It’s hard to tell you much about many types of diaper bags if I haven’t seen them in person.  I have yet to find a shop full of luxury diaper bags.  If there IS such a store, PLEASE let me know so I can visit.  I recently added Tribe Bags to our Modern Diaper Bags Guide but I really wanted to see the bags and touch one before I could share it with you.  Lucky for me, the friendly folks at Tribe Bags were kind enough to send me a sample to review.

Tribe offers three styles of diaper bags.  From left to right there is the Singapore Sling, the Orchard Tote and the Raffles Bag.

All three are gorgeous and I wouldn’t mind having one of each!  I received the Raffles Bag and was immediately impressed.  The packaging and presentation was lovely and I appreciated the quality of leather and the number of pockets and compartments.

The bag is fancier (and more expensive) than any bag I own. It is approximately 11″ x 14″ x 6″ and can be worn over the shoulder or across the body (which is my preferred way to carry any large bag).  The bag is neutral enough to use with baby or without, and dads won’t be embarrassed to carry it.

As my “test drive”, I used the Raffles Bag as my carry on and outing bag for my family vacation this summer.  The bag has plenty of space for everything you’d need for baby for several hours out of the house without being an entire piece of luggage.  It is compact enough to be used as an ordinary bag without looking like an overnighter.

For the plane I had the bag stuffed with wipes, changes of clothes for both my boys, my travel pillow (about the size of 8-10 diapers), my ipad, phone, chargers, headphones, coloring book, markers, and all the other little things people carry in their bags.  This was the only bag I carried around for the entire 9 days of my trip and not only did it keep me organized with everything I needed and more, it’s really cute and I felt good walking around with it.  It wouldn’t be obvious to anyone that I was carrying a “diaper” bag.

Tribe Bags come with 2 plastic pouches with a clear layer to see inside and a changing pad.  I used the pouches to hold activities to keep my boys entertained at restaurants.  The pouches were convenient and easily accessible.

My only issue with the bag was I found the zippers to be stiff and sometimes difficult to close.  I never had to worry about things slipping out of the bag like with my other diaper bags, but I felt a little slowed down when messing around with the zippers. Have you ever had a diaper bag with zippers before?  Were they a problem for you?  Let me know in the comment re: zippers on diaper bags.

The Raffles Bag retails for about $420 (converted from Singapore Dollars) so it’s pricey, but the quality of the materials and the details are what you’d expect from a luxury bag.  I think I’ll be carrying this one at ABC Kids Expo next month, so those of you who are there can check it out in person.

I was not compensated for this post, but Tribe Bags did sent me the Raffle Bag.  My opinions are entirely my own.