I’ve been aware of Ela Handbags, a Canadian and Swedish based line of bags for a while now.  However, I have to admit that I did not get a chance to properly see them up close until their fall preview/panel discussion at Holt Renfrew a couple of weeks ago.  This was soon followed by a sample sale, held at Soho House last week.  At the sample sale, I picked up two envelope clutches (known as MILCK (money, ID, lipstick, cell and keys) and is probably Ela’s signature bag), an “Editor Pouch” (tablet case) and a cute little cross-body called Chibi Lady (chibi means “little” or “petite” in Japanese) that surprisingly fits all of my essentials. The Chibi is quickly becoming my go-to bag.  The colour I picked up, at charcoal grey/slate, is very seasonless, and can definitely be used all year.

At the same time, however, the Chibi Lady does have its drawbacks.  Despite being such a petite bag, based on strap length, it was definitely made for a much taller person.  The straps are very long on its own and there are no extra holes so that the strap would be more secure when shortened.   In other words, petite people like me may need to punch extra holes for a more secure strap.  At the same time, using only two holes seems fine so far.

The colour I purchased was part of an earlier collection and is no longer available (though one can purchase black from Ela’s website).  The Spring 2013 shows the style being available in rose gold and silver and are now available, along with the rest of the season’s collection, from Ela’s online shop.  One can also purchase Ela’s bags at other stores, including Holt Renfrew, TNT The New Trend, eluxe.ca and Gee Beauty (Bal Harbour, Florida only).