Have we reached peak man bag?
The familiar sight of the taxi driver sighing in dismay when I hoisted yet another piece of luggage at him earlier this week as I decamped for the men’s fashion shows in Milan was yet another sign that my wardrobe needs a detox.
For someone whose job is to edit clothes, my approach to packing is to “throw more in, just in case”. My doctor has pointed to the weighty tote I schlep around with me as the cause of some serious shoulder problems, too.
I don’t think I’m alone in this, so just as Marie Kondo – the Japanese lifestyle guru – has revolutionised how we live in doing away with the extraneous details, perhaps it’s time to streamline what we carry around with us.
Prada bag, £560, Mr Porter
Traditionally, heavy bags were never a problem for men. Until the rise of the man bag in the Noughties, pockets would harness everything a man needed. But there’s been a gradual creep from briefcases and totes to rucksacks and holdalls to house all manner of excess baggage.
If there was one theme to the style front-runners at this week’s London Fashion Week Men’s it was a pared-back approach to what you carry; seen in small cross-body bags, neat leather satchels and shrunken leather cases big enough for a phone and wallet. It’s clear that we’ve hit peak man bag and now it’s time to regress in shape and size.
Mount St portfolio, £87.50, Aspinal
The cross-body bag has evolved of late. What in the Nineties would have been rather unflatteringly termed a “bum bag” has been rechristened as a “belt bag” and worn across the torso. Kim Jones at Dior has reanimated the iconic saddle bag, designed to sit asymmetrically.
But if such stylistic flourishes are a bit too much, consider the saddle’s more conservative brother, the portfolio holder, housing little more than a wallet and a laptop and tucked under your arm; it harks back to the briefcase but not so corporate.
Loafers, £239, Tod's
Streamlining also applies to other facets of your wardrobe, too. The slip-on – synonymous with Gucci loafers from the Nineties – has quietly re-emerged as a handy, easy shoe that’s less “done up” and formal compared with the likes of an Oxford or brogue.
Unstructured blazer, £138, Sunspel
Similarly, as tailoring gets less involved, half-canvas jackets (with only a partial back panel within) that come unlined have risen in popularity, an antidote to ceremonial suiting that demands pocket squares, et al.
Perhaps my next dash to the boarding gate will be unencumbered and less everything-and-the-kitchen-sink, after all.
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