Of the three kinds of bags from The Row that I’ve owned thus far (the Margaux, the Park tote, and this Sofia crossbody), the Sofia seems to be the least popular. And I can kind of see why. It’s the smallest of the bags but just as pricey as the Margaux 10 (current retail for the Sofia is $3990!). Luckily I got mine secondhand (from Brandear) and paid about a third of that price. So do I think it’s worth it?

Thank you to all of you guys who have requested this review and waited patiently for it! Unfortunately even though I love this bag I haven’t used it very much so I didn’t think I could give it a fair review. But I’m not sure when I’d be consistently using this bag and the fact that I haven’t really used it might be a great data point as well. So without further ado…

I accidentally bought a fake The Row Park Tote from my go-to eBay seller (who didn’t do me wrong for five straight bag purchases). I actually bought this one for a friend so I was quite bummed when I got it. I knew as soon as I felt it that this was a fake. The leather was rubbery and the handle was too stiff. But since that’s not much to go on, here’s the various ways I knew this was a fake (and it was a really good fake at that too).

For those who’ve been following me on Insta, you know that I’m completely obsessed by The Row’s N/S Park Tote. I first encountered it secondhand in a shop in Ginza, and even though it was quite worn I couldn’t pass it up (I went back the next day for it). Ever since then I’ve been on a hunt for secondhand Park Totes (I got them all from Japan) and have gotten two mediums (one in the pebbled leather and one in smooth), one small, and one large, along with a brand new pebbled medium one from Saks in cognac.