At 62, after a lifetime of weekends away, this is the first bag I have ever written about
At 62, after a lifetime of weekends away, this is the first bag I have ever written about
Six things the Wildvana gets right that weekend bags get wrong, from a woman who does not review luggage.
Caroline Richards · Customer · Nottinghamshire · 5 min read
Let me be plain about who is talking. I am Caroline, I am 62, I live in Nottinghamshire, and I have never in my life sat down to write about a bag. What I have done is pack for a lifetime of weekends away, out of holdalls that sagged, cases that scuffed, and one wheeled suitcase with a wonky wheel that we do not mention in our house. So this is not a review. It is a woman who was wrong about a bag, saying so.
The one I am writing about is called the Wildvana, from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly looking after women our age for a few years now. I first spotted it on the luggage rack of a coach to the Blackpool Illuminations, and when the boutique later asked if they could put my letter up for others to read, I said yes, on the condition I could be completely honest in it.
A quilted weekend bag with a camper van stitched right across it, peace sign and all, under an orange sunset. On a coach to Blackpool. Read on.
Here is what a lifetime of packing taught me. Weekend bags come in two piles. The sensible pile, black holdalls that sag in the middle and all look the same on a luggage rack, which is exactly how you end up at the wrong end of a car park with somebody else's bag. And the smart pile, stiff little cases that scuff the first time out, weigh a tonne before you have put a thing in them, and hold less than they promise.
Saggy and forgettable, or stiff and heavy. Those were my weekend options, and I had done my years with both.
The Wildvana is the first weekend bag I have owned that is neither, and having taken it on a coach to Blackpool, a train to Scarborough and an overnight at my daughter's, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The day it came. I ordered it expecting a bit of a novelty. I had changed my mind by teatime.
It does not look like luggage
It looks like somewhere nice to be going. The whole bag is a stitched, quilted picture: a camper van running along the side with a yellow nose and a pink peace sign, windows full of orange and red sunset, a big daisy by the front wheel, and round the back purple mountains, little pine trees and spotty toadstools. On a rack full of black holdalls it is the only one anybody smiles at, and the only one nobody walks off with by mistake.
The front up close. The peace sign is the bit that won me over.
Three ladies on our coach asked where it was from before we had even left Nottingham. My husband found me in the crowd by the bag. Nobody has ever asked about a bag of mine before.
Linda M., MansfieldIt swallows a proper weekend
Two outfits, a pair of shoes, my wash bag, a book and the cardigan I always pretend I will not need. It all goes in and the zip closes over the top without me having to sit on it. There is room enough that I am not playing a game of which jumper to leave behind. Packing stopped being the worst part of going away.
Packed on the kitchen chair before the coach. Tea first, then off.
Took the bigger one for three nights in the Peak District. Everything fitted, walking shoes and all, and I could find it all when I got there.
Janet W., HucknallThe quilting is the lovely part
It is quilted all over, with the stitching running through every inch of the picture, so it is soft to the touch and tucks into a luggage rack without a fight. It does not look like a novelty that will give up after one trip. It looks like somebody took their time over it, which at this price rather surprised me.
Better made than I expected for the money. The stitching is lovely and neat and the colours are just as bright as the photos. It feels like a proper bag.
Sandra P., KeyworthThe handles are part of the show
The two handles are covered in little flowers, yellow and pink and orange and purple, and the straps wrap right the way round the body of the bag rather than stopping at the top. They sit comfortably in my hand or over my arm on the walk to the coach, and even the practical bits look pretty.
The flowery handles are gorgeous. I carry it over my arm into town with my swimming things and I have had people stop me to ask where it is from.
Brenda H., Radcliffe on TrentTwo honest sizes, measurements included
The 40 centimetre one does an overnight, the gym or a cabin bag. The 46 centimetre one is taller and wider all round and does two or three days, with room for shoes and a towel. The boutique prints the measurements plainly and says most people are happiest with the bigger one, which matches my experience of weekends and of life.
I measured my old holdall against the sizes they give and went for the 46. Glad I did. You never wish a weekend bag were smaller.
Carol A., RetfordIt earns its keep between trips
This is the part I did not expect. It does the gym on a Wednesday, the overnight at my daughter's and a Saturday out at my sister's. For a couple of nights away it takes a jumper, a cardigan, a warm top, a pair of trousers and my wash bag, all rolled in neatly, and I have stopped leaving things behind. My old holdall lived at the back of the wardrobe between outings. This one barely gets put away.
Packed for two nights at my daughter's. Everything rolled in, and the cardigan went in first.
The Wildvana, against the weekend bags you have been buying
You can find a weekend bag for thirty-odd pounds anywhere. I know, because the back of my wardrobe is full of them. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Black nylon that sags in the middle
Identical to every other bag on the rack
Or stiff cases that scuff and weigh a tonne
Plain handles and nothing to smile at
One vague size, no measurements
Soft quilting, stitched all over
A camper-van scene nobody mistakes
Roomy enough for a proper weekend
Flower-covered handles that wrap round
Two honest sizes, measurements printed
About the price
The Wildvana is £32.95 for the 40 centimetre size and £35.95 for the 46, down from £66.00.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that with the autumn sale on, the larger size goes first, and once the autumn stock has gone it can be a long wait for it to come back. Their words, not mine. What I can tell you from my side is that half price is usually where I start asking what is wrong with a thing, and several trips in, I have not found it.
And I do not trust perfect scores, so I read the reviews before I ordered. Just over three hundred of them, sitting at 4.2 stars, which sounded like real women rather than robots, so I read on. The same six things I have just walked you through come up in them, over and over, in other women's words.
By the front door, packed for half-term. The cardigan is coming whether I need it or not.
If you have a coach trip, a weekend away, a half-term with the grandchildren or an overnight anywhere in your diary this autumn, and your current bag is a tired black holdall, this is the one I would put in your hands myself, while your size is still there. Stop dithering and go and have a look.
Caroline
WILDVANA | Quilted Travel Duffle Bag
- Stitched camper-van scene, quilted all over
- Swallows a proper weekend without wrestling
- Soft quilted finish with a lovely texture
- Flower-covered handles that wrap round the bag
- Two honest sizes: 40cm £32.95 · 46cm £35.95
- For weekends, the gym and everyday
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
The autumn sale is on now, half price. The larger size goes first.