If you’ve never used a backpack as a bag, you’ve been missing out. Backpacks can be just as stylish as a traditional handbag, but with extra space and less shoulder strain. They’re not just for hikes and grade school.
Enter Caraa Sport’s dance 2 bag. Easily the most adorable tiny blue backpack I’ve ever seen.
Caraa Sport is one of the top names in the active bag world: their designs nail both fashion and function in creative, luxe ways. I had been pining after this particular bag for ages, so I was ridiculously excited when Caraa sent me this one as a gift. It’s got me on a bit of a Caraa kick–I also recently bought Caraa’s studio bag (as seen in this post), which I’ll have a review for soon.
Here’s all the details on the dance 2 bag.
Design details
Much to my delight, the azure blue is as bright and vibrant in person as it is in photos. I have a soft spot for saturated blues, and this one is a really lovely shade.
The bag is made of spacer mesh, which has a thick, slightly spongy feel to it. It’s an extremely lightweight material, which means that the bag itself weighs very little. Mine weighs in at a little above 1 lb, which is considerably less than any of my other bags. That said, I wouldn’t call the mesh delicate. I’m not really worried about it tearing. The bag has leather accents at the zippers to provide visual and textural contrast to the bright mesh.
The backpack is equipped with adjustable straps and a top carry handle. The straps are about halfway tightened in these photos. One of my favorite design details is the zipper closure. The zippers have leather pulls that nest in each other via a little turn lock. The lock is a brilliant feature to ensure your bag doesn’t gape open.
One of the things I like about this design is that it looks great regardless of whether the bag is empty or packed to the brim. It has good structure and doesn’t deflate and flop over when empty. It has little feet at the bottom, which both protects the bottom from scrapes and dirt as well as makes the bag stand nicely on its own.
What fits inside
The inside of the bag zips open about halfway down on either side, which makes it easy to access the entire contents. The inside is mostly one large compartment, with one zip pocket on the inside. The zip pocket is large enough for a wallet, phone, small notebook, or other little items you don’t want to sink to the bottom of the bag. The outside of the bag has two diagonal zip pockets. These not only add some nice flair and are surprisingly deep. I can fit my entire phone inside easily. These zippers are also reflective.
Although you don’t see it in my photos, the back of the backpack also has a flat, padded pocket for a tablet. It would also work well for a small or medium-sized notebook or folded documents. There is no zip, however, so you’d have to be sure whatever is stored inside is secured well.
Despite its petite appearance, this little backpack is actually quite roomy. I can fit a pair of my shoes laid flat at the bottom. In addition to the shoes, I can pack in an entire outfit (tank, sports bra, leggings), a 500 ml water bottle, plus all my essentials (wallet, keys, headphones, etc) with room to spare. I also like that the wide, flat bottom makes it easy to transport even my largest food storage containers for lunch without having to do some kind of Tupperware contortion to fit them inside.
This bag is up for anything from short hikes to work to the gym–all of which are ways I’ve used it in the couple of weeks since I got it. I fell in love with this bag the minute I pulled it out of the box and would recommend it. The black and gold version is utterly swoon-worthy too.
Outfit details
Caraa Sport Dance 2 bag – azure blue – c/o (also available via Nordstrom)
Olympia Activewear petra tank – jet
Lululemon energy bra – raspberry glo
Koral Activewear gauge capris (past season)
Nike metcon 3
P.S. Insider tip: if you’re planning to place an order from Caraa, send me an email and I’ll send you a little something to save $$.
This bag actually reminds me a lot of my Rebecca Minkoff Julian backpack but more sporty!
http://www.rebeccaminkoff.com/julian-backpack-hs16eblb01-black?src=catalogsearch
I love backpacks. They’re my go to when I’m running errands and don’t want to bring my nicer handbags out.
Ahh I love that backpack too! You’re right that it’s similar with the shape and diagonal zips. This Cuyana backpack is another of my favorites right now, in a more sleek and less sporty way: https://www.cuyana.com/leather-backpack.html Swoon. I want all the backpacks.
i still love those white pants!
please advise on how you differently use the dance vs. the studio bags. I’m considering getting the dance too, but it’s pricey and i already have the studio. hmmmmm…….
Yes! I was planning to put the comparison in as part of the studio bag review, once I have that put together (which might still be a couple weeks). A couple key differences is that the dance bag is noticeably lighter, and the main compartment of the dance bag is also slightly easier to get in and out of imo (due to only having one compartment + rounded instead of square edges are easier to zip). And you can’t use the studio bag on (short) hikes. :) But overall, if the two bags were the same color, the uses would be pretty similar. (Of course different colors means all bets are off!)
thanks! yes, i would obvi have to get the azure color, cause then they would at least be totally different in one very very important way :-D
Hey AA,
So I ordered the Dance 2 from Nordstrom just to check it out (although I would get the blue from Caraa if I decided to keep it). They accidentally sent the original Dance bag, so I checked that one out instead. One thing I noticed is how shallow the front pockets (on the outside) were and I could NOT fit my phone in. I was really hopeful for those pockets as the lack of a quick place to stick my phone is my only complaint about the Studio Bag. I have now revisited your review and I’m confused – I wonder if the Dance 2 has significantly deeper pockets?? Can you get your whole phone in easily and zip the pocket shut, or does the phone stick out? Does your phone have a case? Do you have to kind of wiggle it in sideways, or can you just drop it right in no problem?
Thanks so much!
Carrie
Hmmm interesting. I grabbed my dance 2 and the phone definitely fits no problem (iPhone 7 with case), with an inch or two to spare on either side. The pocket lining does tend to bunch up a bit so I have to stick my hand in there to “open” it back up. It felt shallow at first til I did that.
Also I saw in the email today that the updated Studio has a side phone pocket now!
yes, my original studio bag broke, so they sent me a replacement and it arrived a couple days ago. what an F’ing pleasant surprise to see the phone pocket!!!! so glad the first one broke. lol.
Oh wow that’s amazing! Lucky you. :)
AA, how is your Koral leggings going? Do they hold up well? Any piling? I am in the market for a new pair and torn between Koral forge leggings and Alo moto ones….
I have the gauge capris pictured here as well as the mystic capris. Both still look amazing! Well, the gauge capris have a tiny bit of dirt on the knees but that’s not their fault, haha. I’ve been really happy with the quality in general.