This backpack is perfect for my bicycle commute to work since it doubles as a cute purse with nice stitch accents.  It's comfortable to carry both as a back pack and as a sling purse and roomy enough to fit more than I absolutely need to carry. Think of it as a medium sized purse.

I love the anti-theft pocket locations on this bag. I'll be doing some traveling and this is an awesome feature for wandering around crime-laden parts of foreign cities.

I keep my huge wallet in the zippered pocket that rests against my back while in back pack mode.  (My wallet holds full size dollar bills without folding.) I make sure to place other valuables in the main compartment, which is extremely difficult to access in back pack mode.

That cute, snap closure pocket with the decorative silver buckle stores tissue, gum, lip gloss and a few things I can survive without in the event someone decides they want to steal from me.

As others have commented, the black bag has a very strong chemical smell when you first pull it out. My husband made me air it out in the garage for a few days after opening it up. Also, it can be hard to locate things in the main compartment because it's so dark in there. It's deep and narrow. Someone previously recommended using smaller bags to place things in the main compartment. Good idea!

I've gotten a lot of complements on this bag. I'm thinking about buying a second one in the same color because if I don't and I can't find this bag later, I will rue the day when this one wears out. (Plus, that will give me a lot of extra time to air out the terrible smell. :P)

I would take a star off for the initial smell and for having some difficulty seeing into and finding things in the main compartment, but this purse is such a great value that it pushes itself right back up there to five stars.