When I first got the The Row Margaux 15 I was in loooove, even though it wasn’t a practical bag for me (see my review of The Row Margaux 15 here). And I thought my problems would be solved with the Margaux 10. Well almost a year after I wrote my Margaux 15 review I got my hands on a relatively well priced Margaux 10. So did I love it as much as I thought I would?
Nope.
[Wearing: The Row Kitan Coat, Babaa merino wool sweater, Agolde jeans, The Row black heels, Spicy Dan necklace, and The Row Margaux 10]
I’m not sure if The Row spell has been broken for me, or if that market is just so saturated with the Margaux that I don’t feel the thrill anymore. Or maybe the trend is finally on its way out? Also I’m not a huge olive-brown fan, even though the smooth saddle leather is gorgeous. Either way, I’m just not in love with The Row Margaux 10.
First off, I have the 2018-ish version of the bag with the suede lining, which TBH is way more luxurious than the canvas lining. But at the same time feels more delicate.
The exterior of the bag had a ton of water marks and white stains from who knows what (the perils of buying secondhand). I’m a fan of cleaning up old bags so I gave it a good scrubbing with saddle soap (a leather cleaner) and conditioned it. But sadly the water marks didn’t go away (though the white marks did). But overall it’s been a well-used bag and shows it, especially on the smooth and delicate saddle leather.
Marks don’t really bother me since a bag is meant to be used. The patina just shows how well it’s been loved and used, and I even added some scratches of my own.
However, what I couldn’t forgive is the unadjustable shoulder strap that comes with the bag. The Olsen sisters are petite so they should understand the petite woman’s plight and at least make the shoulder strap adjustable. As it is now, it’s way too long and the bag hits me below the hip. It’s probably best for tall folks to carry this bag over their shoulder or crossbody. I know most people carry the bag by hand with the top handle, but sometimes you need to sling it over the shoulder and it would be nice if the bag could sit comfortably there if need be. The strap is also just one of those knob/hole deals (see pic below—what is that called?) and so there’s no swivel. Plus because the bag hits me around the upper legs, the knob will sometimes get jostled out of the hole and then the bag falls to the ground (though not sure if this happens to other Marguax 10s). So that’s kind of annoying. But if I was seriously in love with this bag, I would just purchase a third-party shoulder strap with a clasp and call it a day (which is what I do for some of my other bags).
what is this called?
The plus side of this bag is that even though it’s small it can hold quite a lot. I made a little video here of what can fit in The Row Margaux 10. Plus it’s super lightweight, so even with a lot of things the bag doesn’t feel heavy. This suede lined version weighs 1 pound 5 oz. (595 grams).
But at the end of the day I just don’t love this bag enough. I’m glad I got to try it out but I don’t think I’m a trendy-bag kind of lady (even though it’s a fairly minimal and classic look). There are just so many other bags in my collection that I love more so I ended up selling this on.
P.S. I ended up selling this bag (as I mentioned in last week’s April 2025 Recap post), which funded the purchase of the Peggy Clutch. I looooove the Peggy Clutch from The Row and I know I made the right decision.