Help Me Go Bagless

October 23, 2017 11:13 PM

I would like to stop carrying a handbag or backpack everywhere I go. I have successfully downsized to a smaller handbag but would like to get rid of that as well. I need some tips, tricks and clothing recommendations...

In my current handbag I normally carry my phone (just purchased an iPhone 8 plus) with a wallet case, keys, tissues, earphones, asthma inhaler, small amount of painkillers/ tampons/ contact lenses etc, small wallet with extra cards (mostly loyalty cards), a transport card, sunglasses and a coin purse.

I imagine that I could get everything except the phone, inhaler and sunglasses into the coin purse to reduce the amount of separate stuff. The coin purse itself is about as big an iPhone.

If you go bagless what sort of clothing do you find works for you and how much do you carry? I'm female so the majority of my clothing does not have pockets. It seems to be easier in the winter because you can wear a jacket with pockets but what about summer? Are the infinity scarves with pockets useful?

I'm also really interested in any opinions on the ScotteVest Jacket as well as any other brands that come with multitudes of pockets.

posted by poxandplague to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (23 answers total)

Best answer: I just purchased the Infinity Vestlette from Betabrand yesterday, with the hope of achieving the same aim. Keeping my fingers crossed!
posted by hellopanda at 12:14 AM on October 24, 2017 [4 favorites]

To be honest the only thing I've found that works for me is a small crossbody bag, the sort that's just big enough for a phone. I haven't found any comfortable pocketed summer garments that can take the heft of a phone without being more of an annoyance than an actual handbag.

For what it's worth, I have known larger-bosomed women who keep many of the things you list in their bras.
posted by tavegyl at 1:25 AM on October 24, 2017 [5 favorites]

I'm obsessed with the hands-free nature of my bumbag, I call it my pouch and I can't recommend it highly enough! All the space of a cross-body but shoulders free!
posted by london explorer girl at 3:59 AM on October 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

Some people like cargo scarves. I need to make one, pretty soon.
posted by Too-Ticky at 4:06 AM on October 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

My favorite way around this is to carry a medium-size wristlet that holds my phone, a tampon, and cash and cards, and then hang my keys from a strong carabiner around the handle. I carry it around my wrist, but I don't have to hold anything in my hand or have anything hanging around my shoulder.
posted by shortyJBot at 4:15 AM on October 24, 2017

I am almost entirely purseless. My phone case has room for a credit card and my license, and I carry my keys separately. The other items you mention either live in my car (sunglasses, loyalty cards, some cash, painkillers, tampons), in my desk at work (painkillers, chapstick, tampons), or I do not carry them because they would require a purse (coin purse, wallet, tissues, earphones). I don't need an inhaler, though, which would be a wrinkle. I mostly do without on a daily basis.

I wear pants almost every day, mostly jeans so that I have at least a back pocket. I specifically chose a phone and case that are small enough to fit in the back pocket of my pants. I will not buy a pair of pants that doesn't have at least one pocket. When I wear dresses or a skirt (at least 1x/week?) I just hold my phone and keys wherever I go. Cold temperature is nice because then I have coat pockets, but in the summer I just carry the phone and keyring and put them on the table of whatever restaurant, coffee shop, etc. I'm going to. I figure I will be carrying stuff around no matter what, be it purse or keys/phone, so my hands will always be somewhat full and I will always need to remember to grab something when I go. If I know for certain that my hands will be full or I need to cart something along with me (cash, tampons) then I will design the day's outfit around pants with large enough pockets or a tunic long enough to cover the obvious bulge from a too-small pocket. I heavily favor dresses with strong pockets and will almost always buy something with a pocket. If it doesn't have any, it'd better be worth that major drawback.

My car serves mostly as my intermediary stuff-holder. I keep a wallet, medical insurance card, mints, an extra stash of tampons, coins, hairbrush, and paperwork in there so I can grab what I need when I go. I have a totebag that I carry to/from work only, but it's comically large so it never goes anywhere else. I teach so I keep a wide variety of drugstore items in my desk that get us through the day (bandaids, granola bars, hair elastics..). Mostly, though, I will just do without if I'm around town without a purse. My one exception is when I need to bring sunglasses because I'll be sitting outside for more than half an hour; I will reluctantly carry a purse to switch out my glasses. I don't have kids either, which makes this way easier.
posted by lilac girl at 4:27 AM on October 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

When I didn't have a small bag, I wore cargo pants or jeans and a biker jacket with lots of pockets. A denim jacket would also do the trick here. The inside pocket on the biker jacket was fine for my cheap, non-prescription sunglasses.
posted by bile and syntax at 4:44 AM on October 24, 2017

Best answer: I only buy clothes with reasonable pockets, and I only carry a small wallet, keys, and handkerchief.

