My Take on the Vera Bradley Purse Backpacks – Hadley vs. Leighton

I recently purchased two of the new(ish) purse backpacks from Vera Bradley, the Hadley Backpack in Classic Black (microfiber) and the Leighton Backpack in Rainforest. Immediately I was struck by how small they were. Duh Stacy, you didn't look at the dimensions! As I've said before, I don't have a Vera Bradley store anywhere near me, like anywhere within a 1000 miles or so. I'm out in the sticks.

I wrapped up YouTube video last night comparing the two. Here are my observations:

1. Both pleasantly surprised me on how much each hold. The depth on both make up for their small sizes. Both are fully functional as purse backpacks. They both easily held my essentials, wallet, sunglasses, pen, breath mints, a little makeup in a Small Cosmetic, feminine products (hidden in a Slim Kisslock Case), keys, a small hairbrush, and travel sized lotion and body spray.
2. The Leighton's side pockets are slip in, while the Hadley's are zippered. The Leighton's are large enough to easily hold a water bottle, which is a fantastic feature! The Hadley's were small, but since they were zippered, the side pockets were a great place to hold my keys. They aren't big enough to hold any cell phone.
3. The Hadley Backpack's front zippered pocket has a hole with a grommet to feed your charging cable to your phone, and on the other side of the pocket, there is an elastic slip-in charger pocket. Very handy! As a parent, it would be a piece of mind to know my daughter's phone should be always charged.
4. Vera Bradley's website shows a cell phone slipping into the Leighton's slip-in pocket on the back exterior. Personally, I prefer to have my phone in a more secure pocket. If the backpack had a back zippered pocket, then I'd have no issue.
5. I'm not a fan of the Leighton straps. They are like belt buckles, with three adjustable holes. The straps are limited in how much they can adjust, and have a greater possibility of coming completely unbuckled. If you aren't paying attention, this might make theft a little easier. The Hadley's straps had traditional backpack buckles with slide adjustment; however, the straps are nylon.
6. If you want more a more traditional-looking Vera Bradley backpack, the Leighton is the one for you. The Hadley line has distinctive micro-diamond stitching. I actually really like the micro-diamond stitching, but that's personal preference.

My overall take is that both backpacks are great as purse backpacks. If you haven't seen one, trust me, they are too small to be used as anything other than purse backpacks. While both had great features, I prefer the Leighton over the Hadley Backpack simply because the Leighton holds more, including a water bottle. I don't have a portable cell phone charger (yet), so the Hadley's greatest advantage over the Leighton is lost on me.