Vera Bradley Forbidden Forest 28574U70 Sling Backpack Review

QUALITY OF THE FORBIDDEN FOREST SLING BACKPACK

Vera Bradley is known for making quality products. This much I knew before I owned any of their purses, but now that I’ve got quite a few (my obsession for their bags is growing) I realize just how true that is. From their stitching and zippers to their material, this is meant to be used frequently and to withstand that use. Everything about this bag feels sturdy and well-made.

DESIGN AND COLOR

This bag is from their third Harry Potter design, which is called Forbidden Forest. The background color is dark blue and it has many creatures and foliage that have visited or live in the forest on the grounds of Hogwarts, although I can’t remember when Neville Longbottom’s toad Neville or Harry Potter’s owl Hedwig were ever in the forest.

The colors are simply gorgeous! There are small accenting designs that are purple, which gives the blue of the background a kind of purplish hue, but that’s just an optical illusion. The plants, animals, and Hogwarts castle are in shades of green, white, purple, pink, grey, maroon, and yellow. The combination of all of them is very pleasing to my eyes.

The design is what’s called an all-over print, which means that the images repeat all over the backpack. It also means that no two sling backpacks look alike because of design placement. You can read more about design placement here.

Below is what the back looks like. Obviously, it is similar to the front but without the pockets that stick out. There actually is a pocket on the back, which I’ll show you a little further down in this review.

Regarding the back, there is foam padding inside the fabric on the backside. The reason that I’m pointing this out is that it will help protect your back from whatever is inside. Have you ever worn a backpack that had a bulky or overly large item inside it that dug into your back? I have, and it doesn’t feel good. The padding in this backpack will help prevent that uncomfortable feeling.

MATERIAL, TEXTURE, AND STITCHING

This is made from recycled cotton, which means that 50% of it is recycled making it environmentally friendly. It also means that it is durable, lightweight, and washable. When you touch this bag you’ll see that it feels like a cotton shirt.

The material is quilted, which you can see in the picture below. The entire bag is quilted, which the exception of the tip, which is about three inches and the back. This means that there is stitching over pretty much every square inch of the front, sides, and bottom. The stitching uses thread that matches the blue background of the design and is not noticeable from a distance.

HANDLES / STRAPS

This is a sling backpack, which means that there is a single strap and you wear it across your body. The 37.5″ long strap is comprised of two parts. The top is padded and made from the same fabric as the bag, and is as long as the bag is tall. The bottom part is made of a poly-cotton blend (I contacted Vera Bradley and asked what this is, that’s what they told me) and it can be easily adjusted. It also has a three-prong buckle on the poly-cotton blend part of the strap.

The bag is easy to put over your head for putting it on or taking it off, but you can also use the buckle for this purpose. The buckle is very easy to open and snap together. I’ve used some buckles that are incredibly difficult to pinch to get open but this one needs very little effort, which means people with issues like arthritis aren’t likely to have a problem with this.

One of the things that I appreciate about Vera Bradley products is how well thought out they are. The ease of opening the buckle is one example of this, and another has to do with the excess material on the strap. There is a piece of the strap that hangs down unless you have it fully extended. Whereas other companies let that piece of material hang down (i.e. Loungefly), Vera Bradley includes a band of material that you can move to the end of the strap and it will hold it in place so there is nothing that flaps loose. You can see what I mean in the picture below. The benefit of this is that the hanging material doesn’t hit you while you walk, which is something that annoys me on my bags where this piece hangs loose.

As I have already mentioned, there is a single strap that you use to wear this like a crossbody purse (although you can also wear it across your shoulder like I’m doing in the picture at the top of this review), but unlike a purse, you can only wear this comfortably on the right shoulder if you want the bag on your back. You can wear it on your left shoulder but doing so will mean that the bag is on your front, not your back. Just something to think about if you usually wear crossbody purses on your left shoulder.

