Funchico.com - Funky, Chic & Cool Laptop Bag News

Kim White ... bags from vintage auto fabric

OK, so these bags from Kim White Handbags aren't strictly laptop bags, but they are funky, chic and cool.  Handbags and totes made from vintage auto, plane and furniture fabrics. 

From her site ...

Why are Kim White Handbags so special? Made from vintage automotive fabrics, Kim White uses dead stock never-used textiles intended for use in American automobiles: cars, trucks and vans. She fortuitously unearthed an entire warehouse of automotive fabric, which may be the last existing stock anywhere in the US, and she is the sole owner of these amazing textiles.

Each Kim White Handbag is tagged with the year and make of the fabric, so you know exactly what car your bag comes from (i.e. 1983 Camaro or a 1978 Ford Mustang). Kim White Handbags specializes in automotive fabrics from the 1970’s and 1980’s, when color was de rigueur in the automotive industry.

So cool!  Many thanks to Sandy for the pointer!

Just Posted: Review of the Carrie tote by JoJo Designs

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of spending some time with a new-on-the-scene, Vancouver-based designer, Jonathan Chan, who (with his business partner) has recently launched JoJo Designs.   We had a great time discussing the vagaries of bag design, how Jonathan's wife stress-tested a number of versions of his bags until they were perfect and how Jonathan wants to partner with design students to help them bring their ideas to fruition. 

This, I thought, was very cool.  If I were a design student who had some great ideas, I would totally get in touch and ask about their Design Partnership Program.  From the press materials:

We would love to invite our designers to share their ideas with us. Please visit our web site and contact us if you would be interested in our Designer Partnership program. Designing Student? We welcome you too! You are in fact who we are especially looking for. Bright talent, lots of innovative ideas, knowledge of what’s hot in materials, if you got it, we want it.  Contact Jonathan Chan at jonathan [dot] chan [at symbol] jojodesigns [dot] ca

But aside from this cool program, they've launched their line with two excellent designs. 

I reviewed the Carrie over on my Squidoo lens.  From the review:

I have never been on safari. I don't really like sleeping out in the open and, well, you know .. the lions. I can see myself as the gal that stays back at the lodge ... drinking whisky and writing furiously on the veranda for the newspaper that originally sent her on safari, ready with her trusty laptop to capture the quotes from the intrepid souls who made it back alive. But Meryl Streep I'm not.

...

The interior of the Carrie is lined with a mocha-coloured nylon. Soft and shiny. There is one large, padded sleeve for your laptop (fits my MacBook Pro 15 with ample room - it should fit most 17" laptops) that is held closed with a velcro-ed strip of faux leather. Opposite the laptop sleeve are smaller pockets for cellphone, pda, business cards and pens. There is also a small zippered pouch for change or other incidentals. The main pouch of the Carrie is quite roomy and can hold guidebooks, suntan lotion, spyglasses, lion-repellent and even your extra mosquito netting.

You can read the full review of the Carrie by JoJo Designs at my laptop bag lens ...

Pics are from JoJo Designs flickr collection.

Just Posted: Review of Maddie Powers Cutebug Messenger Laptop Bag

Dream bag.  Right here.  I don't know why I am so enamored with anything vintage, but I am.  Sigh.  So when this bag from Maddie Powers (sent by the folks at Mobile Edge) showed up ... I swooned with delight.  From the review ...

First, the look of the bag. I adore anything vintage. Maddie Powers bags and accessories all sport covers from authentic pulp novels and digest magazines from the 1940's and 50's. Tres chic! This messenger bag has a cover from a novel called "Bright Promises". The rest of the exterior is black except for the back pocket. Flip this bag over and you have an exterior pocket that is covered in a royal purple faux-velvet. Read that again: Royal Purple Faux Velvet! This same material covers the shoulder strap pad. So HOT! Now, I only have tested it for a week, so I'm not sure if over the long term (and especially in the winter) the material will pill or not, but so far, so good. The back pocket seals with a small strip of velcro.

OK, let's flip open that front flap and see what the interior is like.

Yup, no vintage in here. This is all modern, sure to please any 21st century geek girl.

Read the rest of the Maddie Powers Cutebug Messenger Bag review over at my Squidoo lens.

Reward Offered - Looking for a Specific Unusual Bag

I get several emails a week from people looking for a specific type of bag.  17" roller bag in purple.  Camera and laptop bag.  Messenger made from recycled materials.  That kind of thing.  Most of those I can track down with a simple search or reference that I already know.

But this week, I got an email from a reader, Richard, that has me STUMPED!  So, I'm putting it out to all of you.  Can you identify this bag from the description?  To the first person who leaves a comment here and has the bag verified by Richard - I will send you a laptop bag from my library of review copies (and I'll even pay the postage).

Found you via Google while looking for a very, very specific bag... Just taking a chance getting in touch, in case it sounds familiar to you. I saw it on the shoulder of someone getting off a plane and have never been able to track it down. It's silvery gray, with safety orange accents. It looks like - essentially - a shoulder strap, with multiple compartments that can be attached and removed as required. This particular bag had swivel hooks as attachment points, although what really intrigues me is the concept of keeping your "stuff" organized into different compartments then just snapping them together based on your agenda and destination. Does that sound at ALL familiar to you? Needless to say, any ideas you have for something like that would be greatly appreciated!

So, let the wisdom of the crowds commence ... help me find this bag!

Photo Credit: iwantamonkey