Here’s another bag–this one with a detachable frame. It’s something that I’d strongly consider if I were still practicing law & comes in a variety of colors.
She’s pretty sure she doesn’t want something that rolls – and she can borrow something from work if she really needs it. I’ll pass along these links, and your comments about thin straps, so thanks much.
I’m following this with interest, because for years I used an LLBean leather tote (think those canvas totes with the contrasting straps but in a nice leather) until I finally had to reinforce the shoulders with duct tape and decided that it didn’t match even the low-key professional image I want to project. Bean doesn’t make it any more. Every single tote I’ve looked at for 2-3 years is either (1) too small, (2) has really thin straps or iffy connections to the bag proper, giving me concerns about its ability to handle heavy loads, (3) has a horizontal orientation rather than the vertical one I prefer, (4) is ugly, or (5) just doesn’t work for aesthetic reasons. I’m currently using a backpack that I picked up for personal use, and it does have the advantage of distributing weight evenly, which is good since I’ve had shoulder surgery, but I’d like something more professional, similar to the original request. My budget is considerably more limited than the OP’s friend, however!
I bought son a leather messenger bag from Levenger, which holds a 15" laptop. (Now he uses a backpack). I had a new strap put on my Coach leather bag, for for past year have been using a nylon bag from Travelpro. It has lots of compartments, cost a lot less than leather bags, and still looks professional.
Ugh. Roller bags are UGLY. Glad to hear your friend has access to rollers on as needed basis! I have never seen a roller bag that was pretty and lightweight and did not look like a piece of luggage. So my rolling tote was a compromise, and still I avoid using it as much as I can.
I do not find the straps on Tumi totes uncomfortable for either way of carrying them. The straps are made of soft and flat leather (not rolled), and they can be wrapped around the hand to shorten them and to spread the weight over larger surface (which, as we know from basic physics, reduces the pressure).
How about this one? Extra discount with the code today as well.
I do all of my bag shopping on ebags.com. You can filter by price, material, handles, organization, all kinds of things. If you favorite a bag, they’ll email you when it goes on sale.
http://luxilitarian.com/ (I don’t know anything about these, but D did some modeling for them. . .)