lululemon City Essentials Small Shoulder Bag Review

It’s no secret that lululemon bags are some of the more sought-after gear for daily use. Whether it’s clothing, slings, or backpacks, you’ve probably heard of the brand or seen someone using them in the urban jungle. But, if you’re like us, the question on your mind is, “Are they worth it?”

In this review, we’re taking a look at the lululemon City Essentials Small Shoulder Bag. This humble, fortune cookie-shaped sling has all the hallmarks of the lululemon bag we see everywhere. Clean, uniform fabric, polished hardware, and a prominent logo so everyone knows it’s lululemon. The question is, does it have anything else to offer apart from looks? Let’s find out.

External Components

The main material on the outside is recycled nylon, while the inside gets recycled polyester—so far, so standard, especially if you’ve used other lululemon bags. Yet, there’s something peculiar about this external shell. It has that casual vibe going for it, even if the very professional-looking black colorway we’ve got looks more business than leisurely. However, the fabric has a rather slick texture despite its matte-ish appearance. The result is that the bag looks and feels more athletic than its fashionista vibe implies. To put it another way, this doesn’t seem like the type of sling you’d shy away from taking on outdoor long walks, nor should it stay confined to the sheltered confines of downtown malls.

While we’re not averse to the shiny metal they’ve used to make the logo and zippers stand out, we would’ve at least liked some branded hardware as well. YKK zippers? Woojin clips? Nope, instead, you get generic ones (though there is one YKK zipper within the main compartment). To be fair, none of the hardware has failed in the two weeks we’ve been testing this bag, so we’re not going to shame these too much. That said, we’ll keep a close eye on them, just in case.

Thanks to the relatively robust piping around the bag’s seams, the body’s structure is decent. We dig that they’re neatly integrated, blending cleanly within the bag’s smooth curves. It’s one thing to make a comprehensively clean-looking sling but another to make one that stays that way when it’s in use, and we’ve been quite satisfied with how this achieves both.

Overall, this sling strikes a balance of classy and casual. Between its slick fabric and polished metal trim, we can see the vision lululemon was going for. That said, we wish lululemon leaned more toward the classy end of the spectrum. The fabric just feels a bit too casual for those night outs where you want a more elegant-feeling small bag.

lululemon’s approach to this sling’s harness system is interestingly pragmatic. Instead of designing an intricate two-in-one strap solution that lets you carry the bag as a crossbody sling or shoulder bag, they’ve opted for two separate straps. These straps both attach via the carabiner-style clips built into the sling itself, so you can only have one or the other attached at any given time (or none at all if you really want).

Fit Notes

So, does this setup work? Quite simply, yes! The longer strap is ideal for more casual carrying when you want the bag to hang low and relaxed across your body. Having that other strap hanging alongside isn’t really an issue. At first, we thought it would be distracting as we’re really not fans of straps randomly dangling on our bags. However, the secondary strap is minimal enough that we’re fine with it staying. Plus, we always have the option of detaching it if we really want to.

The shorter strap for shoulder bag-style carrying is the more stylish way to carry the bag. That’s up for debate, though we think people interested in this bag will appreciate the option either way. Hand-carrying is certainly made easy with a much shorter strap like this. Both straps have decent widths to distribute the sling’s weight, though there’s not much weight to spread around in the first place.

Inside The Sling

This sling only has one secondary pocket. That may sound truly barebones, but we have tested slings without any extras. We’re no mind readers (nor bag designers by any means), but we can guess that lululemon wanted a clean front while still having a secondary pocket of some sort, hence the singular option we have here.

There are pros and cons here. On the one hand, having the pocket at the back makes it relatively secure since it’s sitting directly against your body. On the other hand, this means you might feel whatever you pack inside if it’s too oddly shaped or large. To be fair, lululemon did a good job making sure this is a wide enough pocket that space isn’t an issue, so large smartphones and wallets should fit just fine—we just wouldn’t store something like a set of keys here.

The main compartment’s opening is crescent-shaped, tapering upwards on each end. This design technically limits the opening’s width, especially when you actually pry the sides apart. The impact is more emphasized if you’re coming from a sling with downward-tapering openings. All of that said, the real-world impact wasn’t noticeable enough that it became an issue. The opening’s size was more than sufficient to get to the gear inside; it’s just a noteworthy point of comparison.

Inside the main compartment are two liner pockets at the front and a zippered pocket at the back. It’s a rather modest setup but perfectly serviceable for a day sling. With that in mind, we usually put AirPods and lip balm in one of the liner pockets and a minimalist wallet in the other. The rear zippered pocket has a rather amusing “items of importance” label inside, which is about as explicit as it gets in terms of telling you what to store here. For us, though? We put various bits of toiletry there—staying clean is important, you know?

The main open space in the middle is wide enough for a Kindle, and there’s generally a lot of room to play around with. For example, we swapped between storing beanies and gloves alongside a medium-sized power bank and a set of keys. The nearby liner pockets can obscure access to these items in the middle if the pockets are slack from being unoccupied. In other words, we suggest utilizing them as much as possible. The dark liner fabric can also be an issue since similarly dark items can just blend into the background, especially in a dimly lit environment.

Overall, we really dig the lululemon City Essentials Small Shoulder Bag. It’s well-made, covers the basic necessities in terms of organization, has two modes of carrying, and it’s not even that overpriced at around $80. In other words, if you were already considering a lululemon sling because you wanted something from lululemon, this one’s a solid choice. If we have any lingering gripe, it’s that the sling’s fabric feels too casual for those night outs where you want something a bit classier; something like a purse for your first date or hitting the town with friends. While lululemon could’ve done a better job balancing that out, it’s not a deal-breaking missed opportunity either.