How do you carry your stuff around?

As much as I like my laptop backpack for being practical and comfortable, I don't consider it very stylish.

How do you solve the problem of having to carry stuff around (i.e. laptop, power supply, portable mouse, water bottles, apples, bananas and possibly some other food) and still look cool?

I know the briefcase is a classical choice, but I don't think it's very practical when walking 30 min. to and from work every day.

Suffer for style. Myself - A briefcase all the time.

Soft briefcase or portfolio.

Large shopper-style men's tote. I like the top-handled totes because they don't crease your clothes, as a messenger strap will if you have things in it. Totes are still stigmatized in the USA, but they are basically a larger, more easily filled and accessible briefcase with a larger drop on the handles. Not very girly, if you ask me, and smart way to carry your stuff. Here's what I mean, something like: Filson or Perry Ellis or Ferragamo or Louis Vuitton

Originally Posted by nordicstyle

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How do you solve the problem of having to carry stuff around (i.e. laptop, power supply, portable mouse, water bottles, apples, bananas and possibly some other food) and still look cool?
I like the sleekness of messenger bags, but I agree with Rach that they can be hard on your clothes. The best of both worlds is a messenger bag that has a handle in addition to the shoulder strap. That way you can carry it like briefcase when you're wearing something that would be easily damaged by the shoulder strap.

It can be hard to find messenger bags with handles, but this one looks pretty good and I may be purchasing one soon: http://www.customhide.com/barrister.html.

Originally Posted by rach2jlc

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Large shopper-style men's tote.

I think they look a bit too much like shopping bags, but maybe I could pull off something like this:



I don't normally wear a suit, so I think the shoulder strap can be quite useful.

Originally Posted by nordicstyle

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I don't normally wear a suit, so I think the shoulder strap can be quite useful.

That's one hell of a bag. Are you a commando?

Originally Posted by nordicstyle

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I think they look a bit too much like shopping bags, but maybe I could pull off something like this:

I don't normally wear a suit, so I think the shoulder strap can be quite useful.
Well, of course to each his own. Personally, I find that bag really unattractive and clunky; all those buckles, zippers, flaps, etc. make it a pain ********** to get at your stuff (especially a bus ticket, cell phone call, etc. when you are in a hurry). I've had several buckle messengers and getting AT your stuff was always an irritation for me. Further, leaving them unbuckled, and thus allowing easier access, just made them look sloppy. Personally I like the simplicity of the shopper-styles I posted and the easy access they allow. You can get to your stuff easily and you don't have lots of buckles, clasps, clanging pieces of metal, etc. with which to contend. But, again, you know better than anybody what you need, what your personal "style" is, and your budget. Cheers!

Originally Posted by rach2jlc

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Large shopper-style men's tote.

I like the top-handled totes because they don't crease your clothes, as a messenger strap will if you have things in it.

Totes are still stigmatized in the USA, but they are basically a larger, more easily filled and accessible briefcase with a larger drop on the handles. Not very girly, if you ask me, and smart way to carry your stuff.

Here's what I mean, something like:
Filson

or

Perry Ellis

or
Ferragamo

or
Louis Vuitton

These are big in Japan... I agree with rach - a great way to tote your stuff around.

I use a black under armour back pack. It holds everything I need to tote with me and I don't care if it gets dirty during the winter months.

Originally Posted by Threadbearer

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That's one hell of a bag. Are you a commando?

Hehe, No. It might look a bit rough, but I'm a tall guy, so I don't think it would be too bad. Mind you, it's not for a suit. I normally wear jeans, t-shirt and a hoodie or open-collared shirt to work. Anyway, the image was just a way of illustrating the general type of bag I was thinking of (i.e. a slim leather bag with handle and shoulder strap). I could do with a tad more minimalistic closing mechanism though...

Originally Posted by rach2jlc

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Well, of course to each his own. Personally, I find that bag really unattractive and clunky; all those buckles, zippers, flaps, etc. make it a pain ********** to get at your stuff (especially a bus ticket, cell phone call, etc. when you are in a hurry). It looks like a slightly nicer version of those awful dumpy nylon Computer Bags you see at Office Depot that IT guys wearing double-pleated cotton dockers like to use.

Incidentally, I am an "IT guy", but I don't wear dockers...

Originally Posted by rach2jlc

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Personally I like the simplicity of the shopper-styles I posted and the easy access they allow. You can get to your stuff easily and you don't have lots of buckles, clasps, clanging pieces of metal, etc. with which to contend.

I see your point. I just remembered that I actually do have one of these:



It's less "noisy", but I think something similar in leather would be nicer. I think maybe I'll have to get more than one bag, as different designs fit with different clothing styles, and I tend to vary how I dress (i.e. I don't think the North Face bag will look well if I decide to wear a shirt and sports jacket to work).

BTW: I don't mind people "mocking" my style, after all, I'm here to learn how to improve it, so I'm grateful for any feedback I get!

i totes carry a tote. lulz.

Originally Posted by nordicstyle

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Incidentally, I am an "IT guy", but I don't wear dockers...

Haha; I was just funnin' but realized that it came across sounding like snark, so I edited it out. Of the bad things about teh interwebz is that it is hard sometimes to let people know when you're just joking. Anyway, I'm a big bag-fan, so I've got just about every style you can imagine. I like messengers, but I really would recommend one without buckles. Whether it closes with a simple zipper or a "magnet" or whatver, real buckes are such a pain, IMHO. Leather ones also wear very badly and tend to get frayed/worn out quickly if you are accessing the bag a lot. Those old style buckle bags are neat and "retro," but for the 21st century commando, a good way to miss your cellphone calls! haha

Filson 257 on weekdays. Weekends or big grocery run, where style is of no import, it's either a 14 year-old Timbuktu messenger bag or a Haglöfs backpack.

Originally Posted by rach2jlc

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Haha; I was just funnin' but realized that it came across sounding like snark, so I edited it out. Of the bad things about teh interwebz is that it is hard sometimes to let people know when you're just joking.

Hehe. No harm done. I got the joke..

Originally Posted by rach2jlc

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Those old style buckle bags are neat and "retro," but for the 21st century commando, a good way to miss your cellphone calls! haha

Yepp. Good thing I carry the cellphone in my pocket... Anyway, I think I have to go check out some of these bags in a store and see how they look and feel. Things can look very different in the real world compared to a product picture online.