Letter Six Things Kathleen Linda
Fifty years of weekends away and I never once wrote about a bag. This is the exception
Six things the Kathleen gets right that weekend bags get wrong, from a woman who does not review luggage.
Linda Marsh · Customer · Chester · 5 min read
I should say up front who's writing this. I'm Linda, I'm 68, I live in Chester, and I have never once sat down to write about a bag. What I have done is pack for fifty years of weekends away, out of holdalls that sagged, suitcases that scuffed, and one wheelie case my husband still won't talk about. So this isn't a review. It's a woman who was wrong about a bag, owning up.
The bag is called the Kathleen, from Beatrice London, a small British boutique. I first saw it in the luggage rack of a coach to Keswick, and when they later asked if they could put my letter up for other women to read, I said yes, as long as I could be completely honest.
A quilted bag with a camper van driving across the side, peace sign and all, under a stitched orange sunset. On a day-trip coach. Do read on.
Here's what fifty years of packing taught me. Weekend bags come in two piles. The sensible pile: black nylon holdalls that sag in the middle and all look the same in a luggage rack, which is how you end up going home with someone else's. And the smart pile: stiff little cases that scuff, weigh a ton before you've put anything in them, and hold less than they promise.
Saggy and invisible, or stiff and heavy. Those were my choices for a weekend away, and I'd done my time with both.
The Kathleen is the first bag I've owned that's neither. After one coach trip, two train journeys and a Tuesday night at my daughter's, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The day it arrived. I ordered it expecting a flimsy novelty. I'd apologised to it within the week.
It doesn't look like luggage
It looks like somewhere nice to be heading. The whole scene is quilted and stitched across the bag: the camper van with a peace sign on its nose, an orange sunset, daisies, little toadstools and purple hills round the back. In a rack full of black holdalls it's the only one anybody smiles at, and the only one nobody picks up by mistake.
The van up close. The peace sign on the nose is what won me over.
The little camper van sold me straight away. It's cheerful, different, and so much prettier than the usual black travel bags.
Carol P., ShrewsburyIt swallows a proper weekend
Two outfits, a spare pair of shoes, my wash bag, a book and the cardigan I always say I won't need. It all goes in without a fight, and the wide opening means I can see everything at once instead of rummaging. Packing has stopped being the worst part of going away.
Took it away for a long weekend and fitted two outfits, shoes and toiletries without having to squeeze everything in.
Brenda H., StockportThe quilting is the clever bit
It's soft on the outside, so it squashes into a coach rack or under a train seat without any argument, then springs back into shape as if nothing happened. And the padding works both ways: whatever's inside travels cushioned. My reading glasses have survived two trips they'd never have survived in the old holdall.
The quilted material is lovely and soft. Folded it away in the wardrobe after our trip and it barely took up any space.
Valerie T., WrexhamThe handles are part of the show
The straps wrap all the way round the body of the bag, so the weight is carried by the whole bag rather than a few stitches, and they're covered in little daisies, so even the practical bits are pretty. They sit comfortably in your hand or over your forearm, with nothing digging in.
The daisy straps. Even the parts that do the heavy lifting got dressed up.
Two honest sizes, measurements included
The 40 cm one does an overnight, the swimming baths or hand luggage. The 46 cm one does two or three days with room for shoes and a towel. The measurements are printed plainly, and they'll even tell you most women end up happier with the bigger one, which matches my experience of weekends and of life.
Bought the bigger size and haven't regretted it once. There's always something extra to pack for a weekend away.
Janet W., LancasterIt earns its keep between trips
This is the bit I didn't see coming. It does aqua aerobics on Wednesdays, sleepovers at my daughter's, and last month it took a care package to a friend in hospital with a lot more cheer than the occasion called for. The old holdall lived in the cupboard under the stairs between trips. This one hardly gets put away.
Packed for a Tuesday night away. The van faces the door, ready to go.
The Kathleen, against the weekend bags you've been buying
You can pick up a weekend bag for thirty-odd pounds anywhere. I know, because I own the evidence. Here's the difference, laid out plainly.
Black nylon that sags in the middle
Looks like every other bag in the rack
Thin walls, everything arrives rattled
Handles that dig in before the car park
One vague size, no measurements
Quilted and structured, springs back into shape
A stitched camper van scene nobody mistakes
Padded walls that cushion what's inside
Wrap-round daisy straps, comfortable in hand
Two honest sizes, measurements printed
About the price
The Kathleen is £32.95 for the 40 cm size and £35.95 for the 46 cm, down from £109.85 and £119.85.
I'll pass on what the shop told me: they're made in batches, and once a batch is gone, it's gone. Their words, not mine. What I can tell you is that 70% off is usually where I start wondering what's wrong with something, and three trips in, I still haven't found it.
I don't trust perfect scores either, so I read the reviews before I ordered. A little over four hundred of them, sitting at 4.3 stars, which sounded like real people rather than robots. The same six things I've just walked you through kept coming up, in other women's words.
By the front door, packed for Keswick, round two. The flask is coming too.
If there's a coach trip, a weekend away, a grandchild's school nativity or a night at your daughter's anywhere in your future, and your current bag is a tired black holdall, this is the one I'd put in your hands myself, while your size is still there. Stop dithering and go and have a look.
Linda
Kathleen | Quilted Travel Holdall
- Stitched camper van scene, quilted all over
- Swallows a proper weekend without a fight
- Soft quilted walls that cushion and spring back
- Wrap-round daisy handles, comfortable in hand
- Two honest sizes: 40 cm £32.95 · 46 cm £35.95
- Part of a whole collection of designs
- Free delivery to the UK and Ireland
Made in batches. Once a batch is gone, it's gone.