Bag
gent:
David Beckham is among a host of celebrities who have been spotted
out and about with 'man bags'
This summer, it's not just you girls who'll be performing the ritual
of adding your names to waiting lists for the season's It-bags.
Yes, the era of the It man bag is upon us, ushered in by Jude Law
(who has been spotted, not for the first time perhaps, carrying an
Alfie); Brad Pitt (Storksak Jamie); Jose Mourinho (Louis Vuitton satchel);
and David Beckham (Louis Vuitton clutch).
Once, men bought shoes and bags for longevity and practicality. We
loved classics - reassuringly expensive, hard-wearing, aesthetically
conservative - such as Church's shoes and Pickett briefcases. Smart,
but not flashy.
I've carried the same blue canvas courier bag for the past three
years. It's not interesting to look at but it's functional: it holds
my papers, pens, magazines, a novel and keys.
The only annoyance is that it's a bit too flimsy to safely transport
my laptop. Still, I hadn't considered replacing it - until Mulberry
sent me an Alfie to try out.
This is a thing of beauty: a luxury satchel in super-soft buffalo
leather with a canvas strap. It's not cheap - £395 - but it's
a huge improvement on my slouchy bag.
But as chic as an Alfie is, can it really be said to be a man bag,
or is it just a bag for a man? Is it not nearly embarrassing enough
to be a man bag?
This distinction occasioned much debate among my male colleagues
when I wore it to work this week.
Some said it was just a bag for men - like the thousands of courier
bags, rucksacks and briefcases men carry around with them every day,
only much nicer to look at.
I went to see the leather designer Bill Amberg to clear up the man
bag confusion.
We met at his stylish shop in Notting Hill, West London, where his
Metropolitan, another of this season's Itbags for men, has sold out.
He had a surprise for me: a prototype of what he's calling the Pochette,
in the softest dark brown leather imaginable.
Now the Pochette is exactly what I think of as a man bag. About the
size of a washbag, with space for your wallet, keys, change, a notebook,
pens, passport, mobile phone, iPod and sunglasses - but not, crucially,
a novel or magazine, and certainly not a laptop.
It is carried like a clutch bag, or dangled from the wrist by a strap.
The last time this sort of thing was fashionable for British men
- rather than our Continental counterparts, who have never been afraid
of a man bag, keen as they are to preserve the line of their suits
by keeping their pockets empty - was in the Seventies, when it had
a spivvy image.
One can imagine the typical man bag back then containing a pack of
John Player Specials, a gold Dunhill lighter, a selection of condoms
and the keys to a Ford Capri.
My man bag took some getting used to. As I walked away from Bill
Amberg's shop, swinging it in the sunshine, I felt uncomfortably girlie.
Perhaps David Beckham can get away with carrying a clutch - perhaps
- but I'm not an international style icon, nor do I live in Madrid
As the day wore on, however, it began to grow on me. My girlfriend
gave it her seal of approval, saying it was the right side of masculine.
In fact, women were far more accepting than other men. One female
colleague was particularly impressed, maybe even jealous.
"Ooh, very sexy," she purred, fingering the soft leather.
My heterosexual credentials, it seemed, were very much intact.
My girlfriend was particularly pleased because she said that in future
I'd have no excuse for slipping my phone and keys into her handbag
when we went out for the evening. And it was in the evening that the
man bag came into its own.
I had a black-tie dinner to attend. We nipped to the pub first. Where
to stow one's man bag in the pub? On the bar? On the floor? Answer:
keep a firm hold of it.
Normally at a do, I'm a series of bulging pockets filled with paraphernalia,
but this time I was chic and sleek - or as sleek and chic as I ever
am.
With dinner over, the band struck up and then the carousing began
in earnest.
I confess the thought did cross my mind for a moment, but much as
I was enjoying my man bag, I drew the line at dancing round it.
Alex Bilmes is Features Director of British GQ.