Don't Overthink the Cross-Body Bag
Hey, M.A.G., I like to think I’m a pretty open-minded guy when it comes to clothes and accessories, but man purses? Really? How is this a thing?
Sorry to disappoint you, my square-jawed all-American compadre, but my name is Mark Anthony Green, and [takes a deep breath] I proudly wear a cross-body bag, which is occasionally known as a small man bag and sometimes referred to (mostly by time travelers from 2006) as a murse.
You’re probably cursing me out in a pair of Red Wings, right? (I’m wearing Red Wings, too, by the way. And a crossbody bag.) What if we called these small “strappy” bags that all the kids are wearing by their original name, utility bags, just like the soldiers and fishermen and lumberjacks who’ve always worn them to store the tools of their trade. Would that make them more palatable?
In a time when you can buy a short- sleeve parka, fashion needs more useful clothing, and no one can argue that these bags aren’t. Sometimes you need to carry more than the pocket can handle but less than what a backpack allows. A camera and some film. An Almond Joy. Whatever.
You can splurge on a Prada cross- body bag (as seen at left on designer Virgil Abloh, if you look hard enough) or wait in line half a day for Supreme’s version or spend 20 bucks on one from the army-surplus store. Anyone can participate—which is another testament to its utility.
About the word “murse”: It’s not that it’s inaccurate. It’s that it’s the worst type of old-fashioned. Some of us, even the really rakish, are still so afraid of anything that seems traditionally “feminine” that we draw a line we tell ourselves never to cross. But the only line that has ever mattered is the one that separates what you like from what you don’t like. I’m not a fan of double-breasted blazers without peak lapels, but that doesn’t mean the notch-lapel versions are sissy suits. They’re just not my mix.
The most important thing I’ve learned from capital-F fashion kids—the ones who pull o≠ fishnet cargo pants or some other high-di∞culty moves that even I would never attempt—is that you don’t go to Barneys to roll your eyes at what’s trending. You go to discover the limits of your own style landscape, even if you just end up buying another pair of Red Wings.
This story originally appeared in the April 2018 issue with the title "The Murse Is No Joke."
