Backpacks, are they frumpy

[citygirl1961]

I have recently discovered the convenience of having a backpack. I used to avoid them and for years I carried a tote/shopper type bag crammed full with my laptop, lunch for work etc and was weighed down with that, plus a shoulder bag that kept slipping off my shoulder and I was wrestling with that plus other shopping.

Now I have two backpacks, a mini one for when I don't have as much to carry and a slightly larger one for when I have more to carry. I also have a small cross body bag for my essentials like my phone, cards and keys which I need easy access to. This works for me.

However a friend recently commented that a backpack doesn't look dressy and that she would never use one. She is feminine like me, wears make up etc. She uses a cross body bag but her carry all bag is a plastic carrier bag which to me isn't dressy at all.

I now feel frumpy using a backpack even though it's practical and more comfortable than carrying all my stuff in a hand held tote bag.

When I go.out dressed up I just take a handbag.

I suspect everything practical and comfortable has been labelled frumpy at some point. There’s lots of nice backpacks out there.

I was in the park earlier in the sunshine and I was people watching... it's not weird, everyone does it... shut up...

Tons of young beautiful girls with little backpack sof varying types. Brown leather with thin straps seems to be very popular.
The odd Fjallraven Kanken too with the handles on top. I saw a young woman with a rainbow coloured one and it looked amazing.
There were a few mum's with pushchairs with back packs on the handles as well.

I think they're very popular and not at all frumpy.
I'd maybe avoid the overly hiking styled ones.

Go for Donut Macaroon or Fjallraven Kanken or small leather.

"Frumpy" should be banned. It's a stupid, meaningless word.

All I can say is I don't like backpacks. I don't think they are as convenient as a cross body bag. I wouldn't wear one and I think they would look odd with my coats and jackets.

Love mine. I have Roko ones. I know lots of women that use them.

Maybe I am just hard headed like that, but what people think of my apparel, or choice of handbags etc, means nothing. I got my first shopping trolley at 30, when my friends would not be seen dead with one. I am in possession of a rather nice rucksack currently.

There are some ugly ones and there are some lovely ones. I love a nice backpack and I love the security of it. https://www.johnlewis.com/browse/sport-leisure/suitcases-bags-accessories/backpacks/leather/_/N-et6Z1z0royf?chunk=2

I'm a recent convert as like you I was carrying work stuff around in a shoulder bag and my shoulder was starting to hurt. I went for this one from Zara. It's under he men's section www.zara.com/GB/en/rubberised-backpack-with-flap-p0.html?v1=311302823&utm_campaign=productShare&utm_medium=mobile_sharing_Android&utm_source=red_social_movil

I know what your friend means, but the beauty and convenience of having free hands and arms at all times is too good to use any other kind of bag imo.

A cross body is a good compromise if you only have a phone and a lipstick but wouldn’t do for me with the amount of bits I carry. My car keys alone would make it a lumpy swinging hazard.

I try and buy a nice neat leather one so it looks less girl guide and more city traveller. It’ll never look chic, but at least I can stroll happy and unencumbered.

How on earth is a backpack frumpy

What is the point of this word "frumpy"? It's meaningless.
Just use whatever bag or rucksack that works for you. Lots of the cool kids use backpacks, to be fair. And maybe ask yourself why you're so easily influenced by someone else's throwaway remark?

I personally wear an 8-year old purple Kanken, but if I were a girlie girl or at all worried about being frumpy, I'd choose this one:
https://www.ospreylondon.com/the-kellie-leather-backpack-fuchsia

Backpacks are youthful and fun and the opposite of frumpy!

I live in a high pick pocket area. I love a back pack so the zip is on the inside

However a friend recently commented that a backpack doesn't look dressy and that she would never use one. She is feminine like me, wears make up etc. She uses a cross body bag but her carry all bag is a plastic carrier bag which to me isn't dressy at all.

I used to be like your friend, with a small, neat handbag but everything else still needed to be transported, so I ended up a with a Sainsbury’s Bag For Life completing my look!

So I’ve since bought a nice looking (in my opinion) back pack, have my hands free, and no longer cart a Sainsbury’s bag around with me!

Backpacks are absolutely fine for daytime. They are more of a practical item than a fashion item imo. Even the nice ones aren't exactly sexy, but they don't need to be. I have one which I mainly use on days out with my kids. When they were really little I really needed my hands free to wrangle children tbh.

A backpack will be much better for your back than a cross body or shoulder bag and it leaves both your hands free.
Ps I am also feminine (by definition because I'm female) and I wear make up.

They just look like an invitation to be robbed to me, but then I work in London and am often standing squished on a train!

There are some really cute ones, though!

Well because of Mumsnet I have rather a nice collection of Roka backpacks which are very handy for work / trips away etc.

I do also have a nice aubergine leather backpack that is more "posh" but I can't say I've had occasion to use it for a while.

I am almost certainly not frumpy.

I like convertible versions that work as a rucksack, shoulder or cross body. I typically wear them rucksack style for commuting or city walking, and cross body for shopping, exhibitions, conferences, travel between meetings and so on.

Thank you for your replies. I love both my backpacks and can't see me going back to a tote bag. I use my cross body bag too.

I know I shouldn't take a throw away comment to heart but I do get sensitive about these things. I was happy enough with my choice until my friend said that.

But another friend (male) who I bumped into in town the other day told me I look trendy with the backpack and moreso than when I had my carry bag.

Can you share an example please?

It’s the other way round surely, backpacks are practical yet trendy, shoulder bags are frumpy.

I say wear whatever the hell you want.

But... although I've never thought about it before, I wear a rucksack when out and about with my toddler, and I have a rucksack as carry on for going away.

But when I'm working and wearing dresses, tights, smart shoes etc, I wear a smart cross body bag. And when I'm done up for a night out I also wear a smaller cross body bag.

Yes I would say fairly frumpy

I have one which I use for work. It's quite a neat slimline one, but I still feel a bit frumpy using it. I don't care though as it's practical for carrying a heavy laptop (which would likely end up wrecking one of my nicer bags).

I can’t imagine a backpack every being described as stylish, but unless you are wearing a DofE style nylon number in the city, I don’t see it’s a crime of fashion.

I enjoy wearing nice coats too much to get on with one. My cross body bag plus a tote if I need extra bits works better for me.

Normal for commuting. What else can you do? A big, sturdy rucksack is unlikely to add any glamour to your look, but then nor is shuffling about juggling heavy tote bags. And as for an invitation to be robbed, surely a laptop in a tote bag is much easier pickings? I walk confidently with my rucksack - it's not dressy, but the rest of me is and I've got places to be. Also a fan of a smaller rucksack for weekend outings with kids, when you need all the free hands you can get!