Cambridge satchel company

[Pouffealouffe]

Does anyone have experience of their bags? I'm tempted to treat myself to one of their bags ( the one with the kind of scalloped trim, not sure of the name) in the new year, especially if they go on sale. But I went to have a look in the shop and it was a bit smaller than I thought. If you have one do you find it useful as an everyday bag? Is the quality good? Any tips on colour choices (subjective I know but still...). Thanks!

I've just had the satchel style one for Christmas to use as my work bag. It's so lovely. Really pleased with it.
I posted on an Internet forum asking for recommendations and the Cambridge satchel company got the best reviews. Everyone said they lasted for years and are high quality. I would agree with the comments on the quality from the small time I've had with mine!

I have a satchel one and find it too stiff - the leather is very hard and inflexible - you can't squeeze anything in as it is like a board. And quite heavy relative to its size. I hardly use it now.

I love the look of them but hate how stiff the leather is

Agree- very stiff leather. Mine is 8 years old and with a decent amount of wear it is still very hard and inflexible.

I have admitted defeat and now use it as a weekend bag when I only need to carry phone, keys and umbrella. I have a large one too!

As a work bag I couldn’t fit all my things in it, and my water bottle would constantly fall out.

I have the Cambridge Cloud Bag with top handle in black (largest size I think). I bought it from thehut.com last year, as their usual discount codes worked on it and it was much cheaper than buying from The Cambridge Satchel Company.

The quality is lovely but it is not very big. If I put a small umbrella in it, there isn't very much room for anything else. I also find the lack of any inner pockets annoying. Even most satchels have at least one.

That said, I would love one in Oxblood if they would just make it a bit bigger.

I have the pushlock bag. I can fit a small purse, keys and phone in it. Really well made and I had it monogrammed. If you’re thinking the leather will soften with use, be warned it won’t!!!!

Oh thanks everyone. I have to say I was a bit worried about the stiff leather and the bag being a bit small for everyday use...think I might pop back to the shop in a week or so rather than ordering online. Thanks for stopping me from impulse buying

I have a satchel and I absolutely love it. I use it every day and have had it for two years. The leather has now softened and it’s such a lovely bag. Can imagine me keeping it for many years to come!

I have a cloud bag. It fits purse, phone, kindle, keys, foldable shopper, but an umbrella takes up a lot of space and you would never get anything like a makeup bag or water bottle in it.

I have a cloud bag. It fits purse, phone, kindle, keys, foldable shopper, but an umbrella takes up a lot of space and you would never get anything like a makeup bag or water bottle in it.

I have a beautiful leather satchel - it isn’t Cambridge -as I’m too cheap- but it’s petfect. I also got a really nice doc martens one when I graduated. I recommend you look at the DM ones as they are so hard wearing. Will look up the other one - it’s navy with a spotty strap and I love it.

Mine is Yoshi - £55 for a leather satchel, worth a look. I use mine for work, it’s the compact size but fits my laptop.

Personally I have a few satchels from the Leather Satchel Co, beautiful. I got a custom designed one and when I snapped the strap messing around they repaired it for me. They've all softened up lovely and have been dragged all around the world, used for everything from every day bags, uni bags, cabin and hold luggage and lugging heavy crap around. All worthwhile purchases, on par with the gorgeous leather satchel I got from Sorrento in Italy.

Thanks everyone for your advice! I decided to go to the shop rather than buy online, and the cloud bag was indeed a bit smaller than I thought and quite stiff leather. They had 50% off on certain colours so I went for one of those rather than the colour I'd been looking at, and managed to get a wallet too! It's a lovely bag but perhaps not an everyday bag as I was hoping for. Still, can't stop admiring it

You won’t regret it! I have 2 and love them. Blue backpack and yellow small cross body. Make me happy every time I take them out. Did you get them embossed too?
I may need to wander into the shop near me as really want a metallic one too!

I just got the convertible cloud bag, it’s bigger and a better shape than the normal cloud bag and easier to get things in and out of. I also like that it can be used crossbody or as a rucksack.

@AnotherPinkiePieStory the shop was so busy that they didn't even mention embossing and no one was manning the embossing 'hut'. I would like it done though so might see if I can pop by next week as it's near my office! Did you get yours embossed? By the way, they had quite a few metallic ones on sale - I nearly went for the gold cloud but it was a bit more expensive in the sale...

@Surpriseeggsforbreakfast I only saw that one online after I bought mine and did sort of regret not going for that one! It does look a bit bigger. But I'm quite happy with mine now, and maybe in future I'll get the convertible one!

I gave mine away. Too stiff by far.

pouffe yes embossed both of mine. Here is my yellow cross body.
I bought it on ASOS sale years ago but they still embossed it this summer. Lovely sales assistant too! But was quiet when I popped in.

I have the traditional satchel and leather is very stiff

Oh @AnotherPinkiePieStory that's lovely! I might pop in next week. I love mine so far - it's true the leather is stiff but that's not a huge issue. I also went for the grain leather which I think might be ever so slightly more supple than the others (not sure though)

I have the satchel for work but I hardly use it now as the leather is still so hard nearly three years later and I also find it uncomfortable to carry if I have anything heavier than a note pad in there and my water bottle kept falling out. I was tempted by the bag you like too but the stiff leather really puts me off!

The grain leather on my cloud bag is definitely softer than on my smooth leather traditional oxblood satchel.

I really want one of the black art deco print pushlock bags they just added to sale but I don't need one!

I bought a satchel a few years ago and sold it on eBay after a few weeks - mainly for the stiff leather, but I really hated the lack of pockets. It was so beautiful, but just not practical for me.

Weirdly, I just won another in a blog competition, but it’s not a proper satchel one so might be a bit more useable.