MAN ENOUGH FOR THE MAN BAG

"Anything bigger than a money clip or a wallet is to be left to your girlfriend/wife … and just so we are clear you should not be able to throw your 'wallet' over a shoulder … if you have a man purse, the wall is waiting." - Andy Roddick, Tennis Superstar

Well, check this out Andy. Superstar quarterback for the NFL Tom Brady doesn't think so and he ends up with supermodel Gisselle. He did create a lot of noise after the papazz got a hold of him with his cute camo man bag while he and partner Giselle were spotted in downtown NYC. Tom may not be as big as an asset to New England Patriots as David Beckham is to Los Angeles Galaxy, but Tom just recently got the nod as the poster boy for the UBERSEXUAL. (Ubersexual - from Webster dictionary, a male who is similar to a metrosexual but displays the traditional manly qualities such as confidence, strength, and class - leaving no doubt as to his sexual orientation. David was the quintisential metrosexual boy of the 90's).

And so, where does this lead me... I have been getting a lot of eyebrow raises, questions of interests, and sometimes, of ridicule whenever I'm out carrying my carryall bag. It's a really cool manbag that I got in Cubic Store in Hongkong - the color metallic burgundy. Some people would usually ask - "So Pao where's the trip?" or "Mamalengke ka ba?" or "What's with the lola bag?" to which I just roll my eyes and smile.

I recently got my carryall manbag more than a month ago during my trip after realizing that my backpack wasn't doing it for me. Laptop, phones, wallet, some books, portable audio player, it just doesn't work with the backpack anymore. First, it's difficult to access your stuff with the backpack because it's in your back, second, try riding the metro during rush hour, and you'd be lucky enough to fit yourself let alone with your backpack. Third, If you're like me, I sometimes forget to close the lock, fortunately, some friends would actually tell me that my backpack is open. I'm lucky that it's always that way, but what about when you're in a crowded place with people that you don't know, a friend lost his Ipod because he forgot to cloze the zip of his backpack. Ouch!!!

What's good with carryalls or shoulder manbags is that you're always concious that you're carrying your bag, plus the fact that you have plenty of places or compartments to put your gadgets. It does take a lot of guts to carry one outside because Pinoy men are still kinda iffy with carrying something that looks like it came from your mom's closet.

But what surprises me though is that I've been seeing or I know a number of straight guys who actually have and prefer carrying manbags when they're out. Check out the Ortigas crowd for example, you'd see them guy yuppies comfortable with their manbags.Or even young art students are daring enough to bring them in class. Gola man bags from the Gola sportswear brand are actually every where. It was born out of neccesity they would say. "It's difficult to move without a bag these days because you tend to bring a lot of your stuff with you, your camera, your ipod, your PSP, your toys, so it doesn't really bother because it's very useful" they would say.

Manbags are actually not a new thing. It's been at the forefront of european fashion since the 60's. Mailbags, Messenger bags were a staple for the men who's always on hippie outings. During the 70's it was also used by a lot of men especially because the pants and the jeans then were so tight it's difficult to put wallets without the unevitable bulging. In Hong Kong, when I was there, the men were actually more daring. It's almost dificult to see where a women's bag ends and a man's bag begins. I mean the colors, the cuts, it's the very same big bags that your lola would usually bring to a sunday church. And hey, these men, or even teenage boys at that, are very secure with their preference if I may say so. They're just really comportable with bringing a carryall bag with them. I heard, even in Shibuya and Tokyo, manbags are common to the guys as they are to the girls. There's a cool Tokyo report on the Manbag trend in PINGMAG.




In America where homophobia is still prevalent, they still look down on the somewhat radical idea of men carrying bags. This has never been more realisitcally captured than in the Friends episode where Joey fell in love with a bag that he brought - his MURSE (coined term for a Man Purse). Not only did they mock Joey with his man bag but they also concluded that America is just not ready for men walking down the streets with purse or shoulder bags. Good to have my neck on the other side of the woods then.

Bottom line is, fashion is evolving. If your comfortable with it, no matter how negative or violent the reactions can be, you should wear your own clothes and should never wear it for someone else. In the end it takes a real man to dictate his own fashion... now bring them male stockings!!!

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Here's my TOP 5 MAN BAGS to check out (DAMN, Pao's having bag fettish):
Images from www.carryingcontraption.com

1. GIORGO BRATO TASSLE BAG

2. FALOR TOTE BAG

3. ASOS STRIPE WEEKEND BAG

4. ETRO NEON CARYALL

5. PRADA QUILT MESSENGER BAG