Who needs a manbag? 哪類男士會選擇“manbag”？

男式背包是目前的時尚配飾新寵。時髦男士會選擇各類背包、單肩包、挎包等搭配不同的服裝造型。他們使用這些包不僅僅是為瞭跟風，顯得時髦，而更多考慮到其實用性。本集《隨身英語》分析哪類男士會選擇背一個“manbag”。

課文內容

Vocabulary: fashion 詞匯: 時尚

We have so much stuff to carry around these days – mobile phones, keys, credit cards and laptops. Some of us might stuff them into various pockets in our clothes and others will put them in a bag. For women this might be a practical and trendy handbag. But how are men supposed to carry things around and look cool?

The answer is a manbag! They are the height of fashion at the moment – a stylish accessory that modern men are carrying around. I’m a little cynical about these must-have items – let’s face it, a manbag by any other name is a bag and I have one – my trusty backpack. However, senior fashion analyst for market research company Mintel, Tamara Senders, describes a manbag as “a bag worn by men, including backpacks and other styles such as shoulder bags.” I can’t see my old backpack being a style icon, but maybe I’m just not on-trend: According to Mintel, 15 per cent of men bought one in the UK last year.

Maybe it’s the name that’s putting me off. Why does a bag have to have a gender? I suppose they’re being marketed as a stylish fashion item designed to look good on men. I’ve heard that many big names have flocked to adopt the trend. Pharrell Williams, David Beckham and Kanye West, are just some of those who’ve been spotted rocking a manbag.

My reservations about being seen carrying one may be down to my Britishness. According to Nick Carvell, the Contributing Fashion Editor for GQ magazine: “In Britain we are still very tied up with that idea of masculinity that is almost so fragile that it can be dented by carrying a bag.” So, while some British men might think a manbag to be effeminate and not very ‘macho‘, he thinks that many Europeans don’t have an issue with toting such a fashionable item.

Of course, if I was to exchange my old backpack for a manbag, it would come at a price. With people like Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Gucci and Dolce and Gabbana designing these bags, they can come with a hefty price tag. I suppose that’s the price of fashion! And apparently, if I had any spare cash, I could complete my designer outfit by buying a murse – that’s a man’s purse!

I suppose fashions change and we have come a long way from the days when men carried their things in a very masculine briefcase – sturdy, sensible and practical. Now, it seems, we have to put as much thought into buying a bag as we do into buying our clothes.

詞匯表

practical 實用的
trendy 時髦的
cool 酷的，時髦的，吸引人的
the height of fashion 時尚的極致，時尚之巔
accessory 配飾
must-have 必備的
backpack 背包，雙肩包
shoulder bag 單肩包，挎包
style icon 時尚風標
on-trend 流行的，時尚的
adopt the trend 跟風
rock 因穿戴而顯得時髦
masculinity 男子氣概
carry a bag 拿/提著一個包
effeminate 女性化的，女人氣的
macho 大男子氣概的
come at a price 需要付出代價的
a hefty price tag 昂貴的標價
designer outfit 出自名牌設計師的服裝
briefcase 公文包

測驗與練習

1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。

1. According to the article, what small bag for carrying personal things such as money and keys, can women use?

2. True or false? A backpack can be a type of manbag.

3. According to Nick Carvell, the Contributing Fashion Editor for GQ magazine, what is stopping some British men from carrying a manbag?

4. Why might a stylish manbag cost a lot of money?

5. Which word used in the article means ‘suitable for the purpose they are needed for, rather than being attractive or fashionable’?

2. 請在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。

1. You need to take a ______ bag on the walk up the mountain – not one that looks good but will let in the rain.

trendy macho practical cynical

2. Wearing your underwear outside your jeans was once thought by some to be ______.

the heights of fashion the high fashion a fashion high the height of fashion

3. People ______ from miles around to see the famous rock band play one last time.

marketed flocked came at a price rocking

4. The QE2 ship was seen as a British ______ that became one of the most famous liners in the world.

style icons style iconic icon style style icon

5. He pretends to be ______ and not care but when his girlfriend dumped him, he was really upset.

effeminate macho practical sturdy

答案

1. 閱讀課文並回答問題。

1. According to the article, what small bag for carrying personal things such as money and keys, can women use?
A handbag.

2. True or false? A backpack can be a type of manbag.
True. According to senior fashion analyst for Mintel, Tamara Senders: “a bag worn by men, including backpacks and other styles such as shoulder bags.”

3. According to Nick Carvell, the Contributing Fashion Editor for GQ magazine, what is stopping some British men from carrying a manbag?
They are worried about their ‘masculinity’ being dented or affected.

4. Why might a stylish manbag cost a lot of money?
Because many of them are designed by famous designers such as Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Gucci and Dolce and Gabbana.

5. Which word used in the article means ‘suitable for the purpose they are needed for, rather than being attractive or fashionable’?
The word is ‘sensible’.

2. 請在不參考課文的情況下完成下列練習。選擇一個意思合適的單詞填入句子的空格處。

1. You need to take a practical bag on the walk up the mountain – not one that looks good but will let in the rain.

2. Wearing your underwear outside your jeans was once thought by some to be the height of fashion.

3. People flocked from miles around to see the famous rock band play one last time.

4. The QE2 ship was seen as a British style icon that became one of the most famous liners in the world.

5. He pretends to be macho and not care but when his girlfriend dumped him, he was really upset.