One final note about the shoulder strap. If I have a fandom bag with me when I sit down to eat somewhere I usually place my bag on the back of my chair. I tried to do that with this sling backpack but it slipped right off. There was no way to place it on the chair so I ended up putting it on my lap. It was that, wear it, or put it on the floor which I didn’t want to do, or if you have an extra chair where you can set it, which I did not have. Although you could also use a purse hook that lets you hang your bags from a table, something I don’t have so I have no opinion on what’s a good one to get.

EXTERNAL POCKETS

Pockets are important to me for several reasons. First, it lets me keep my items organized. Second, it makes it easy for me to access what I have without having to search through the bottom of my purse or backpack. So I always appreciate it when a bag has multiple pockets, which this one does. There are a total of three external pockets: two on the front and one on the back. This means that you have plenty of organizational options! The two front pockets are one on top of the other.

The inside of the first pocket is smaller than the one beneath it, and it’s flat. This is good for items like keys, gum, lip balm, or foam earplugs (which I happen to have inside that pocket as I write this because I recently went to a Halloween event that was REALLY loud).

The second pocket is bigger and is about one inch in depth so you can put larger items in here. Ideas for items include hand sanitizer, travel-sized Kleenex, a cell phone, or a face mask.

It’s hard to tell from the picture above so I took a close-up to allow you can see that the second pocket also has two pen slots and a slip pocket that is large enough for most cell phones, including my iPhone 12 Max Pro. I was even able to put my Nintendo Switch Lite in there and could zip up the pocket, but it isn’t big enough for a regular-sized Nintendo Switch (the Lite version is smaller).

There is also a hidden pocket on the back. I wouldn’t feel safe putting a wallet in the front pockets because I worry about pickpockets stealing from either of the two pockets on the front (which would be behind when I wear this). But Vera Bradley thought about that (remember how I said that they are thoughtful?) and added a small pocket on the back.

Below is what it looks like inside the hidden back pocket. You can’t tell from the picture but the pocket is deep, it goes the entire width of the backpack. That means that you can put a wallet or ID wallet inside and push it all the way to the other side of the pocket. To put this into perspective, I can place my entire hand inside this pocket and it goes in an inch or two past my wrist.

I’ve kept my small card wallet in here and felt safe doing so, although if I was visiting a place that is known for having pickpockets I don’t think this is the purse that I would use. But I’ve used it at Universal Studios in Florida several times so far and didn’t have any worries.

ZIPPERS

The zippers are all made from plastic that is the same dark blue as the background of the bag. They all open and close easily, but not so easily that they will open on their own.

One thing that you might not notice but that I’m going to point out is that all the zippers close in the up position at the top of the bag. That’s important because if they closed in the down position (at the bottom of the bag) then items inside could fall out if a zipper isn’t closed all the way. Fortunately, because they close up, you don’t have to worry about that.

Each zipper has a fabric pull that has “Vera Bradley” printed on one end and “Harry PotterTM” on the other end. The color for the wording perfectly matches the pale aqua found on the bag itself.

DECORATIVE ITEMS

It is common for purse companies to include decorative items on their bags, such as a zip pull or other items. There isn’t anything like that on this sling backpack but I am going to take this opportunity to point out that there is a key D ring on the top of the bag. It is made of plastic and is the same dark blue as the bag’s background.

I personally wouldn’t attach my keys to this ring because I don’t do that, but it’s nice that people who do want to do this have the option. It’s also the perfect place to hang the Hedwig coin purse that is also part of this line (you can see it here – it is adorable!).

OPENING AND BOTTOM

The opening to the main compartment inside the bag opens along the side. The inside is one large area without any additional pockets or dividers. This is the only thing that I don’t like. I don’t deny that this large open area allows me to place plenty of items inside but there is no way to organize it.

During my research for this review, I found that one person that owns this bag solved that problem by purchasing the medium size of this purse organizer, found here. I’m not sure that I would use this, I’d be more likely to use small pouches like a combination of cosmetic and pencil bags.

Unlike a typical mini backpack or purse which can stand upright when set down, this bag will fall over. The bottom isn’t wide enough for you to set it down that way. It does, however, have the same gorgeous pattern on it, which in my case is the Hogwarts castle.

