I was born and raised in Hawaii and yet I'm not a huge fan of beaches (I know, what's wrong with me, lol). But because I grew up with Hawaii beaches, they've become my standard when I think of beaches (I think it makes me a beach snob). So imagine my surprise and disappointment to find California beaches to be too cold for swimming, filled with kelp, and generally unlike the beaches of my childhood. Lucky for me, like I said, I'm not a fan of beaches so my disappointed wasn't all that great. Anyway I bring this all up because Everlane's beach capsule collection was definitely made with California beaches in mind and not really Hawaii's. Why else would they have cotton long-sleeve sweatshirts if not for the cold and windy beaches of (especially) Northern California {P.S. I also ordered this sweatshirt so stay tuned for that review}.
Anyway as soon as I saw this canvas backpack in Everlane's beach capsule I knew I wanted to try it out right away. Something about the casual easiness of it all was super appealing. I could imagine throwing a towel, water and some snacks and hitting the beach. But of course I don't do beaches, so instead I decided to try it out as my summer work bag. As much as I love my Everlane dipped zip tote for work, I'm also carrying around my old black Balenciaga Work bag (not for work but for daily life) and two black bags over each shoulder is maybe a bit too somber for the summer. So this canvas backpack is the perfect summer holdall!
I love that this backpack has two deep front pockets to hold water or sunscreen. They're deep enough so nothing falls out. There's also a small interior pocket near the short handle, but I've had small things fall out of that when the backpack isn't fully secured, so be careful of that. the canvas straps are comfortable enough but I only really use it to carry my backpack from the Airstream to the car, and from the car to the Airstream garage (and back). I'm a car commuter so really my work bags don't actually get worked, which is a good thing because I'm not too sure if this backpack is meant to get worked. I've been using it for about a week now and have noticed that the black screen-printed bottom gets scuffed pretty easily. Unlike the dipped zip tote (which has a thick plastic-like coating on the bottom), this backpack only has a thin screen-printed bottom (like a screen printed shirt). But I don't really mind since scuffs don't really bother me (it adds to the wabi-sabi of it all)
{Wearing: Everlane backpack, Grana linen sleeveless shirt (review here), Mott&Bow jeans (review coming soon), Everlane Form Slide Sandals (review here)}
The backpack encloses with a drawstring and snap enclosure. There's a handle on the back that you can kind of hold the backpack with (but it's pretty awkward) and the straps are adjustable. This would be a pretty good beach or pool bag (as long as you don't get it too close to water since it's not exactly waterproof though it is water resistant), or even just a summer picnic. Honestly this bag holds a lot (more than the zipped dip tote). And the canvas itself is a quite sturdy so there's minimal sagging from all the things in your bag.
If you're looking for an awesome casual lightweight backpack, made responsibly then I think this one might be the one for you. I'm going to keep using it as my workbag throughout the summer and will check back in with an update on how it wears. As usual you can find all my unsponsored Everlane reviews, like this one, here.