For those of you who know me, you know I have a bag obsession. I finally got my hands on a Belstaff Large Colonial Bag. It is GORGEOUS. Expensive… yes… but I think definitely worth it. Since there is so little information about this bag, I’ll post some of my thoughts and a detailed description.
The bag is gorgeous. I just can’t say that enough. It is well crafted and definitely designer. It is made of a heavyweight waxed canvas that is water resistant. Is it as durable as some of the modern nylons and weaves… probably not. But this bag has the same effect as that well worn leather jacket or the perfect broken in jeans. The bag is really collapsible… there is little form to it. This can be good or bad. It’s great because the bag is bigger than it actually looks. The bag forms to your body. It’s bad sometimes when you take certain things out of it (SLR camera). You have to adjust it to get pointy items like that in and out.
The leather details are really nice. Some people complain about the straps and how they attach… I usually carry it around without the straps buckled. This allows easy access. When I want to secure the bag, I buckle the straps… which does a good job of holding the flap down. When you REALLY want to secure the bag, you can buckle the strap and loop it into the leather loops.
The only complaint is that the side pockets are a little hard to access. I end up keeping things I don’t need every day but would like to have with me just in case in there.
I typically use it as my work bag… big enough to hold a Macbook Pro 15″ with a sleeve. I can also swap it out and put Domke inserts inside to hold camera equipment. I am about to sell all my other bags on eBay… THIS IS THE ONE!
The dimensions measured at the seams* are: 12 in tall x 15 in wide x 3.5 in deep at the top and 4.5 in deep at the bottom.
Front pockets are 8 in tall x 5 in wide x 1 in deep.
Side pockets are 6 in tall by 4 in wide… tight rounded depth.
Inside zippered pocket is 7in long.
* inside might be a bit smaller.
Of course, pictures are worth a thousand words: More Pictures of Belstaff Colonial 554.
