“Real men have balls, not man bags,” read a recent Tweet from men’s fashion label Jacamo as part of a campaign to find “a real male model”. In the accompanying picture we see a split screen of a “model” (dressed in only his underwear and a zip-up top contorting his body as he reaches for a bag) and a “real man” (fully dressed, with beer belly reaching for a football. Oi and indeed oi).
If you need any further signifiers of What They’ve Getting At, the web version shows many Freddie Flintoffs bookending the hashtag #RealMenRunway, dressed in smart casuals. “We are mortified that this caused any offence,” says Ed Watson from the company adding that there was a “fun” and inclusive intention behind the ad. “We launched our Real Man Runway competition to make more men feel represented on the high street and celebrate the diversity of the UK’s men.”
Despite its stated intent, Jacamo is asking its customer to ponder what makes a “real” man in 2016. And, more to the point, whether a real man would wear accessories.
Throughout the years, the ideologies around the men’s fashion (dandyism, spornosexuality and gender fluidity) have been a mash-up of masculine and feminine, progressively sweeping away ideas about “real men”. The men’s accessories market has been caught in the crossfire of these changes. “Man bags” have been particularly controversial. From their early 00s inception, they have been linked with those early signifiers of metrosexuality: moisturiser and hair product. And what to call it? Man-purse? Boy sack? Man-Tote? Ugh. Luckily, somewhere along the line, a decision was made to call them “man bags”. Sitcom writers were quick to catch on to their comedic potential. In Seinfeld, Jerry gets one “it’s a European carry-all!”; in Friends, Joey gets dissed by Ross for his attachment to his. He calls him, in an eerie premonition of Jacamo’s statement, an “anti man”.
In the same wave as grooming and fashion, the men’s market for accessories has been on an upward trajectory for the last few years. But they have also – in the form of rings and bracelets – subverted traditional ideas of masculinity. On the mainstream high-street level, the biggest selling men’s accessories are pretty conservative. In Debenhams it’s scarves; in House of Fraser, it’s backpacks, caps and wallets.
Interestingly, it’s a slightly different story online. While Asos’s biggest sellers mine the 90s-revival trend (bumbags, baseball caps, flight bags), male accessories continue to subvert gender traditions. “Pink has been absolutely amazing for us,” says Alice Carvill-White, Asos’s men’s accessories designer. “We’re seeing a lot more primary bright colours coming through for winter across headwear and bags”.