A purse adapted to fit a belt/ belt loops might help.
posted by metasarah at 5:08 AM on October 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

hellopanda, I like that Vestlette. Please update as you can on how the weight of contents affectes the look and feel. I would worry that the pockets/sides would sag and it would end up feeling clunky and uncomfortable. But I love the concept.

I have sought my ideal crossbody bag in vain for years. The strap is never long enough, the bag is never rectangular enough for my wallet and other required items, it never sits where I want it to on my body to be both convenient and unobtrusive... I'll keep looking though.

Great thread!
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 7:22 AM on October 24, 2017

What about getting the glasses that turn into sunglasses automatically?


I am also mostly bagless except for commuting. So unless I'm commuting/going to be away from home for many hours I just don't have any tissues, etc. I keep 2 payment cards and my license in my phone case which goes in my pocket with my keys and that's all I have.
posted by bleep at 8:03 AM on October 24, 2017

I'm with shortyJBot. I carry a wristlet slightly smaller than this (mine is 8.5"wide by 5.5" tall) because I like to have my hands free. Mine can fit my phone plus everything you mention, just arranged differently. My cards go in a card holder and my change just goes in the wristlet, loose. My keys clip to the outside.
posted by DarlingBri at 8:06 AM on October 24, 2017

I was overjoyed to find this "crossbody wallet". It comes in many colours! It is not expensive! I can stick my bulky keys to the D-ring with a small carabiner! I can actually fit BOTH my phones in it when I'm in a pinch.
And it's small enough that if I am throwing stuff in a backpack, it can easily fit in there as well.
posted by dotparker at 11:17 AM on October 24, 2017

I am a woman and I bring my pants to the tailor to have the pockets made larger if they are too small. I carry with me my phone, wallet, keys, and a knife. Phone goes in the right front pocket, wallet in the left front, keys in the back, and the knife (a Benchmade North Fork) fits in the front right as well.

In your case, since you have an inhaler and contact lenses, the wristlet idea might work well. My girlfriend, when she goes purseless, tends to carry a large wallet that has a lanyard to which she attaches her keys that she uses like a wristlet.
posted by Iron Carbide at 11:30 AM on October 24, 2017 [3 favorites]

I go bagless as much as I can. My "minimum carry" is wallet, keys, and cell phone. I almost always wear sunglasses outside during daylight hours, and push them to the top of my head when not using them. Other items (handkerchief, lip balm, menstrual products, reading material) I keep in my car, at my desk, or in my laptop/commute bag.

I generally wear jeans with back pockets. Wallet goes in one pocket, cell phone goes in the other. Sometimes I stick the cell phone in my bra when I walk around, albeit that's not ideal for aesthetic reasons.

I use a men's wallet since they are slimmer and designed to be worn on your person, and I regularly curate the contents of my wallet to weed out things I don't need on a day-to-day basis.

If I carry a full set of keys (with car key fob) I use a small carabiner/Gerber tool to attach them to my belt loop. Otherwise, I can fit the rest of my keys in the small front pocket of my jeans.

Fortunately for me I work in a field with a (very) casual dress code. If I had to adhere to business casual or business formal dress standards this would be considerably more challenging.
posted by 4rtemis at 11:52 AM on October 24, 2017

Maybe a small piece of the puzzle -- my husband and I both carry this wallet, which fits amazingly well into the front pocket of almost any pants. We loathe coins and don't keep them, so no coin purse necessary. :)
posted by nosila at 12:09 PM on October 24, 2017

I hate purses, so like lilacgirl I carry very little (phone, keys, wallet) and just have extra stuff stashed at work, home, and in the car: tampons, OTC meds, Kleenex, extra contacts and fluid, pens, etc. I don't need that stuff often enough to tote it around.

I barely carry loyalty cards any more. They can always look you up via your phone number or email.

I tend to park my sunglasses on my head or loop them through my neckline/buttonhole.

