I was sent a Chala charming crossbody handbag for review. All opinions are my own.
Back in December I introduced you to Chala Bags in my Chala Bowling Bag review (pictured above). I really liked it and felt it was really well made, but it was a bit big for me. It will be great for other uses, but I decided to turn back to Chala handbags for a slightly smaller handbag to use every day. This time I chose the Chala Crossbody Handbag.
It comes in 9 different color options. I was sent dark brown. The bag measures 11 inches by 9.5 inches by 3.25 inches. I consider this to be a nice mid-sized handbag.
Chala offers ‘chala pals’ which are keychains with various animals or characters. In the bowling bag above, I chose the pug Chala pal. They offer Chala Pals including a lot of animal options including woodland creatures, pets, farm animals and zoo animals, but also including some others such as a feather, a mermaid, a music symbol, and so on.
I got the Metal Chichik Bird Charming Crossbody which just means I chose the Charming Crossbody bag with the Metal Chichik charm. Chala Pal keychains come on clasps so they are easy to take on and off. Now that I have two Chala bags and two Chala pals I can even swap the pals out.
The Chala Charming Crossbody bag has one main pouch on the center. On one side in the center there is a zippered pouch. I love having a zippered pouch within a purse because it lets me zip away tampons or pads so that I have them on hand but they aren’t readily visible. On the other side there are two open-top pouches. I put a bottle of headache medicine in one and some cosmetics in the other, but they would fit a slim water bottle (like ones that come in a case fro the grocery store) if you wanted.
You may have noticed that the top flap of the purse has a zipper on it. If you unzip it, it will reveal a really long and deep pocket! This can’t be stuffed full because the top portion needs to be empty so that it can fold over and allow the purse to shut. However, you can use the lower end of the pouch for a fair amount of items and it will still close.
The inner pouch has a clasp inside which you can clip to your keys so that you can easily fish them out of your purse without digging around.
The strap adjusted to make it a shoulder bag.
While this is called a crossbody bag, it has an adjustable strap that can convert. The strap has a belt-like design so you can adjust the length a little bit by choosing a different hole while it is in cross body mode. However, you can also convert it to more of a shoulder bag. Both ends of the strap have hooks that can unlatch. If you unlatch the longer side and pull it through the ring on one side of the purse and doubled it over and then clasp it to the other side, it becomes shoulder-bag length.
Chala has authorized Amazon sellers and their bags can be purchased from a few other websites as well. Visit their Where To Buy Chala Bags page to find a retailer.
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Hi there! I am Emily Evert, the owner of Emily Reviews. I am 28 and live in a small town in Michigan with my boyfriend Ryan and our two pugs. I have a large family and I adore my nieces and nephews. I love reading memoirs, and learning about child development and psychology. I love watching The Game of Thrones, Teen Mom, Sister Wives and Veep. I like listening to Jason Isbell, John Prine, and other alt-country or Americana music. I created Emily Reviews as a creative outlet to share my life and the products that I love with others.
This post currently has 12 responses.
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Michelle S
I love everything about this bad but the stitching on the edges. I guess it’s not so much the stitching but that it doesn’t match.
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susan hartman
These look like my kind of bags – kinda hippyish. I have one of those key chains in my current bag. Its wonderful. Saves a lot of annoying moments.
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Alice F
Love the cool factor on this bag! The size is very functional and it is so hip and boho. Winner in my book.
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Love the cool factor on this bag! The size is very functional and it is so hip and boho. Winner in my book.
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John Smith
That looks like a capacious carry-all!
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Peggy Nunn
I really like the look of this bag. I like the shoulder strap. I think I want one for Valentines’ Day too.
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gala
Another beautiful bag from this company. Love the color and the style
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Sarah L
That is an adorable bag. I like all the small touches. I prefer a crossbody bag myself.
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Donna
I love the stitching on this bag. Very cool! I also love the adorable chala pals. They have so many on their site! The fox and the butterfly are two of my favorites.
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ROBERTA GOTTLIEB
Just received mine from amazon in light brown. You had the exact info I was looking for re: adjusting the strap length when I want to convert to a shoulder bag.
I am wondering if you have tested their totes? Those might be a little roomier to use when working.-
Glad the strap info was helpful! I had a tough time figuring it out at first as well. I haven’t tried their tote style bags yet.
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Their bags are just so cute. I love the stitching detail on this one.