I fell in love with this flowered string bag as soon as I saw it! And when I received it, I was even happier. It's soft viscose (feels like cotton though), in a soft taupe (it's close to Pantone's Desert Taupe color), with pale beige and taupe flat knitted flowers. The body of the bag and the straps are knitted with small holes in them, and have a slight stretch width-wise. The bag is 12 1/2" x 14" (for the bag's body), and the straps add an additional 10 1/2."Because of the holes, I wouldn't carry car keys in it (not because they'd fall out, but because they could catch on the yarn and damage it). A thin rolled-up towel, sunglasses, sunscreen, a baseball hat, and a book would fit if you wanted to use it at the beach. Since I don't live near a beach, I'd use it for book group or to hold knitting projects (I'll just have to use an additional bag to tuck in knitting needles--they'd totally slide out!). Or, if I lived it Paris, it would be great to tuck in my purse to use for hitting markets on the way home!It's a darling bag, very retro. It's very fun to carry and look at.