The Proverbial Manbag

Bet you don't know this but for years women have been subtly misappropriating essential items generally considered masculine domain from cigarettes to business shirts to pants, even shaving come to think of it - and the men have been patently oblivious to the fact that their closets have been breached!

And somehow by the grace of God, the shrewd ladies have actually made it all work better!

So does it mean it's time that we borrowed from them as well? Every few years, the thriving leather industry working hand in glove with the devious fashionistas attempt to hoodwink gullible men into believing that the male handbag is what's lacking from their sad sartorially-deficient lives. And for the past few years it seems that the nefarious plans actually worked.


Did I just drop something?
After all, we've all seen these so-called man bags around town, slightly larger than the usual wallets yet smaller and daintier than tough manly briefcases.. stashed under the arms of smartly dressed business execs, strapped around the shoulders of sensitive new agers. Seems like a near indispensable accessory to the well-dressed metrosexual these days!

Even the raging homo with his pink dollar.

Paul : What's with your handbag, auntie?
My ISO : Hey, it's a man bag.
Paul : I'm sorry. Not even Joey could pull that off.
My ISO : See. I have all these pockets.
Paul : Which are empty.
My ISO : Which I shall fill...
Paul : With tampons?

If I recall, even Dashing Dan - and Charming Calvin despite his protests - also own a man bag. Despite dressing it up as the latest in-thing accesory, have to say the name still takes a bit to swallow. Not exactly sure why they're termed man-bags though the term still puts a queer smile on my face. Could I check out your manbag sir? Then again calling it a man-purse or murse would be even worse. Maybe we could call it a satchel instead.


Damn! There goes my heels!
Kidding aside, I do see some of the good points of carrying a man bag. Not sure exactly what I intend to put in it - not even sure if I'll get it! - but it would surely be easier toting a manbag rather than lugging all my belongings about in various unflattering plastic carriers ( vague hints of sloppy slipper-wearing aunties schlepping to the wet market ). I gotta admit after passing the age of 30, hefting a school backpack seems almost sophomorish.

Of course I don't have all that many paraphernalia to load into it of course - unlike girls who inevitably pack for the coming Apocalypse with fluids and rations for the next decade, not to mention essential feminine products, make-up and birth control. But there are days when I'm bogged down with my handphone, my increasingly expanding wallet and my stethoscope ( and that's not even counting endless techgadgets such as the iPod and the Blackberry that I wish to get but can't handle! ), I do wish I had a handy manpurse around to shove it in. Seems like a far more elegant solution rather than have unsightly bulges tenting up the chinos.

Not sure if I could carry it off though. Sure, a macho dude like Chewbacca that hairy Metrosexual Wookie can lug around a manbag and still make it look chock-full of testosterone. Hell, David Beckham could wear stiletto heels and still come off all hyper masculine but I'm not sure if a dull Mr Average like me could pull off the man-bag though.

What do you think? To man-bag or not to man-bag?