Small Antigona Leather Satchel

I’ve wanted an antigona for years and finally got one! I received it right before my one month trip to Japan so I didn’t get to test it out beforehand (which now I know is something to do with handbags). Brought it with me and was excited that I could fit so much in it, plus it’s a very beautiful and sturdy bag… and the latter is where the trouble comes in. The price of a durable leather bag like this one is the weight… I don’t doubt it would last me years because of the construction, but it weighs half as much as my carry on suitcase. I ended up having to buy a little pochette while in Japan to give myself a break from carrying this thing around some days because the weight of it wreaked havoc on my already bad back, even with the bare minimum inside (small cardholder, coin purse, small hand towel, foundation cushion compact, biore cooling wipes for Japanese hot weather, and a power bank since I was out for 14 hours a day). Sometimes I’d put a bottled drink inside, but I’d have to switch over occasionally and carry the bag with my hand rather than the strap in that case. If you’re okay with carrying that kind of weight around or if you’re not out for very long (again, I was out for 14 hours a day, not really able to put my bag down since I used public transport instead of driving), this bag is great! But the weight was a huge downside for me; I want my handbags to last long for this price but I don’t want them to outlast my back… that and I took another star off because of the zipper opening. The zipper is also quite sturdy, but the opening (due to the geometric design) is narrow unless you stretch it out, which warps the shape a bit. This means that when you reach into the bag, the metal teeth can cut your hand up a bit, which is not ideal. Sure, “beauty is pain,” but that shouldn’t really apply to handbags… All in all, I still love how it looks and it’s a very roomy bag that *could* potentially fit an iPad Pro with a keyboard case, a collapsible umbrella, a water bottle, makeup, etc, but that’s assuming you don’t strain your arms or back carrying it around in this already heavy (about 2.6 lbs) bag, or cut your hand up rummaging around for things at the bottom :’)