Slate Takes Work Bags Out for a Spin

Even before I moved to New York and often had to schlepp the entire contents of my desk around the city, I was a pretty big fan of bags. Not just big bags, either, but sleek little man purses and day packs. These days I’ve been able to pare down my gear to pocketable basics—keys, smartphone, wallet—but I still find myself in need of a good laptop bag that I can use when I still have to go mobile for extended periods of time.

Slate’s Seth Stevenson takes a half-dozen bags out for a spin, with prices ranging from sub-$100 up to half a grand—too rich for my taste by far, and from the sound of it not always worth it.

What I want is seemingly simple: A brown bag, just big enough to hold a Macbook Pro, made of a leather that is stiff enough to retain its shape when I stand it, unladened, on end. The “thin” part seems to be the problem. Brown leather bags with shoulder straps abound, but they tend to be given to extra padding or pockets, neither of which I really need. I need something that looks sharp when paired with a suit, but not pretentious when worn with street wear. (The very thing at which brown leather excels.)

Which work bag works best? [Slate]