Man Bag Monday

It’s my most favorite Man Bag Monday of the season, you guys! As far as big handbag brands go, Louis Vuitton is without question the line that gives the most amount of love to its male customers instead of just focusing on us ladies. Not only does Vuitton do a full runway show of menswear in Paris during Men’s Fashion Week every season, but the clothes area always accompanies by a litany of utterly gorgeous manbags.

Some seasons the designs skew more feminine than others and seem as though they might actually be intended to be carried by women and they gay men who are seriously jealous of our accessories. Louis Vuitton Fall 2012, on the other hand, was full of bags that almost anyone could appreciate – gay men both feminine and masculine, straight dudes, ladies. The color palette was one of neutral tans and greyed-out navys, with hardware and embellishment kept to a minimum. Something tells me this collection is going to sell quite briskly once it hits stores in late summer. Check out more pictures after the jump.

Swaine Adeney Brigg Westminster II Bridle Leather Briefcase, $1230 via Mr. Porter

I spent two weeks in Atlanta with my parents over the holidays, and although there are a million great things about visiting them, one of the greatest is their incredible cable package. I have a setup here that lets me watch the shows I recap over the Internet, but other than that, I, like many New Yorkers, have cut cable from my budget in order to accommodate this town’s astronomical housing and booze prices.

Naturally, while I was home, I spent as much time as possible soaking up the mindless entertainment that television provides, most notably a seemingly endless marathon of How It’s Made reruns. One episode featured the making of a Swaine Adeney Brigg attache case, which was so interesting that I couldn’t help but feature the Swaine Adeney Brigg Westminster II Bridle Leather Briefcase as the subject of today’s Man Bag Monday. When they call these bags “handmade,” they mean it.

A couple months back we had the privilege to take a first look at the Coach Men’s Collection for Spring. The line mixes rugged and cool with some influences of boxing and baseball.

Particularly interesting was the line of wallets that were made out of old baseball gloves. The gloves were taken apart by Coach artisans and then each wallet was sown together by hand. I like my leather accessories to show a nice patina over time with use, with these wallets you get the rugged shine, smell and touch right from the start.

I never seriously considered Coach as a major contender in men’s accessories until I saw this preview up close. The prices are great and the style is on-point.

So, buying presents for dudes. To be honest, I’m not an expert. I have a brother and a dad, and I’ve bought presents for boyfriends in the past, but normally I’ve gotten them something technology-related and gadget-y, which suited both them and me just fine. I’m guessing that many of you have gone the same route, and that’s a perfectly acceptable choice.

But what if you have a man who’s interested in style, or alternately, you have a man who you’d like to nudge in the direction of stylishness? That’s a little bit more difficult, but to give you a helping hand, I’ve scoured the men’s sections of some of our favorite e-tailers to give you some last-minute gift ideas as part of our Holiday Gift Guide 2011. It won’t be ties and socks for Christmas this year, fellas – today is a very special Man Bag Monday.

Bill Amberg Full Grain Leather Messenger Bag, $385 via Mr. Porter

Man bags are always one of the most controversial topics we tackle here. Some women don’t want their men wearing any kind of bag, and some men would never be caught dead carrying one either; usually, the arguments from both of those groups is that there’s something inherently feminine about having a bag with you. I don’t think that’s at all true, and one quick look around New York City (or any urban area where most people don’t have cars) will indicate that those hang-ups go away as soon as necessity dictates.

But what if your man is one of those dudes who’s always giving you stuff to put in your purse and you want him to carry a bag, or he wants to and doesn’t really know which way to go? Start him out with something like the Bill Amberg Full Grain Leather Messenger Bag. With a very reasonable price point (less than $400) and a masculine color and construction, there’s no way he’ll feel like he’s carrying a purse.

Some of the most comfortable shoes both Vlad and I have ever owned and worn are Cole Haan. I may not turn to Cole Haan for the most trendy and stylish pieces for me, but for the men’s spectrum the brand delivers. Many of our Man Bag Monday posts have featured bags that cost well over a thousand dollars, but today’s post is with price in mind while not forgetting about style.

Cole Haan is not a brand I follow closely for women’s bags, but the Cole Haan Merced Briefcase shows that for the men there are beautiful bags being made at a reasonable price.

Since moving to New York City, Vlad and I have become avid weekend brunch-goers. People in South Florida were never too serious about brunch, probably because they wanted a quick breakfast and were then off to the beach. But Manhattanites take brunch very seriously, and I have become part of the in-crowd.

We went to this great place right in our neighborhood this past weekend and sat next to another couple. We had some horrible service (but the food was amazing), and because of all the down time and ketchup spills (ON ME!!), we got to chatting with our brunch-neighbors. The gentleman was dressed in a suit and looked very dapper, which I immediately told him. He was in town visiting from San Francisco and got to chatting about how he wants a new man bag for himself.

With that conversation as inspiration, I found a bag that I think would look good on him and any other young well-put-together working man: the WANT Les Essentiels de la Vie Tote Bag.

Every Monday I try to figure out what bags men like. The majority of men in my life have never had a bag other than their work briefcases. But I am always attempting to help them branch out and I am sure many of you are doing the same.

Today I found myself drawn to the A.P.C. Plaid Weekend Bag. Plaid has both a manly and stylish side to it and the blue, orange, cream combo looks current yet rugged.