A Practical Lolita Bag

There are few things cuter than Lolita bags, as far as accessories go. Unfortunately, they are quite known for not having a lot of actual storage space. This isn’t limited to plush bags – a lot of brand bags tend to be small pouches or in a shape that prevents from packing bigger items. Although that seems to be changing ever so slightly and slowly, and as always there are exceptions, this has forced a lot of Lolitas to either look amongst offbrand bags (with varying degrees of cuteness found) or to abandon hope and resign themselves to carrying a practical bag or a canvas tote, more or less cute, along with the unpractical bag to actually carry things in.

 

I won’t lie, I was in quite a similar position. Yes, my Loris star bag or DreamV heart one are surprisingly spacious, but they’re still on the smaller side and by the time I put my wallet in everything else has to be Tetris’d in (i.e. carefully arranged inside in the oddest positions in order to make them fit). However, if you remember, I had managed to purchase an item from my 2017 wishlist even before 2017 actually arrived: the Metamorphose temps de fille Double Pockets 3-Way Bag. And that has changed everything!

If you’ve ever seen one of these bags in real life then you’ll know just how big it is. Stock photos where it’s on its own don’t do it justice, but thankfully Meta put up some photos with a mannequin for some context – it’s almost the size of a regular randoseru Japanese school bag! Some other Japanese brands, like Innocent World, have come out with randoseru-style bags and others, including Angelic Pretty, released 3-way bags before, but I think this one tops them all as the biggest one available.

Image from Lolibrary.org

Image from Pintrest.com

But it’s the inside that counts. So instead of talking about it, let me show you what kind of things I had managed to put inside.

Looks normal, doesn't it?

Then BAM! It's full to the brim of stuff!

Top row, left to right: wallet, iPod Nano, Sennheiser headphones, bottle of cider,
Amazon Kidle 2nd generation.
Bottom row, left to right: selfie light, sock glue, mini-perfume, Sugarpill liquid
lipstick, pocket mirror, power bank, Strepsils (big pack), umbrella, a book.

I tried to keep it realistic and only pack items that I would’ve carried with me to a meet. And even though the above choices can be a bit of a stretch, not only did all of these things fit comfortably inside the bag (no need for Tetrising anything), there was still room left! (Probably because rather than going for as many things as possible, I went for large items that I am likely to want to take with me.) Mind you, if you’re going to stuff the bag to its full capacity, it will be pretty heavy, it has some weight on its own, so in those cases make sure to turn it into a backpack; otherwise you’ll seriously hurt your arm and will tire yourself out.

I took this to the last meet and I’ve seriously considered using it as my work bag, but since I want it to remain in a good condition I decided against that. What I might end up doing, however, is getting it in different colours. It’s great value for money: you get three styles of bag in one, but also can actually carry everything you might need: food and drink, loads of board games, the shopping you’ve done or even a change of shoes.

Any bags that you’ve been surprised by, either in terms of storage capacity or how well they’re made? Or are you on a lookout for a practical bag that would go with your Lolita clothes?