How To Choose The Right Bag For You

By Reine Gammo
[Men's Fashion]
What should you look for in a bag that you use every day?  Reine Gammo shares some ideas.
Men like to boast that they don’t have to carry purses like women do.  Men simply don’t have as much stuff to carry around.  That is old news, however.  With all the plastic cards that you are forced to jam into your wallet these days, do you really want to walk around with everything stuffed into your back pant pocket?  With all the books, notes, food and coffee mugs that we have to carry around, it becomes very simple to acknowledge the need for a handbag, a backpack or a briefcase.  The only thing you need to worry about now is if you have one that takes care of what you need and if it does it in a way that represents you and your style.

General Requirements

Some general things to watch out for when picking out a bag are size, material, colour and compartments.  Size depends on how much you actually carry around with you and on your actual physical size.  You don’t want a bag that is too big if you carry around very little and you don’t want it to be too big for you to lift.  If your bag takes up a significant amount of space on your person, then it is too big, no matter how much you need to carry.  Material, of course, depends on your own personal taste and what you are going to use it for.  Whether you choose leather, suede, canvas, polyester or a plain cotton bag, it needs to fulfill the purpose for which you need it.  If you need something durable and strong, the material needs to reflect that.  If you need something light and disposable, the same thing applies.  Last, but never least, the colours need to reflect the majority of your wardrobe colour choices.  It needs to blend in seamlessly, without you having to buy a bag in every single colour just so you can match.

For The Business Man

Leather is a businessman’s best friend.  There is nothing more professional looking or more durable than a beautiful supple leather briefcase.  It exudes confidence, professionalism and success.  Briefcases come in different sizes and colours, but the most recommended colours are the somewhat obvious black and brown.  Personally, I would recommend the brown over the black as it can be more easily incorporated into a wardrobe and is more versatile.  That is not to say black is not versatile; it is nothing if not that.  However, brown provides more playfulness yet does it in a serious way.  If you happen to be very high up on the corporate chain and want to avoid the playfulness of brown, then just go with the comfort of the always classic black briefcase.  In either case, you can choose to go with the classic frame briefcase or with a more relaxed messenger type bag.  If you can, always try to avoid overloading it with stuff.  Whether they are stacks of paper, a giant laptop or folders of documents, try not to make it too bulky.  This is, however, a great reason to choose leather as your number one material.  Leather can withstand all that weight and all that abuse very easily and the more it does that, the better it looks.
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