Last weekend I learned about the importance of the right-sized bag during a three-day event at Universal Studios.
I went to the theme park to meet up with other fans of Harry Potter for our annual gathering, one that we call the UnCelebration. This gathering used to be an official event by Universal, one that they have since stopped doing but people have continued to go to and keep alive in their own way.
It includes a lot of cosplay, which is something that I’m new to. I had three outfits chosen for the weekend, outfits that I had put together almost a year earlier. I knew exactly what mini backpacks or purses I wanted with each outfit, but what I didn’t plan on was the weather.
The end of January in Florida can be very unpredictable and this was a year for bitterly cold temperatures. I had to scramble at the last minute to make my clothes warm, which they originally weren’t. I succeeded with the clothes but didn’t think about my bags.
As it turns out, I used only one of my three bags. It was an adorable mini backpack from Primark in the UK, brought to me by a friend who had visited there a few months ago. It was the largest of the three I’d brought, and the reason I used that one all weekend in favor of the other two was its size.
You see, it turns out that I needed to hold more items because of the cold. Specifically, I kept my scarf and gloves inside it, along with all the other things that I wanted with me. This was the only one that wasn’t bursting at the seams with no room for even a tiny mouse. (Not that I take mice with me to theme parks.)
I didn’t think to take a picture of me showing off my backpack so the only picture that I could find where you can see it is this one. I’m the woman on the left and this is the only outfit where I intended to use my Primark bag.
Here is a closer look. You can tell that the bag is stuffed even without the scarf being inside it since it was cold enough for me to want it when this picture was taken. It looks full, doesn’t it?
MY PRIMARK MINI BACKPACK
Now that I’m home and warm, I’ve realized my error in not taking a photo of me with the bag. I didn’t feel like recreating the look so instead, I took a few pictures of just the bag.
I guess it’s more of a rucksack, although I admit that I’m not entirely sure of the difference between a rucksack and a backpack, but the slouchiness of this makes me think that.
Here is what it looks like. It has a flap over the opening on the top that snaps shut with a magnetic clasp. Stitched onto it is a gold Hogwarts crest. There are also two front pockets, also closed with magnetic clasps.
You might notice that the bag looks a little bit padded. That’s because it is. I don’t know how they did it but the entire exterior has a soft, padded feeling to it.
The material on the body (not the pockets or top flap) has shiny, sort of embossed designs all over it. They are all related to the world of Harry Potter, such as his glasses and lightning bolt-shaped scar. It’s quite pretty.
The inside is large and roomy, which was perfect for my needs over the three days that I used it. It was completely full when I used it then, but now all you can see is my Vera Bradley Herbology wallet. Which I forgot to include in my recent article about my Harry Potter wallets because I was using it at the time, and still am.
For those of you wondering what the front pockets look like when opened, here you go.
I plan on going again next year and now I realize that I need to take the weather into consideration for my bags, as well as my clothes. Next time I’ll bring more than one large bag that I can accessorize with if the temps are going to drop again like they did this year.