Men with Baggage

In the past hundred years, women have successfully appropriated menswear, from slacks and dungarees to business suits—but the exchange hasn’t exactly gone in the other direction. But lookit! Finally it has at least become socially permissible for men of all stripes to carry purses—or satchels, if you will, or just plain old bags. It’s only fair, after all: What guy doesn’t have a BlackBerry to pack, or a bottle of prescription drugs to tuck away until lunchtime? Trailblazing toters may have endured teasing, their attachés being branded with insulting names (“murse”? “man bag”? ugh!), even as their cohorts made do with slovenly JanSports.

Now, thanks to an assortment of over-the-shoulder carryalls in leather and distressed canvas, the man-with-bag look is as fashionable as it is practical. And not just for lawyerly or Wall Street types. In fact, we wonder whether the proliferation of technological gadgetry didn’t seed this trend among our nation’s youth. In any case, Prince Charming ferries his own car keys these days; he feels naked without that rugged Jack Spade file case (above)—the one with heavy-metal hardware, a pinstriped interior, and enough room for everything he used to shove inside his companion’s purse. Our roaming photographer also met up with handsome heirloom leather bags outfitted with elaborate enclosures and a seductively sleek, bowling bag-inspired duffel by Ben Sherman. To these handy accessories we say: Carry on, fellows.