Review | The Everlane Form Bag

Everlane released its popular Form Bag in a few new colors last month, and I got a chance to try one out to review for you here. I’ve been kind of obsessed with this bag since Elaine reviewed it back in 2018, so I was super excited to receive one of my own to write about.

Disclosure: this post is not sponsored, but it does include gifted items and affiliate links. If you make a purchase using one of my affiliate links, I will receive a commission. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Form Bag has been a mainstay of Everlane’s handbag collection for a couple of years. Originally available only in one, large size, it now comes in additional mini and micro sizes. I was initially attracted to this bag because of how simple, yet unconventional, it is. In a world of lookalike totes, the Form Bag offers something a little more interesting.

Like most of Everlane’s handbags, the Form Bag is made from 100% Italian leather in a factory in Prato, Italy. It has a single shoulder strap, a magnetic closure, and a suede interior. At $235, it is the most expensive handbag that Everlane makes. I thought that price point seemed exorbitant when the bag first became available online – I mean, come on, that strap is basically just a glorified seat belt! – but now that I actually have one in my possession, I can see how much detail in construction there is, which I’m sure contributes to the hefty price tag.

The two newest colorways of the Form Bag are Biscuit, a cool taupe, and Desert Sand, a warm beige. I asked for the taupe color because I thought it would be nice to have a light-colored bag to bring to work if I didn’t always feel like bringing my black leather tote. I’ve been testing this out as a work bag for the last two weeks, and I have to say, I really love it.

What’s Good About It

• This is obviously a really high quality bag. The leather is buttery and wonderful, and the whole thing just has a luxe quality about it. Even the shoulder strap! Which is admittedly much nicer than the average seat belt.
• Speaking of the shoulder strap – it actually ended up being one of the features I like most about the Form Bag. Sometimes one strap is easier to deal with than two. The thick, flat strap stays up on my shoulder more easily than the two slimmer straps of my leather tote, especially when I’m wearing a puffy coat. I also really like that the length is adjustable, so I can wear it at multiple lengths depending on my outfit/coat situation. I usually wear it at the length you see in the outfit photo at the top of this post.
• Magnet! Closure! Listen, I love a good, simple tote bag as much as the next person, but a magnetic closure is awesome if you spend a lot of time in a metropolitan subway system where the likelihood of getting robbed is non-zero. The DC metro is generally pretty safe – but I’ve had stuff swiped from me before when I wasn’t careful. A bag that closes all the way is helpful, and the magnetic closure is sleeker and more polished than a zipper, in my opinion.

What You May Not Like About It

I actually don’t have an issue with the size of the Form Bag, but it’s probably not going to fit all your stuff if you are the type of person who likes to pack LITERALLY ALL YOUR STUFF in a tote to go to work. Daily essentials and a tablet or small (and I mean small) laptop? Yes. Your lunch, extra shoes, water bottle, umbrella, and quick after-work farmers market haul? Definitely not. I try not to bring a ton of junk to work with me if I can help it because it hurts my shoulder to carry so much weight around on my long commute, but I do bring a separate lunch bag and sometimes a cloth tote with extra shoes when I’m using the Form Bag.

Here’s what I pack in it on an average work day:

• Kindle (always reading #romance)
• Wallet (my MIL got me this really lovely burgundy Cole Haan leather card case that has replaced my gigantic wallet that I used to carry around all the time – so much lighter/better)
• Chapstick, lipstick, small compact mirror
• Notebook (for lists), Moleskine planner, GRE pocket reference, pencil
• Keys, SmarTrip, headphones (in a tiny pouch!)
• Glasses (which I rarely wear in pictures but I do wear all day every day at work and whenever I’m reading or writing at home)
• Tampons (not all month, but they were in there today so I figured I’d leave them in for accuracy)
• Glossier zip pouch with stuff like migraine meds, hand sanitizer, hair elastics, bandaids, etc.

Okay, it’s really hard to get a good picture of the inside of a handbag, but I did my best. You can see that all my junk fits very easily inside with room to spare. There is one small interior pocket that I usually keep my chapstick, lipstick, and compact mirror in.

A note on packing the form bag: if you really pack it to the gills, the magnetic closure bit is not going to close. I’m thinking especially if you had a laptop and a water bottle in there, the bag would likely hang open. Keep that in mind if you are someone who generally schleps your whole life along with you in your bag.

How The Form Bag Compares to the Day Square Tote

Many of you know that the Everlane Day Square Tote has been my go-to every day work bag for the better part of a year now (read my original review here). I still love that bag, but it has been nice to give it a small break while I test out the Form Bag. I imagine I’ll go back and forth between these two a lot. You can see from the photo above that they’re actually fairly similar in size, with the tote being just slightly larger. The other big difference is in the thickness of the leather – the Day Square tote is thinner, softer, and unlined, while the Form Bag is made of a much thicker, stiffer leather that provides the structured body.

I’m honestly not sure that I would recommend one of these bags over the other – it really depends on how you use your handbags and what your budget looks like (the Day Square Tote costs $165, $70 less than the Form Bag). I can throw more stuff into the tote, for sure, but the Form Bag provides more visual intrigue to an outfit while still being very practical. Honestly, I love my all my handbag children equally. Just differently.

On the whole, I would recommend this bag if you’ve got the money to spend on it. It’s a luxury item for sure, but it is very beautiful and well made. I’m sure you’ll be seeing it around the blog in the future, and on my Instagram, where I’ve started sharing daily-ish outfits again.

Any questions? Let me know!

Outfit details:

• Top: Everlane Square Cashmere Turtleneck, wearing size XS (thrifted locally)
• Bottoms: Elizabeth Suzann Andy Trousers in silk crepe, wearing size S regular (gift from a reader)
• Shoes: Everlane Editor Heel (gifted by Everlane)