J.Crew Garment Bag Overview

Noticed a few weeks back that J.Crew had a new Garment Bag listed under the bags section. I haven't had the chance to check it out in person at a store, but it looks very interesting from the online listing alone.

Overview
According to the website, it's meant to carry garments -- duh. Materials include nylon and leather, and measurements should be 41" x 12.75" x 4.25". Price is US$ 230 for Canadians and US$ 198 for Americans.

Impressions
I'm guessing that the 41" dimension for height is for when it's unzipped, but I could be wrong. Otherwise, that would be about 3.5' folded and 7' unfolded. The longest clothing bag that I have is only about 4' long.

The pictures suggest that there's a handle, a shoulder strap, and it unzips to open up into what looks like a more traditional clothing bag like the ones for suits. Looks like the handle and other details are leather while the body of the bag is nylon. Some buckles, zippers, and details look metallic. The strap appears to be cotton or nylon. Overall, it feels very Abingdon-like except mostly black.

Having carried cheap, disposable plastic traditional suit/clothing covers around before, I can see this thing coming in handy. Good for trips around town and to the dry cleaner. Unfortunately (fortunately for my wallet), my regular attire is very "I gave up on life and don't care what you think about me anymore", so suits and jackets aren't often used.

Experience with disposable garment bags
The times that I have been required to carry a suit or blazer somewhere, I've tried carrying the item draped over my arm in a plastic covering -- very warm and sweaty during the summer. More recently, I've just given up and throw the item in my backpack. Before the backpack, I actually used my Abingdon laptop bag for this purpose and it worked surprisingly well. A 38S blazer went into the Abingdon easily after one or two folds.

Because the bag is mainly designed for carrying clothes (mainly suits?), I don't see It working very well as an everyday bag. This bag unfolds into two halves and everything would spill out when fully opened. I supposed the zippers could be left partially closed, but at, I'm assuming, 20.5" deep when closed, that might mean a lot of reaching.

Summary
The J.Crew Garment bag is absolutely gorgeous. I'd love to have one if I actually had a use for it -- not the case. At about US$ 200, it's on the pricier side. Then again, regular J.Crew shoppers shouldn't be surprised at the price. A bit of exclusivity?


Related
J.Crew Abingdon Laptop Bag Review
J.Crew Cotton Cashmere Hoodie Review
J.Crew Fleece Zip Hoodie Review
New backpack ideas: The Herschel Supply Co.