man-bag, my bag?

Man-bags; handbags for men - real men? It seems the modern man has realised a need to un-stuff those pockets, and organise their belongings a little better by donning a bag. Gone are the days when husbands would hand over to their wives their wallet, car keys, and any thing else they could pawn off to unsuspecting females. Now it seems men are lightening the load and are sharing some of the back pain - at least that's what the British Chiropractic Association noted. Apparently, in Britain, 66 per cent of men experience back pain. So? Well, 60 per cent of British men also happen to carry a man-bag. Man-bags are spreading like the shoulder-pad epidemic of the '80s.

He carries his own wallet, keys, and whip.

Except, it seems, the man-bag is here to stay. David Beckham is the pioneer of the modern man-bag, since paving the way in the early '90s. As man-bag users only continue to increase, I fear men will soon learn the hard way, the very thing women often refuse to face, that: the bigger the bag = the more useless things you cram in = the bigger the back pain.

I happen to love a good man-bag, and come from a family and a group of friends where man-bags are celebrated. As they should be - hanging a piece of leather over your shoulder does not make you any less of a man. Man-bags make sense, and so do real men. Take Sean Connery, the ultimate man's man:

Goes hand-in-hand with a manly mo'

Why shouldn't a man have the freedom to use one; women throughout history have long worked androgynous fashion; Coco Chanel did and Kate Moss does, so it seems only fair, wouldn't you think?

Saying that, I was a little surprised to be stopped in the middle of the street by a man who wanted to know where I had bought my bag from! He was pretty disappointed to learn that my deep burgundy-brown, hard leather satchel was in fact from a tiny store in the Marais, Paris, which no longer existed. I assured him there were plenty more fish in the sea, and not to get down because one got away.

And there are;

Gucci





Mulberry




Zara




Man-bags: are they a do or a don't?