How Tom Matlack took the road from Kenneth Cole to Meichi Peng man bags—and stayed manly in the process.
There is a great divide among men: to carry a handbag or refuse out of some sense that bags are for girls. I backed into the decision. In the late ’90s I was living in Back Bay as a recently divorced dad of two little kids, and a push Xootr scooter was my primary travel device. I’d whip down Commonwealth Avenue every morning, throw my son on the front after picking him up from nursery school, and unabashedly bring the scooter into even the most important meetings.
But how to get my stuff from point A to point B when I required both hands to drive? A Coach leather brief case had gotten me through important jobs in the past. But I soon found that trying to lug that thing on the scooter was highly dangerous, causing erratic driving and profound hand cramps.
For years I rode with a simple Kenneth Cole. They called it a messenger bag but I knew it was a murse. So did all my friends who made fun of me.
I eventually got remarried, moved, and put away my scooter and replaced it with a Volvo sedan (a truly great car just by the way). I also started carrying a laptop regularly, which meant I needed a bigger and more durable bag. I settled on a Jack Spade number because I could get a bright orange that said, “Yeah, I am wearing a murse—and damn proud of it, you #$%!”
Then, two years ago I was writing a story about an amazing artisan in the South End of Boston:
As a young girl growing up in Taiwan, Meichi Peng found her passion for design. When she noticed that the collar on her grandfather’s favorite shirt had become frayed she took matters into her own hands—using the skills she learned in school and her mother’s old sewing machine she brought the shirt and her grandfather triumphantly back into the world of fashion.
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I immediately bought a Meichi Peng bag for my wife for Mother’s Day, but it wasn’t her style, so I went back and traded it for probably the most expensive and most beautiful hand-stitched murse on the market.
Let me tell ya, fellas, once you go murse you will never go back. Specially if it’s a beautiful Meichi Peng boy bag.
My current Murse:
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Why is the definition of manhood = what is not women-like? If something is portable, convenient, stylish and makes your life easier…
Why mock it because women have been seen wearing the same thing?
Why is something a woman wears necessarily demeaning to men?
Sara you read the abi piece and still ask?
If you have a male partner sara im sure youd be happy for him to wear ,not even in public just in the home, high heels, tights and garter belt with a normal thigh length dress. yes?
Why do you pause?
I don’t pause.
If a guy really wants to wear heels…. all the power to him. Not very many *people* do because they are torture devices but I’d defend his right to do so to the fullest.
(Actually, I find drag kinda sexy.)
Good for you.
What is interesting is that the clothes i listed were originally menswear.
It just shows how crazy is the genderising of clothing and clothing colours
I’m sorry but this kinda sounds like attempts at manifying things (making something okay for men to indulge/participate in) that is normally associated with not being a man.
I usually can get away with just my messenger bag but if I’m carrying something really heavy I just pull out the old college backpack.
Can women carry a murse? I like that bag!!
Laptop bag only.
I think that there is a fine line between messenger bag and murse.
Hand stitched and made by a designer sounds like a murse, but a Timbuk2 bag or something like that is a messenger bag.
So, as soon as I finish this comment and my cappuccino, I’m going to pack up my laptop in my messenger bag, leave the cafe where I’ve gotten online and head out for the day with my all my stuff on my back.
What’s wrong with a laptop case? I have one made by Swiss Army and it is both functional and manly.
Ummmmm…well…no!
Never. Ever. Ever ever ever ever ever! You know I have all the respect in the world for you Tom, but a male purse? It’s not just that they’re girlie, it’s also that they’re extraordinarily ugly. I’ll stick with a backpack or my laptop bag, but I won’t be joining Zach Galifianakis from the Hangover anytime soon.
Whats wrong with ‘girlie’ fashion. Why should feminine men hide themselves, or Why should a masculine man not be allowed to express any ‘feminine’ aspects.
Women are allowed to express masculine or feminine fashion modes very freely. Time for men to do so
Whats wrong with ‘girlie’ fashion. Why should feminine men hide themselves, or Why should a masculine man not be allowed to express any ‘feminine’ aspects.
Women are allowed to express masculine or feminine fashion modes very freely. Time for men to do so, if they wish
You read the abi piece and still ask?
If you have a male partner sara im sure youd be happy for him to wear ,not even in public just in the home, high heels, tights and garter belt with a normal thigh length dress. yes?
Why do you pause?