This purse is everything I expected except the smell.  The smell was quite strong when I got it - and it's not a leather smell, it smells like fermenting hay.  Even items in the purse picked up the odor.  I had to keep it in a different room at night or shut it in my drawer at work.  However, the smell does seem to be fading now that I've had it for a week.  I'll give it another three weeks before I decide if I'm keeping it.  It's a great purse so I hope the odor fades entirely.  UPDATE:  The smell has faded, and now I totally like the purse.