LINING AND INTERNAL POCKETS

The lining on the inside of all the pockets and the main compartment is a variation of the exterior design. Instead of all the creatures, the inside has Hedwig in different positions and several of the plants. It is a very pretty design. FYI, several of the items in the Forbidden Design line are made from this pattern, not the one you see on the outside of this bag. If you see the word Ditsy next to one of their products then it will have this pattern on it, although I have no idea why they call it Ditsy.

As I’ve already stated, there are no pockets on the inside.

DIMENSIONS AND SIZE

The dimensions for this bag are 19.25″ H x 9.25″ W x 3.5″ D.

Vera Bradley has two sling backpacks – this one and a mini one. This is, obviously, the larger of the two and it can hold quite a bit more than the smaller version.

It is large enough to hold a wand, a water bottle, an eReader or iPad, a larger wallet, an umbrella that telescopes closed, snack food, and other misc. items.

CAN THIS BAG FIT IN A THEME PARK LOCKER?

If you never plan on going to a theme park with this bag then you can ignore this. However, fandom bags are very popular at places like Disney and Universal Studios. If you even plan on going to a theme park with your bag then you probably want to make sure that it will fit inside their lockers.

I have taken this to Universal Studios and it easily fits inside their small, free lockers, with room for more items. This is a great bag to take to theme parks for this reason.

WALLET THAT MATCHES THIS BAG

I don’t have this (although I want it!) but there is a matching wallet that you can get to go with the Forbidden Forest sling backpack. This wallet is 5.25″ wide, so I think that it will fit inside the hidden pocket on the back of the sling backpack which has an opening just slightly larger than this (although it might be too snug, I don’t know because I don’t have the wallet), or you can put it inside the main compartment.

The best place to find the matching wallet is on Vera Bradley’s site or eBay.

CARING FOR THE VERA BRADLEY SLING BACKPACK

Bags always start out clean but life happens and sometimes so do stains. If that happens then the information below will help you make it look new again. Although, I think that it is unlikely to show minor stains because of how dark the design is.

Thankfully, cleaning this bag is easy because it is made from cotton and can be cleaned in a washing machine. Per the Vera Bradley website, all you need to do is the following:

Machine wash cold, gentle cycle, only non-chlorine bleach when needed; line dry.

PROS

• The design is beautiful
• There are three external pockets to help keep items organized
• The backpack is comfortable when worn
• The strap is long enough to fit most body sizes
• The buckle is easy to snap and unsnap
• There is padding in the back of the bag to protect your back from the contents inside

CONS

• It can only be worn on your right shoulder so that the bag is on your back since wearing it on your left shoulder means that the bag will be across your front
• It can’t be placed on the back of a chair so it either needs to be worn while eating or put on the floor if you have this while dining unless you have an extra chair to put it on
• The main body of the bag doesn’t have any pockets or dividers

SUMMARY

I have worn this Vera Bradley sling backpack many times and that’s because I love it. I could have simply tried it once for the purpose of this review but it has become one of my go-to bags in a very short period of time. Not only do I love how it looks but it is comfortable for me to wear it and it holds pretty much everything that I want with me.

This is also a great bag to take to theme parks because of how large it is, yet it isn’t bulky. I take more stuff with me on my trips to Universal Studios and this held everything that I wanted, and still had room for more if I needed it.

This would be a perfect purse for anyone who loves the world of Harry Potter. It can be worn daily or used on special occasions, such as trips to theme parks. People are sure to give compliments on how it looks, even those who don’t recognize the fandom that it represents, which is something that I’ve had happen several times so far, and each time this happens it makes me smile.

Check prices for this bag on eBay or Vera Bradley’s Site

Now that you’ve seen pretty much everything about this bag, what do you like most about it? Tell me in the comments below. I usually try to find one thing that I love most about a bag that I’ve reviewed but in this case, I’m struggling to whittle it down to just one thing. So I’ll end by saying that I love the design, the size, and the number of pockets.