Seriously, the Korean Man Purses is everywhere. Some are subtle, sorta messenger style bags. Others are out and out handbags. It's a little off putting.
One thing to remember is that here, it is considered a sign of love to carry your wife or girlfriend's purse for her. So, you do see a lot of men carrying a purse while accompanied by a woman. However, you also see a lot of men carrying a purse while they are alone or with other guys. My personal favorite is when you see a couple and they each have a purse.
The Man Purse is such a pervasive part of society that there are even different sections for men's and women's purses in stores. Man Purses are purses, tote bags, and hand bags that are relatively unadorned. This is because it would just be girly to carry a purse with grommets or buckles. In contrast, women's purses are very elaborately decorated. They are covered with hardware, bows, ribbons, etc so that they are appropriately "feminine."
And now, without further ado, here pictures of unsuspecting, man purse toting Korean men.
Men need a place to put their things. For many decades, this problem was solved with the briefcase. However, the advent of a service-sector economy made briefcases too formal for many job types. Now the choices became very limited. Backpack? Fannypack? Mini suitcase? Man purse?
ReplyDeleteEach comes with its own set of limitations. The Koreans have voted solidly for the man purse.