The Super Cute Urbana Mini Handbag

Written by: Young Jeohn

The Urbana Mini by Moshi is one of those rare designer bags that not only look elegant and kawaii-cute, but is also designed with padding to protect your tablet, ultrabook and/or cellphone at the same time. A thoughtful convenience added for the tech savvy and modern gal who's likely to carry around an iPad or an ebook reader.

THE OUTSIDE

As stated earlier, this is an extremely elegant looking bag made of water-repellent material and leather trim. Now it may look minimalistic, but it's far from boring. Moshi used a good amount of trim in just the right places (with different materials in three colors; the main color pink, trim in brown and metal highlights) to get balanced visual impact, like the metal clasps that attach the bag to the leather handles and to the strap. The strap comes in the same color as the bag and is detachable, and when I took a closer look, I noticed it had a bit more fill around the middle where you'd be hanging it on your shoulder. Very thoughtful without attracting too much attention away from the main event. The handles are made of leather and feel good in the hand. They don't droop, and are designed to stiffly hold their form.

Since one size doesn't usually fit all, Moshi offers the Urbana Mini in four colors; Metro Black, Sky Blue, Sakura Pink and Tuscan Yellow. For the O&G crowd, we think the super cute Sakura Pink version matches great with any Sanrio (Hello Kitty), Snoopy or TokiDoki accessories you may have. Sized at 12.4" x 3.74" x 8.66", it's a great bag to take with you to special outings or events like a night out, a date, CosPlay events, fashion shows, or weekend brunch with your friends. 

As with the other Moshi bags we've reviewed, the Urbana Mini also has a water repellent coating that forces water to simply "bead off". Cleaning is easy as well, you simply wipe it down with a damp cloth.

THE INSIDE

The bag has a total of three zippered compartments - the front, the main one in the middle, and another in the back. Gadget protection is the name of the game in the main compartment, which is divided into two areas by two padded pockets. 

One side is designed for an iPad or a laptop of up to 12", but can still comfortably fit a 13" laptop provided it's a thin bezel design like the Dell XPS 13. On the other side of the divide, theres enough room to put a water bottle or small umbrella, a journal, book and medium sized knick-knacks. Plus, there's the two padded pockets in the middle that are best used for items that are thin and long, like cellphones, portable powerbanks, and for the ladies, makeup items like eyeliners and pencils that you can stand up instead of having them litter the floor of the bag. Looking at the Urbana Mini from the side, it looks a bit pyramid shaped with a larger bottom, so being aware of this will help you fit more items into the bag should you need to.

The flat compartment in the back is just that; flat. It's a good place for holding flat things, including receipts, loose cash, tissues and charging cables. But open up the front compartment and you'll find a larger space for holding the smaller items that you don't want getting lost in the bigger main compartment. It's got just enough give to hold things "up" or on the "side", and even has a divider for quick access to pens, eye-liner pencils and a compact.

When you're all done putting everything in place, you can pull the specially made zipper towards the "etched ridges" side to close it. What Moshi has done here is to make use of two senses instead of one -sight AND touch- which is very cool. What'll probably end up happening eventually is you'll stop looking down at your bag as you'll start to "feel" it close.

CONCLUSION

Moshi's Urbana Mini is a well made, super cute and upscale bag. It's a perfect size for taking to events and gatherings, but I can see it matching well with lolita cosplayers, fashionable types, or if you're into cute brands like Hello Kitty to match the Sakura Pink color bag. You can find the Urbana Mini on Moshi's website at moshi.com with a pricetag of $99.95 at the time of writing.

For more information: www.moshi.com