Suffice it to say, everyone today is using a pocketbook, in one form or another. Whether you call it a pocketbook, purses, shoulder bag, briefcase, shoulder tote or computer bag, they all had their beginnings on the humble pocketbook.
Believe it or not, though, there are some significant differences in the types of pocketbooks used by women and men, as well as what is carried. For example, most women, it seems from informal surveys, today use leather shoulder bags that they strap across their bodies, messenger style. This increases security as they can be turned backwards with the clasps or zipper virtually unreachable. Men, on the other hand, carry briefcases that range from the standard hard cased box to the slouchy, over-the-shoulder leather tote.
Of course, men will never say they are carrying a pocketbook, it is always their case or briefcase or document bag, while women are far more broad-minded in their use of the word “handbag or pocketbook” to mean anything from a soft-sided canvas tote to the expensive glove-soft bags made by Hermes Birkin (if you happen to have a spare $35,000 or so lying around).
Men will also tend to put their – let’s admit it, they are forms of pocketbooks – “cases” at the rear of a meeting room or along the wall and they will keep referring to documents or information they are carrying inside during a meeting, while women will usually carry a notebook and notes to the same meeting and leave their handbags under the table.
If you were to look closely at a man’s “bag,” while you would probably find mostly documents and files or notes, there would also likely be other items in other pockets, such as a sandwich or a spare pair of sock and maybe a clean shirt or a clean tie, just in case you have to change in the middle of the day, for example. This is “man stuff;” it’s not the “women’s stuff” you will find in a woman’s bag.
Women tend to carry their makeup, wallets, cologne; various clothing including spare hose, maybe a clean blouse, likely an umbrella, various pens and pencils, a power drink and maybe a scarf, and who knows what else might be lurking inside, like car keys, house keys and more. As you can see, comparing what men and women carry in their pocketbooks, it can be said that a woman’s bag is more a matter or lifestyle and lifestyle support, while men tend to use their “bags” to support their work life, rather than lifestyle and thus the reason you find so much difference.
A man’s bag will tend to be leather all the way, while a woman’s bag may be leather or leather and canvas or leather and faux leather, again, it’s a matter of choice with style points going to the women’s side.
Utility points are shared, but not by much because a woman’s handbag can double as a workbag while the man’s “bag” is strictly work-related with a touch of domesticity thrown in.
Also see: Leather Bags > Handbags as Investments
