The last time this column discussed the man-bag, I suggested that perhaps the reason they'd never been adopted by the average British male had something to do with our famous national fear of Looking A Bit Gay. A reader called Adrian Lowery wrote in to "take issue". "My reasons for disliking them are far simpler and less sinister than latent homophobia: they make you look like a tosser," he wrote.
The latest round of man-bags has all the masculinity of a branch of Claire's Accessories. Apparently Daniel Craig has bought Balenciaga's Giant PT bag. Clearly perturbed by the notion of 007 clutching what seems to be a cream leather handbag, one writer added hopefully, "The addition of precious metal detailing toughens it up", which is one way of saying it's got gold zips on it that are about as macho as an anklet.
Meanwhile, the Lanvin Pony bag, apparently favoured by Kanye West, looks every bit as butch as its name suggests. Pharrell Williams has gone one better by actually customising a women's handbag: clearly concerned that the original Hermès Birkin smacked a little of knuckle-dragging blokeishness he's designed his own oversized version in mauve crocodile skin.
No one's ever going to call a rapper or James Bond effeminate for fear of getting shot: perhaps that's why they feel able to carry off the latest round of distinctly girlie man-bags. For the rest of us, it's a different story. I'm all for challenging conventional notions of masculinity, but I fear that in this case doing so might well, as our old friend Mr Lowery put it, make you look like a tosser.
