THE JOURNAL
From left to right: Mr Evan Mock during Paris Fashion Week, 2 October 2021; photograph by Mr Daniel Zuchnik/Getty Images. Mr Jared Leto attends the UK premiere of House of Gucci in London, 9 November 2021; photograph by Mr Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and Universal Pictures. Mr Jeremy O Harris attends the 10th Annual LACMA Art + Film Gala, Los Angeles, 6 November 2021; photograph by Ms Presley Ann/Getty Images for LACMA.
In an iconic scene in The Importance Of Being Earnest, the formidable Lady Bracknell is interrogating Mr Worthing, a potential suitor of her daughter, Gwendolen, about the circumstances of his birth. After admitting to her that he isn’t quite sure who his parents are, he tells Lady Bracknell that as a baby he was found in a handbag at Victoria Station. “A haaaandbaaag?!” she bellows in response. It’s one of the campest, most ridiculous exchanges in theatrical history and is worth remembering now because it’s the exact reaction we had when scrolling through some recent shots of celebrity men.
Handbags, it would seem, are the new thing to carry and there are examples everywhere. It-bags have been a driving force in womenswear for ever and now the trend may be seeping into men’s territory. At Paris Fashion Week in October, Gossip Girl star Mr Evan Mock turned heads with his outfit. The knitted vest and pearls were brilliantly on trend, but it was the pink gingham Vivienne Westwood handbag that stole the show.
Meanwhile, Mr Jared Leto showed up to the House Of Gucci premiere in a blue velvet suit carrying a silver clutch bag in the shape of a human heart. It’s not the strangest accessory the actor has brought onto the red carpet. He took a replica of his own head to the Met Gala in 2019, so this was fairly conservative in comparison. The bag is not big enough for a phone, so what he had in there is anyone’s guess. Some arrabbiata, perhaps?
Then there was playwright and actor Mr Jeremy O Harris, who accessorised his eclectic LACMA gala outfit with a Gucci Diana Mini handbag with bamboo handles. It could easily have looked like he was holding the bag for a female friend while she popped to the loo, but Harris has an unrivalled dandyish panache when it comes to dressing and so the handbag seems wholly at home hanging on his fingertips.
And maybe that’s the point. If a man dresses well, he can get away with wearing (or carrying) just about anything. A tiny bag or glittery clutch is a sartorial challenge, a traditionally feminine accessory that, like pearls and nail varnish and skirts before it, is slowly but surely becoming more acceptable for men. And if someone doesn’t like it, well, a good thwack with your handbag should shut them up.
The people featured in this story are not associated with and do not endorse MR PORTER or the products shown