I was 100% influenced to look at this bag by the Korean drama Hometown Cha Cha Cha (pictured below). In it, the main character (who loves bags and clothes) moves from the city to a seaside town to open a dental clinic. I loved this romantic comedy with a charming look at rural life in Korea. Plus who doesn’t love a good city girl falling in love with the country boy trope. So when I found this bag at Fashionphile for a good price (quite a bit less than the $8550 retail), I decided to just try it out to see if I liked it. NGL I was fully intending to just check it out and then return it, but unfortunately (fortunately?) I fell in love with it and didn’t want to send it back.
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The Roulis 23 is the larger of the two Roulis styles (there’s a mini version called the 18). The bag weighs 1 lb. 9 oz. and measures 9in x 8in x 3in. I decided to go with the larger one since I carry more these days with a toddler. This bag perfectly fits all my essentials (wallet, keys, phone, sunglasses) and then some (wipes, hand sanitizer, toddler’s sunglasses, etc.).
The front closes by tucking in the flap under the chain-detail hardware. Inside there’s three compartments (two larger ones and smaller one) along with a large flat pocket. There are no zippers inside and there’s no other hardware. On the exterior of the bag, on the back, there’s another flat pocket that I squeeze my phone into (the pocket has stretched out a bit but that’s fine with me).
The bag was first released in 2011 (ten years ago!) though I don’t think it’s been that popular. The bag comes in a variety of leathers, but the most common I see is Evercolor (a slightly grainy pressed leather that has a subtle sheen). This Roulis that I got is made in Sombrero, which is a matte calf leather that’s really smooth to the touch (and scratches easily—oof). I love love love the feel of the bag, but it’s so delicate that I have to baby the bag a bit more than I usually do. Thus I don’t use it as often as I want to (just mostly for dinners out and never for full days with the kid). But I did rank it at number 3 on my purse collection ranking, and I find joy in running my hand across the bag to feel the smooth leather under my fingertips.
I would say the only drawback to the bag is that the shoulder strap is not adjustable. I find that it hits perfectly on my hip (I’m 5’4”) but for some people the length (a drop of 18”) may be a tad awkward and there’s no way to change it.
But overall I’m super happy with this purchase from Fashionphile and I have no regrets. Currently there are a few Roulis bags on Fashionphile, with one exactly the same as mine (though in slightly better condition than min was by the looks of it) and another similar one (in Evercolor leather with a slightly brighter color). Because the Sombrero leather on my Roulis is so fragile, it was already a little scratched when I got it. But I don’t mind that because I love a bag with a little history to it. The bag even came with an H-Mart receipt for almost $300 worth of meat (so it probably came from a Korean woman). I find it fitting that a bag purchase inspired by a Korean drama was first owned by a Korean woman.
P.S. You can find all my other Hermes reviews here.