In the past few months, I have been trying out the Carine. "What is the Carine?" you ask. "Who is Carine?" is probably the first question to address.
Carine Roitfeld is the Editor-in-Chief of Vogue Paris. Think of her as the French Anna Wintour- except very different. They simply hold the same position at sister publications.
Carine is seen as far more edgy and, unlike Anna, is just as frequently referenced for her personal style as she is for her magazine work. She is known for wearing lots of black, loving Balmain and rarely carrying a purse.
As she put it, "I prefer to have my hands in my pocket than to have a nice little bag."
I have had and loved bags for many years. A large striped green Kate Spade tote was my first large-scale fashion purchase (I paid for it-on sale at $115-all by myself!) back in fifth grade and it made me incrdibly happy.
However, recently I have found bags constricting.
Chiropractors lashed out against the large It bags that saw the height of their popularity about two years ago (and still reign widely today) for their negative affect on spines and shoulders.
Many women have noticed that when they have a large gaping bag, they feel compelled to fill it, even with things they might not actually need.
"Oh, well, it's such a big bag, now I can bring my book if I have downtime! And I should throw in the newspaper, just in case I don't want to read the book. Oh, and my sunglasses!," et cetera.
My shoulders were definitely feeling the strain, and I graduated to mostly carrying clutches. But you have to hold the clutch somehow: either in your hand or tucked under your arm.
When you stop to think about it, it's amazing that it becomes natural for us to walk around cradling a piece of leather in the nook of our arms.
Sometime after reading about Carine's no-bag policy, I realized that I could easily do it. Not while attending classes, because I needed to carry several books and notebooks, but going to dinner, what did I need? Keys, JCard, cell phone. Did I really need a bag for those three little things?
All I needed was pockets.
I slipped the necessaries into my blazer's pockets, and off I went, my hands swinging freely at my sides. It felt great! A little weird at first, since I was so used to holding a clutch or small bag, but it was like having walked on a beach for so long in sandals, and then finally taking them off to walk barefoot.
Carine's lucky. She can walk carefree and unburdened anytime. As a very powerful woman, she has assistants that carry all her necessities. And her car keys? She has a driver.
Last December, Garance Doré, the French street-style photographer, chronicled her day going bagless, ?? la Carine, for her blog: http://www.garancedore.fr.
She started off feeling blissful and empowered, but ended the day with a plastic bag full of metro tickets, a pack of gum, an umbrella and other realized necessities she couldn't fit into her pockets.
Even the requirement of pockets can pose a problem. While I love pockets, and my navy blazer has two pockets well designed for holding quite a bit, not all of my pants or dresses have them.
And just look at women's jeans: the pockets have evolved to a purely decorative function.
But as the weather gets colder, we slip into our coats and jackets, which more often than not have pockets. If your coat has zippered pockets, even better.
When I can pull the Carine off, even if I have to carry my cell phone in hand (and there are occasionally photos of Carine sitting front row at a fashion show doing just that), I feel truly light.
The normality of carrying a bag is something we have pushed onto ourselves, and I will personally be leaving behind that societal construct, as well as my bag, purse or clutch, as often as I possibly can.
