has fooled so many people into thinking it's leather!) is painted on. You can verify this yourself by looking at it with a magnifying glass. You can see that the pattern repeats, which would never happen with leather! They might as well have just used vinyl, especially since it would have been lighter weight.I love how functional and logically laid out this purse is. It's just what I expected and what I wanted. The listing photos and description are very accurate. It could use an extra pocket or two outside, zippered or not, IMHO.Construction is very good, except the interior fabric is glued in and I have a little concern that it will separate from the leather later on. It would be nice if they would use a lighter color inside so we can see what's in our purses a little better! It's like a giant dark cavern in there!I know it's marketed as a tote, but I like large purses so I'm using it as a purse. It's definitely a bit on the large side for a purse, but for me it's acceptable, just barely, and mostly because it's so perfect otherwise: elegant, comfortable and functional.I find that it's pretty unusual for this style purse/ tote to zip closed, which I think is a great feature when you're walking through crowds or want to keep curious little fingers out! That said, there are a couple of inches on either side of the zipper's ends where the bag is not completely sealed. They designed it this way to allow the bag to expand in width as you fill it up.Using it as a purse - carrying lighter loads - I find the skinny straps are plenty comfortable, and, interestingly, they look more elegant/stylish than wider ones might. They gently fall to the side, out of the way, when the purse is sitting on the console in my car, and I'm not too worried that the straps will tear out where they are attached to the purse, whereas if they were wider/ heavier, they might, just from the effect of gravity. I've lost several great purses due to this problem. I wish all purse manufacturers would just use rivets to attach the straps, and that would solve this problem! This is not rocket science - not sure why they can't do that one simple thing. They put rivets on jeans' pockets All the, for goodness sakes! The straps on this bag are stitched, not riveted.I'm 5'5 and the straps are just barely long enough for me on the longest setting, so if you're tall, you may not be able to scoot the bag off your shoulder with the hand on that side and clear your elbow, something that I insist on personally.Also of note is that when the straps are on the longest setting, the end of the strap won't stay tucked into the semicircular metal grommet that's designed to hold it. I will probably glue the end of the strap in place since I know I will never need it shorter.As others have said, it would be great if they would put little metal feet on the bottom (and maybe middle center) of the bag to reduce wear on the corners and to help us keep the bag clean. After all, everyone seems to expect you to put your bag on the floor, which I generally resist but sometimes it just feels rude. A purse of this price should have some little quality details like this, don't you think?The only significant negative of this bag, IMHO, is the toxic odor which won't go away. I kept both the bags, and may even order a third, but the toxic chemical smell just won't stop after 2 months of owning them. It's coming from inside the bag. I propped them open and put them in the sun for days, and have blown air on them for days with my standing fan, but the smell is still there. I'm going to try sprinkling baking soda in there next. The one I keep in my closet makes the whole closet smell bad. I don't know if this is anything to worry about or not, as they say that some of the most toxic chemicals in the world have no odor. All I know is, no one wants their purse to smell like a chemical factory. And as much as they charge for this bag, couldn't they use something a little less gross and potentially toxic?I hope these observations help someone. Happy purse shopping, everyone!