I can’t even make myself only do 4 stars. Honestly, I would give it 10 or more stars if that was a thing!I initially planned to return this backpack. I hate to say it, but it’s much smaller than I expected. My laptop would not fit in the padded space made for laptops but it did in the bigger open space. It’s an older model that I have to carry back and forth to the office since I work from home some days. It has a power box and cords and I use a headset. No way all that, my notes, my folders, my external keyboard, pens, etc., would fit in this backpack unless I managed to stuff it in a crammed mess and didn’t close it.HOWMEVER.It is so absolutely gorgeous that I just couldn’t make myself follow thru with the return. It will be for all the random things I haul around on a daily basis; my Bible, whatever study I’m currently doing, highlighters, my planner, pens and pencils, my kindle, hardcopy books I may be reading, my iPad Рyou get the idea. There are tons of pockets inside and out which I so appreciate because of the randomness of what I will be carrying.I can’t say enough good things about the quality of the workmanship. The stitching is top notch but doesn’t take over the pleasing design. The straps are wide with padding, but again, they nothing is taken from the appearance. It is stiff but quality structured leather usually is. I love that the bottom is wide and enables the pack to sit upright. The liner puts me in mind of corduroy and adds to the vintage feel. I will say I would have liked it to have the little metal plate in the main pic but I’m not even sure I would have noticed it’s not there if others hadn’t mentioned it. The stunning rich color of the leather makes up for it.Mine doesn’t smell bad at all. It just smells like leather.I feel like I’m always searching for the perfect bag, and even though I didn’t intend for it to be that bag, I do believe this backpack is it! I actually went back and looked to see if it was on sale or something because I can’t believe I paid as little as I did for it. It is easily worth twice that in my opinion.
