Bringing the backpack back
POSTED 20.01.2010 @ 13:38
One of the main reason’s I’m up before the birds to hit the gym? So I can look better in my latest fashion buys. But the universe has played a cruel joke on me this week. After a perfectly innocent trip to the physio had me scolded for carrying too much weight on my right shoulder (a gym bag and a handbag and sometimes my groceries, too), I’ve now been forced to re-embrace a fashion item (and I use the term “fashion” very loosely) I never thought I would wear again: a backpack. Let’s face it; it’s hard to look chic in a backpack. Unless you can afford the Louis Vuitton number Kanye designed, some might even say it’s near impossible. It’s certainly tricky imagining an outfit that goes with backpack, that doesn’t also include khaki shorts or a pair of hiking boots.
But, for the sake of my shoulder, I’m determined to give this backpack thing a red hot go. And in a move that had more than a few of the SHOP girls shaking their heads in disbelief, I’ve eliminated my handbag. Sitting at my desk for most of the day, I figured I don’t really need one. When I go to lunch, my envelope-sized Mimco wallet is big enough to hold my cash, security pass and mobile. And all those other things? They’re mostly superfluous. I’ve done some serious down-sizing (turns out I don’t need three bottles of perfume in my bag, just in case I change my mind mid-morning) and I’m carrying a significantly lighter load – although I’m not always comfortable with it (Monday morning saw me in a constant state of angst, certain I’d forgotten something vital). But I’m going to persevere. Even if it means I look like a kid on the first day of school when I walk into the office. Who knows, maybe it’ll catch on. My backpack is incredibly practical and if Lauren Bush can make it work with a cocktail dress, who am I to argue?
Left: Paul Smith AW09