Ok ok, so I know since my last Mansur Gavriel Protea bag review I said no more Mansur Gavriel bags. Buuuut I actually bought this last year before the protea bag and hadn’t really had a chance to use it because we were staying home all the time (and all I needed when going out to do errands was a small bag). Well now that we’re back in California and Emi is a full-on toddler with many toddler needs, I’ve started carrying this Mansur Gavriel mini travel bag and I have to say I love it. Unfortunately because I took so long getting around to using the bag and then writing this review, MG no longer sells this bag 🤷🏻♀️. But I decided to do the review anyway because 1) to show that Mansur Gavriel still make good bags once in awhile and 2) if you find this on the secondhand market, this might be something you might want to get.
I initially saw this bag on a friend (the same friend who inspired me to get the Mansur Gavriel mini mini lady bag), and as she said “it’s the perfect mom-bag.” Ironically she is not yet a mom, but she is a dog mom and likes to carry a lot of stuff. And in fact she ended up buying a second mini travel bag in this same navy color because she loves this bag so much.
First of all I love this bag because I’ve always loved doctor/duffle bags that you can carry crossbody. Once upon a time I used to have the Sofia Coppola SC bag in the PM size. I loved the way the bag looked but not how heavy it was (seriously sooooo heavy). So when I saw the Mansur mini travel bag, I loved that it had a similar shape but it’s so much more lightweight. The bag measures 11” x 8” and is 5” deep. And at first I thought that bag might be too big for a crossbody bag, but it worked out fine (for reference I’m 5’4”).
Inside, the bag only has a patch pocket which fits my card case. I might try to find a bag organizer for it someday but for now I’m ok with everything swimming around in a big cavernous space. As for what fits in there, I mean what doesn’t fit in there? Lol, ok just kidding because a laptop does not fit in there. But it fits pretty much everything I need to carry these days including a toddler water bottle, toddler hat, toddler sweater, maybe a toddler lunch and some toddler toys. As you can see my bags are now prioritized for toddler things.
Since this bag is no longer being sold by MG, you’re only going to be finding it through secondhand sources. I don’t think this was a very popular bag so you’re not really going to see knock-offs of this. So it’s probably safe to say most of the MG mini travel bags you find will be authentic. Oh and this bag originally retailed for $895 I think (I got it half off for $400), but there are some great deals of this bag used. Fashionphile has a couple of MG mini travel bags here and the RealReal has some here. And lastly, I would advise getting the calfskin version over the vegetable-tanned leather since the calfskin is still super light but it’s more durable against scratches (the veg-tanned leather scratches pretty easily).