(Man)bagging it!

With the good old briefcase relegated to an era long gone, the latest ‘IT’ accessory for the man of today is the manbag in its myriad avatars, as Raul Dias discovers


Sitting on a bench outside one of the busiest buildings in Mumbai’s commercial district of Nariman Point, I had my task well laid out before me. I was to count and note down in my little diary the number of men toting manbags vis-à-vis their briefcase lugging counterparts. All this was part of a bet wagered between me and a lady friend who insisted (much to my consternation of course!) that most men these days opted for the much more roomier manbags to carry all their masculine necessities as opposed to the rather boring and ‘Kafkaseque’ (her words) briefcase.
Well, little did I know that that evening five months ago I would become poorer by a thousand bucks. Yes, I lost the bet miserably with almost 70 per cent of the men I saw opting for the manbag in its myriad avatars—courier bags, sling bags, doctor totes and even something that looked deceptively like a clutch!

And you might as well forget fashion week season where almost every fashion forward gent worth his bottle of Old Spice aftershave paid rich obeisance to the hold all that is achieving iconic status as a man’s accessory—just as much, if not more, than a pair of oxford lace up wingtip shoes. On the ramp too this phenomenon continued with designers sending out their ‘bag-accessorized’ male models who kept a firm grip on their manbags as though a salivating front row ‘Heva’ (that’s a male Diva for the uninitiated) would jump on them and steal their precious bag. I even spotted a bejeweled monogrammed minaudiere in the hands of designer Suneet Varma at the Lakmé Fashion Week in Mumbai who later told me that the aforesaid bag with his initials SV on it was specially created for him by the house of Judith Leiber, the makers of the minaudiere. Welcome to the world of dazzling diamonds guys, so what if they are only crystals?

In the US the craze for the manbag has reached such dizzying heights that there have even been a couple of sexual-discrimination suits slapped on the detractors of the manbag. And then there’s the entire chapter devoted to manbags in Neil Strauss’ The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists. Yes, that’s right, in the midst of advising readers how to bed hot babes and detailing his own somewhat surprising rise from loser to Lothario, Strauss quips that nearly every pick-up artist has a prop bag that should contain, among other things, various magic tricks, photos and optional male make-up. But there is also intense debate on various forums like Facebook, Orkut, independent blogs and even Twitter debating whether manly men can carry manbags without losing their masculine edge. On the one hand there are the ‘manbagophobics’ who bandy about silly jokes such as the obvious fagbag manbag and poof-purse. On the other there are those who think manbags can look quite manly and are supremely functional too. Some of you fellows may not exactly know what you could possibly need throughout the day to constitute said apparatus. It’s not uncommon for guys to just sort of assume that they’ll somehow just bounce around their day and come out the other side with no problems. This is known as our severe LACK OF PLANNING. So what happens when the unthinkable happens, and all you have to contribute to the solution is a few coins, an old condom and your license?

Personally, I’m a recent convert who now own two manbags—a faux alligator black holdall and a brown leather doctor tote. My stance earlier was a bit different. And not because I didn’t like the look of a manly man sporting a well-worn leather satchel slung nonchalantly across his chest (such as the Hugo Boss and Graham messenger manbags) but rather because big-name brands have a tendency to feminize the dude’s bags too. Case in Point: At the spring 2009 menswear shows in Milan, Salvatore Ferragamo opted for a fuchsia-pink textured clutch partnered with chic grey suit, while Marni sent its meterosexual muse down the catwalk carrying a very ladylike purse.

On a recent trip to Singapore even a construction site like the soon-to-be-ready Marina Bay Sands Resort threw up visions of blue-print carting architects wearing the latest manbag variety, the extended tool belt that has multiple pockets to stow almost everything a man can think up of… even a sneaky hip flask. And the brand, Gucci in all its interlocking double G splendour!

So, what do the ladies—the original connoisseurs of the bag—feel about this trend? If you go by the response of my friend (whom I made richer thanks to the bet), then they are all in favour of it. No more will they have to justify the purchase of another handbag to their better halves. Heck, they can even cut costs by sharing a bag!!
Alright boys, let’s face facts. Gone are the days where everything we needed to survive a day in this modern fast-paced world could fit in our pockets. It’s just not doable any more. If you’re roaming around the streets with just your wallet in your pocket, you’re either alarmingly under-equipped for life, or you’re cheating and getting your lady to cart around your stuff around for you. And that’s not cool.

So guys, do we see you rushing out on your next lunch break from work in pursuit of that must-have manbag? And remember; if you do find a killer bargain don’t forget to let me in on it, deal?

(First published in DNA Me)