My father made a similar comment many years ago. Answer (at least for women): Because my father was never without a pair of pants with a good, deep, well-constructed pocket, or a jacket without a similar inside pocket. Whereas many women’s clothes have no pockets, little dinky pockets, or pockets that rip if you actually put something in them. Sure, it’s ugly, but it’s safer and better balanced than a purse, and lighter than a backpack.
BTW, here in the Pacific Northwest I don’t think they’ve ever gone out. We actually use them when we go hiking (y’know, in nature, not in the Wal-Mart).
I think USA is the only english speaking country that calls them fanny-packs (maybe Canada does too, I dunno). Everywhere else if you said fanny-pack you’d be laughed at.
Whenever I see someone wearing them I just want to weep. Then I get a load of the rest of his/her outfit and, well, somehow it just fits.
The day I shove style out the window for practicality’s or convenience’s or comfort’s sake I hope someone will take me aside and give me a good talking-to.
If it serves a purpose I could care less what people think, when I go out camping or fishing it is great to carry some of the smaller stuff so you don’t need to haull your backpack with you all the time. It’s great for carrying a small first aid kit and a safe place to store your ID (health card, fishing licence and such) If I am going to the store or out for dinner then no I don’t wear it, but if you’re going to judge me by my style when I’m out in the woods and shaving and showering are also out the window with style then maybe you should just stay in the mall and worry about what people think of the way you look and how you dress.
I wear what works for me and the only other opinion about my appearance that matters is my wife’s and she looks beyond what I’m wearing (guess she’s a little deeper than what the fashion mags say is in)
People who complain about other’s style are the people who are more likely to pay $120 for a $30 pair of jeans just because the label on the butt is in style this month.
While I am not crazy about fanny packs, I like them better than purses when I am dressed casually and out walking around with my kids. I hate carrying a purse, partly because nature abhors a vacuum, and any purse I carry is soon full to bursting with mommy-related crap. A fanny pack can’t hold very much, and thus keeps my packrat instincts in check.
I also use fanny packs for making change at craft fairs. We like to keep our money close by, for security reasons. At least now I know why my husband got an odd look from a British customer when he turned around to ask me, “Honey, is there change for a fifty in your fanny pack?”:o
When I think of “bum bags”, I picture a bandanna tied to a stick, and filled with a hobo’s meager belongings.
Hubby and I have tried to start calling them “money belts”. Not that there’s usually very much money in them, mind you.
I use one instead of a purse. Most of the time, it’s slung over my shoulder, but if I’m doing a lot of walking or carrying a lot of stuff, I strap in around my waist. I wear the bag in front. It doesn’t do me a lot of good if I can’t reach it.
If that offends anyone’s fashion sense, oh well… I’m all about utility. Got no time for style.
