Thursday, April 12, 2007

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.

Man purses
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.

Man bags
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?

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

nah. give me a sporty backpack anyday.

Perky said...

Man-bag. Gosh... this reminds me of an episode in Friends. Damnit I kinda forgot what the episode was about *sigh*

But honestly, I think it'd be hard to pull off a man-bag here in m'sia though... :(

Anonymous said...

good idea to snap a few pics and show us what a man-bag looks on you, no? I myself can't see a man-bag anywhere near me in the not-too-distant future though.. hehehe :p

GuyDads said...

Manbag, backpack, plastic shopping bag, or bulging chinos I still carry around a lot of crap: cell phone, digital camera, sun screen, coins, keys, wallet, cap or visor, PDA, pen, watch and all sorts of important pieces of paper. I go for a manbag that is sporty and almost like a backpack.

Anonymous said...

Go ahead man-bag if you must, I say hats off to the man who has the confidence and ability to pull it off :o)
But be prepared tho in this narrow minded society of ours anything slightly out of the ordinary (e.g., too tall, too fat, too short, nose slightly crooked, etc) will be made fun off.

Anonymous said...

I always called it my satchel. My co-worker aunties kept calling it handbag no doubt, but then they called my wallet a purse.

Sue said...

I am even a woman and I refuse to carry a handbag. I carry a backpack, thank you very much. I just love my backpack. I carry a bottle of water, a hat, an umbrella, map or books, a windbreaker, sunglasses, ipod, etc. The husband has to yell at me to carry a handbag when we go out because I will not.

BTW - Manbag sounds like scrotum to me.

Janvier said...

We avoids carrying bags, but sometimes carry our stuff in a rockclimber's pouch, it's just nice enough to fit a camera and phone in.

If we needs something bigger we might consider getting one of those laptop bags seen in Mac City...

jay said...

One of my friends does indeed have a manbag, he just refuses to admit and calls it a briefcase.

But then he puts things like blotting powder in it....its totally a manbag.

I personally will probably never own a manbag but if someone thinks they can pull it off and actually want one..i say go for it,

I'd rather have my chinos stuffed than have to walk around with something else all the time.

ethnwg said...

You know what I am going to say, right, Paul?

I'm for Murse, or Man-bag. Simply becos I sell bags :P

Ok, seriously. They are a lot more funky Man-bags out there that are not very feminine. Ultimately, it's how a person carries it. Not how the bag look ...wait. ugly bag is not pardonable. :P

cleo weiland said...

I'm one of those women who do carry a handbag with practically everything in it. It's useful, yes, and I consider it an extension of myself which will render me quite helpless without it.

Still, I'm not sure if the Man-Bag will make it here in Malaysia. But for those who dare venture, I say why not! :)

PS: Thanx for dropping by my blog. Mind if I link you? You're quite an interesting read :)

Overpriced Designer Man Bag said...

those are not man bags. i hope you were thinking of something different.

savante said...

Already have that. But I'm 30 now... maybe time for a change, k?

Yeah, that's what I meant by Joey, perky! :) My ISO gets it, he loves FRIENDS. We used to watch tons of it.

Junkie, the camera and I are bitter enemies. It never makes me look good :P

Whoa. That's a helluva lot of things, gay dad!

Need that confidence, firehorse.

Yours is definitely a satchel... or hideous murse, lance :P

Sue, you carry a backpack?! Why!

Rockclimbers pouch.. would that be the thing around the waist, janvier? But it would mess up my shirt and pants!

But the chinos will have weird bulges that spoil the cut of the trousers, jay!

Just make sure you give discount, okay, ethan!

Hi, cleo! Sure I'd love a link!

Nah, those were just cute pics with a man with bags, man bag!

Paul

Anonymous said...

I would say Manbag all the way!
I think it's rather pratical.
But then I am living in Edinburgh where the weather can be a bit unpredictable. I just stuff everything in like my ipod, camera, notebook, magazine, SIGGS, sunglasses, umbrella, scarf, cardigan, shopping/grocery bags and sometimes my jacket!
I just like bringing a lot of things.. oh of course lipbalm and lotion as well!
I think you should get a manbag if you have loads of things..
just choose bag that is more masculine.

Sue said...

So that I can be prepared for every eventuality.