Bag Review: Rebecca Minkoff Mini 5 Zip Crossbody

Hope everyone had a fun and restful holiday season!  Did you all get to take advantage of the Thanksgiving and Christmas shopping deals?

Rebecca Minkoff's bags are on-trend and fairly well-priced for the quality. The Mini 5-Zip is one of her most popular bags. I've used mine for about a year now, and feel that I can now adequately review it. Here are the bag statistics, according to the RM website and Shopbop.com:

Product details:
Retail: $195
9" wide x 1.5" deep x 6.5" tall
Adjustable chain strap can be worn cross-body (21" drop) or doubled (14" drop)
Custom light gold hardware
Leather: Cowhide.
Weight: 20oz / 0.56kg

The lining of the bag varies with the season. Unless otherwise stated, they are made in China. There is also some discussion about which lining colors correlate with which country of manufacture, but I didn't research this in detail. For a bag of this price point, I don't really care where it's made. All I can say is, the quality of my bag has been spot-on.



First and foremost, if you are looking at buying this bag, you probably don't like carrying your whole life with you when you go out. So here are the 5 things I take with me when I go anywhere, besides school and the hospital:
1. Phone
2. ID card + credit card +/- papers
3. Keys
4. Blotting powder
5. A lip product




You can definitely fit more into the bag, I just prefer not to. The bottom two zippers don't open to any compartment - as you can see below. The feet at the bottom are cute, but essentially useless because the bag does not stand on its own.



The strap is decorated with gold discs. I appreciate the fact that they're on both sides of the strap so the wearer doesn't have to think about turning the strap in a certain way to make the discs show. The chain is sturdy has a nice weight to it.



The BEST part of the bag is how you can change the chain length! There are essentially 3 different lengths you can achieve: both sides full length, one side shortened, or both sides shortened. Or can remove the strap and wear it as a clutch. The following photos show how the strap attaches and how you can change the length:





Full length:



Just loop the clip head into the ring!





Voila! One side shortened! You can do the same on the other side and get an even shorter drop length. I usually wear it with just one-side shortened, over my left shoulder.



Here are the things that I don't like about the bag:
1) Lack of an external pocket in the back - this bag is spacious enough, but I just want to compartmentalize my items even more:



2) Preponderance of tassels - the tassels are a major design element, but they are so long, and sometimes get in the way.



As you can see, there's just a couple of stitches holding in each tassel. I am tempted to remove a couple of them, but I haven't decided which ones:



3) The top zipper doesn't unzip all the way - this makes getting this in and out of the bag more of an issue if you are carrying larger items.



4) Softness of the bag - the bag doesn't hold it's shape. If you carry more in the bag, I'm assuming that won't be a problem, but I would prefer it was just a bit stiffer. However, the leather does feel really nice to the touch.

Final thoughts: 
1. Price: 3/5 - 4/5 if you find it on sale!
2. Quality: 5/5 - After a year of constant use, there's no signs of major wear, and no broken parts!
3. Utility: 3.5/5 - A few improvements to the zipper and compartments would bump this up to a 5/5.
4. Longevity: 4/5 - This is one of RM's staple styles, and I don't see it going out of style (whatever THAT means). Honestly, this bag is so compact and almost incognito that even if the "motorcycle-chic" trend passes, this piece would still be applicable to any outfit.

Despite the few negatives, I've really enjoyed using this bag. It works with any outfit, and it is the perfect size for me. There are so many colors to chose from, too! I think any girl (or boy?) would enjoy this bag.