Man Bag Love

I have to state my love and appreciation for the Man Bag right up front, to be honest. There are plenty of men out there who are haters of the Man Bag, as well as their women, and I find it quite baffling.

My husband wearing a Man Bag has made my life much easier and the load I carry, much lighter. I appreciate the look of a man wearing a Man Bag, whether plain or functional. And as far as accessories go for men, they sure beat a briefcase or computer bag.

We travel a lot. We’ve become pretty savvy at knowing the basics we need when we travel. One item we don’t go without are our Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Travel guidebooks. There are so many wonderful guidebooks on the market; however, we’ve found that we gravitate towards the DK books time and time again. Yes, we are from the land of Rick Steeve’s, but we find those books aren’t as thorough for our needs. DK books tend to come with a lot of colorful pictures (I’m a visualist) with the text and due to all of that information, a bit of heft to them.

Enter my savior, the Man Bag. Hello husband! Would you be a love and carry this for us?

Luckily, in Europe, the Man Bag is de rigueur. There are so many different body styles, materials, price points and hardware choices to be had. There are inexpensive cotton canvas tote bags, linen satchels, PVC messenger bags, wool field bags, expensive leather crossbody bags, and even a few polyester backpacks (not considered a fashionable statement in Europe). Only tourists wear fanny packs.

I would have to admit; I see the basic canvas tote bag as being the most carried by men, which makes total sense! It’s hot in Europe in the summer. Why would a man add a sticky and hot leather bag to his shoulder if he didn’t have to? And when it’s wet in the winter, a tote bag holds up just fine and launders easily.

My husband didn’t go into the land of Man Bags easily, so I knew to choose carefully. A Manly Man Bag was in order. I also had in the back of my mind; it would be a bag I may have to adopt, if he truly decided he couldn’t wear one. His first Man Bag was a classic black leather crossbody bag with brown leather details. Thankfully, he took to it right away and hasn’t looked back!

Now he happily carries guidebooks, city maps, car keys, sunglasses, and his iPhone without effort or complaint, and he looks stylish doing so. I still carry a fair amount of weight (camera, sunglasses, my iPhone [the camera is great, but not technically advanced to suit me], girly-purse-worthy-essentials, etc.) The Man Bag has helped balance our travel load and I am thankful!

(Picture taken in Stadio dei Marmi at Stadio Olimpico, Roma after watching a Roma soccer game, September 2009.)