Fanny Pack Freedom
What’s a girl to do when faced with choosing between fashion and practicality? It seems that traditionally practical things have not quite made it to the fabulous list. Practical has been associated with old ladies, nerds, those lacking fashion sense, etc. All the young ladies I see in Vegas are wearing 4-inch heels, the middle-aged women may dare a short wedge and the older women stroll around in practical flats. The more experienced women undoubtedly know that the young ladies are likely in intense pain despite the beautiful smiles flashing left and right. I don’t like to make broad statements, but I’ve been around the block and have had this discussion and made an unscientific assumption that once you hit a certain age, you’ve just had it. Looking beautiful is no longer more important than comfort.
Yikes!
This led me to ask:
- Why should any woman, at any age, be uncomfortable or burdened by impracticalities at any time?
- Why aren’t companies doing a better job of blending comfort and fashion?
This is one of the questions that led us to develop and launch our product, Bra in a Box, and this continues to be our focus for future product development.
So with this in mind, I want to discuss the old fanny pack. The fanny pack is something I rolled my eyes at for decades. Like a minivan, it was one of those things I swore that I would never own. I have been successful in avoiding minivans, but I ran into a Fanny Pack I couldn’t resist ... at none other than a Coach store. It was stylish yet I wondered,
“If I put this on my hip, will I suddenly be old?”
“Am I ready for that?”
“Have I moved so far to the side of the comfort pendulum that I am willing to bend on this?”
Well, since it didn’t look like the fanny packs of my youth and I had a 2-week European vacation on the horizon, I decided that I’d give it a whirl.
Let’s think about it. Why do we carry a bunch of stuff around with us in a bag all the time? We need all that stuff right? We need our wallet, keys, makeup, tissues, lip balm, mints, pens, paper clips, and whatever else is down in the dark corners of our handbags. I admit it. There is no way I can be without that stuff. Yet, most men walk out with their wallet in their back pocket, keys in hand. So maybe they don’t need makeup. What if they need a tissue? What if their lips are dry or they need a mint? It’s a mystery to me. I’m not willing to start putting my wallet in my pocket but I decided that it would be great not to hold onto and keep track of a handbag, especially during my vacation.
So I bought the fanny pack and went to Europe with it on my hip for 14 days. It was small but I was able to fit my phone, credits cards, tissues, lipstick and powder into it. I did have some mints but they went in my jacket pocket.
I loved it! It was akin to being free of the bra! So, I traveled through Germany, Switzerland, and Austria bra-free and hands-free. I felt liberated. I never once had to worry about where I was going to put my handbag, if I still had it, the extra weight of carrying it.
Interesting, as I traveled through the amazing cities of those European countries, fanny packs were everywhere! Not actually on the hips of women but in the fashion store windows. Almost every store mannequin had on some form of the fanny pack. I was on-trend. AND it even went well with my Oktoberfest outfit!
I couldn’t be happier, and while I’m not throwing out my traditional handbags just yet, I plan to buy a few more fanny packs as soon as I can. (I did throw out my bras. Goodbye!)
Here are a few I love:
Aldo Scheule Fanny Pack in Brown-multi
MICHAEL by Michael Kors Studded Leather Belt Bag in Dark Atlantic/ Gold