# Are fanny packs coming back? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 9, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980 "2003-08-09T04:08:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![xanadu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c4cdca/32.png) [@xanadu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanadu)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/1 "2003-08-09T04:08:29Z")
The reason why I ask is because I work for Mall-Wart, and I’ve noticed that many schleppy middle aged suburban houswives have begun wearing them. Maybe it’s a local thing, but a friend of mine from Arizona tells me that he’s noticed it too. I can’t even begin to think of why anybody would find them anything but disgusting, but that’s just my opinion. So my question is: Is it just me? Has anybody else noticed this? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/2 "2003-08-09T04:47:49Z")
Arghhh! call it ‘bum bag’ quickly! ‘Fanny Pack’ sounds so much like a beauty product for female genitalia. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/3 "2003-08-09T04:48:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xanadu \* > \*\*The reason why I ask is because I work for Mall-Wart, and I’ve noticed that many schleppy middle aged suburban houswives have begun wearing (fanny packs). \*\* Oh, the visuals for Dopers in Australia!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nvme77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Nvme77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nvme77)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/4 "2003-08-09T05:00:35Z")
You see them alot here in town on tourists, not just in wal-merde. That’s how they identify the bodies. ---
**Author:** ![GaTechJoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@GaTechJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaTechJoe)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/5 "2003-08-09T06:22:17Z")
I remember wearing them when I was little and Mother made me carry snacks in them when we went to amusment parks so she wouldn’t have to buy me expensive stuff there. Maybe housewives are smuggling cheese crackers into your store to quell their mid-day cravings. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/6 "2003-08-09T06:54:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duckster \* > \*\*Oh, the visuals for Dopers in Australia!! > > 😃 \*\* Which is precisely why I opened this thread. 😃 A ‘fanny-pack’ is, by _our_ definition, something you pack into your vagina, which for most female folk (unless they are drug runners from S.E. Asia) would mean a tampon. Just so we have our lingo super-clear here. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/7 "2003-08-09T08:03:31Z")
Oh, I don’t know **kambuckta**. I can see packing something else in there, and more pleasurable, too. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/8 "2003-08-09T10:05:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duckster \* > \*\*Oh, the visuals for Dopers in Australia!! > > 😃 \*\* Yeah our visuals aren’t nearly as entertaining. Nah, it’s good for a chuckle. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/9 "2003-08-09T10:10:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duckster \* > \*\*Oh, I don’t know **kambuckta**. > > I can see packing something else in there, and more pleasurable, too. > > 😃 \*\* Ahh… but you need to specify whether it is the packER or the packEE who obtains the most pleasure out of the packING in this instance. Not that I am being pickEE or anything. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Gest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gest)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/10 "2003-08-09T10:26:50Z")
kambuckta’s post reminds me of the joke about the couple having an argument over who enjoys it more. The guy says, “Well, obviously men do, and we’ve got the sticky after-mess to show we did too!” To which the girl says, “Look, it’s like this; when you have an itch in your ear and you poke your finger in to scratch it – which feels better; your finger… or your ear?” ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/11 "2003-08-09T13:36:26Z")
Schleppy housewife checking in here: I do wear fanny packs but only at amusement parks. They provide a safe place to put my glasses/money on those upside down rides. Does that make me a fashion disaster, a fashion trend-follower, or a fashion trend-maker? Don’t know. But I make it a point to not get my fashion advice from Mall-Wart employees anyway. Those smocks do NOTHING for the hips, you know? ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/12 "2003-08-09T14:14:30Z")
I’ve used a fanny pack (the non vaginal) kind for 15 years. I would use a purse, but on a man it would look funny. It’s the perfect size for my wallet, keys, PDA, sunglasses, pens, and Leatherman tool. When I buy them I only get the kind with two change purses built into the side. Silver coins on the left, pennies on the right. UP WITH FANNY PACKS!!! ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/13 "2003-08-09T17:22:05Z")
If I’m doing any travelling, day trips, visits to amusement marks, etc. then I’ll wear a fanny pack. Well, sort of. The unit I have is completely flat (ie, its not a pouch) and sits flat against my stomach. This way, I can wear a t-shirt over it and nobody can tell I have it on. This is really great for travelling to foreign countrires where street people could otherwise easily target you. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/14 "2003-08-09T17:43:34Z")
That’s no belly-pack, pal. It’s a superhero utility belt. ---
**Author:** ![LauraLittlePony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LauraLittlePony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LauraLittlePony)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/15 "2003-08-09T17:47:31Z")
I’m a hip-and-cool youth, and I would not hesitate to laugh at non-vaginal fanny pack wearers. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/16 "2003-08-09T18:02:09Z")
Well, I don’t know if a contingent of schleppy suburban housewives at a Louisiana Mall-Wart really constitute the cutting edge of what’s “in.” Is Sarah Jessica Parker wearing them? Have they shown up on the Milan runways? High-ass drag shows in Harlem? The _Times_ “Seen on the Street” feature? Gwynnie and Cameron and Drew? ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/17 "2003-08-09T18:50:23Z")
You know who I see wearing huge ones a lot. Young female Japanese tourists. They wear bags as big as their butts … um, right on their butts. It shimmys pretty mesmerizingly. Kind of like a bustle. I don’t see it very often on Western tourists or locals. ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/18 "2003-08-09T19:32:04Z")
My mom used to take one along with her when she went grocery shopping. She would keep coupons in it. ---
**Author:** ![IUHomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90db22/32.png) [@IUHomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IUHomer)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/19 "2003-08-11T06:10:51Z")
Gassendi, ``` Sorry, I hate to tell you this, but in my book a fanny pack on a man looks just as "funny" as a purse. I detest this horrible invention and refuse to ever be seen with one. Also won't be seen with my wife if she were to wear one. Thankfully she doesn't ``` ---
**Author:** ![herwono](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/9f8e36/32.png) [@herwono](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herwono)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2003, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980/20 "2003-08-11T06:40:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by xanadu \* > **Maybe it’s a local thing, but a friend of mine from Arizona tells me that he’s noticed it too.** Bum bags are in fashion in Asia. I’ve seen girls wearing bum bags here in Shanghai, and I saw some in Hong Kong earlier this year. They’re mostly army patterns, but I’ve seen some very colourful designs. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-fanny-packs-coming-back/193980.md?page=2)