Handbag: Messenger bags are the accessory for men

Men could have it so easily. Instead, they dig deep and carry heavily. On coins, bills, keys, cigarettes – everything you can put in four trouser pockets. Even if they don’t rummage for it on the front, most of them have at least one of the back hip pockets with a filled wallet sagging towards the hollow of their knees. The relief is so close: with a “messenger bag”, as the modern version of the man’s handbag, which has been laughed at for a long time, is called today.

Fill with essential utensils, put on your neck, and go. In no time the men would be free of their burdens in bad places. Front and back. But men still struggle with shoulder bags or bags that are carried diagonally.

2019 was the year in which the U-turn in terms of men’s accessories was to be heralded: Messenger bags were shown on the international catwalks, and since then they have been very popular – but only among young people. Boys from – let’s say – twelve and a half wear them with enthusiasm. It is the perfect place for your mobile phone as a constant companion, because the formats of the jacket pockets have unfortunately not yet adapted to the ever-larger telephones. This generation – and also the slightly older one – is grateful for the practical bags filled with belongings that are vital for a few hours.

Older men refuse the messenger bags

On every way out, guys shoulder their messenger bags as naturally as they put on shoes before going through the door. They either wear large designer logos for a walk or just the names of their favorite sports outfitters. Depending on affiliation and habitus.

The more mature youth, on the other hand, who could actually carry such a bag with full self-confidence, men aged 45 and over, find it all the more difficult with shoulder bags. It doesn’t matter whether it’s made of nylon or crocodile embossed, fastened to industrial-looking straps or held together by chiseled buckles – men who were socialized in the 1970s and 1980s keep stuffing their trouser pockets full until keys and lighters look like bad ulcers on their thighs.

These men usually have to carry a lot more than sixth graders. But they are damaged early on when it comes to men’s bags: their fathers only rarely wore casual leather shoulder bags. Instead, most of them let those uncool rectangular models with a loop dangling from their wrist, which were supposed to demonstrate posture and status. Complete pipe equipment and car keys were transported in it. The wives were responsible for coins, city maps, pacifiers, glasses cases and pixie books.

While the handbag is as suitable for everyday use as it is iconic for women and some pay monthly salaries for it without batting an eyelid, men continue to fill the pockets of their slim-fit trousers and risk spinal damage if the heavy wallet sags at the back. Why is it so cumbersome? If the rectangular box with Covid-19 rapid test will soon also be part of the basic equipment, which must always be on hand.

Let’s be honest: the men’s handbag, the accessory that has been ridiculed for decades, is the ideal companion. It remains to be seen when it will take hold. It would be the first fashion that did not experience a revival.

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