For anything more than the above, a crossbody bag works well and leaves my hands free- which is my main goal. Personally, I would lose a wristlet so fast it's not funny.
posted by Miko at 1:11 PM on October 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

I wear these pants from LLBean most of the time, and they have a shorts version -- in both cases, the front cargo pocket is big enough to hold my cell phone (iPhone 6). Then I do keys and change purse in front pockets, cards and cash in back pockets, and lip goop + headphones in the other cargo pocket (which can usually also stash a tampon or other small additional item). I also like this version that they sell. Note: for some reason, they have great cargo pockets and really tiny front pockets, but I'm willing to pay that price...

I do carry a daily commute bag, but that's mostly because of paperwork and phone call reminders, etc., that go back and forth (and umbrella, and so forth). But I almost never carry a purse anymore -- you just have to make that a priority when finding clothes.
posted by acm at 1:36 PM on October 24, 2017

I have several small crossbody 'purses' that I use when I wear something that has either no pockets or crappy girl girl-pockets that let my phone slide out when I sit. I think of them as pockets on a cord. Room for my large-ish phone, credit card, wallet, key. Mine are all from Goodwill, but they show up in leather shops or hippie clothes shops that have stuff from Guatemala.

What I want is a planner with velcro for the phone on the outside, pockets like a wallet inside, and a loop for my keys to clip to.
posted by theora55 at 2:36 PM on October 24, 2017

I have a wallet that sticks to the back of my phone and they also sell larger compartments you can add to your phone. On my keys, I had a pouch I found on Etsy. So everything I needed could be carried on my phone or my keys. I got rid of the pouch -- now that winter is here I can just use coat pockets.
posted by AppleTurnover at 2:49 PM on October 24, 2017

I have an older version of the Scott eVest jacket and while it is kinda magic for being able to carry a ridiculous amount of stuff without looking like your jacket is stuffed with a ridiculous amount of stuff, I really don't like the fabric and styling. The material (at least in black) looked faded and worn really quickly, and it picks up lint too easily. I also really dislike the fact that the white stitched pocket labels on the interior of the jacket are visible when the jacket is worn unzipped. Looks weird.
posted by rhiannonstone at 6:22 PM on October 24, 2017

As you pare down your accoutrements you might want to consider using a money clip instead of a wallet. (I've been using a mini binder clip for a money clip for the last five years after going through a few nice ones.) Mine holds six cards, five or six bills, and usually three or four folded up receipts very nicely. I carry it in my front pocket.
posted by fueling depth at 6:45 PM on October 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: That vestlette looks awesome, please let us know if it works well.

I don't have a car so I can't store stuff there however the advice about keeping some stuff at work is good. My head is also a good place to store my sunglasses. And like some of you mentioned, I don't really need the loyalty cards.

My current handbag is a crossbody purse and I'd really like to get rid of even that. The idea of cargo scarves, belt pouches etc are all very interesting and Etsy has a few things I will probably pick up. I have already ordered a few scarves with hidden pockets because they'll be useful for carrying all the light extras like tissues, painkillers, inhalers etc.

I will start to be more picky about making sure any trousers I buy have useful pockets. My phone is still the big issue but I think once I've got bigger pockets sorted I should be fine.

Thanks for all the advice :)
posted by poxandplague at 3:55 PM on October 26, 2017

hellopanda, I like that Vestlette. Please update as you can on how the weight of contents affectes the look and feel. I would worry that the pockets/sides would sag and it would end up feeling clunky and uncomfortable. But I love the concept.

Not sure if anyone's checking the thread, but international shipping meant I didn't get my hands on the vestlette until recently.

PROS:
- It's made of a non-stretch material, so it doesn't sag as much as I feared! I was worried the flowy fit meant a soft knit but it's actually fairly sturdy and well-made.
- It's kind of difficult to explain this, but the pockets are built into the structure of the vest, so the contents of the pockets move along with you, rather than flapping about independently.
- The pockets are generously sized, and fit even my passport. I'm used to having jeans "pockets" that can't even fit four fingers of my hand, so this is truly revolutionary.
- It looks really good...from the front.

CONS:
- The pockets have slanted openings, which are great for access, but I would be constantly worried about stuff falling out. As a result I use the zippered pockets a lot more, so that effectively means just two (rather than four) pockets.
- Your neck will be supporting all of the weight, so it does get tiring after a while. Also, it will feel odd if the weight isn't balanced on both sides, although this would be true of swingy skirt pockets as well.
-My biggest gripe is that I wish it wasn't that weird halter / backless style! A more typical vest cut would have helped distribute the weight across the shoulders, and made it look less like I'm wearing an apron. As it is, this style doesn't go with too many of my outfits, so it will probably have to be used for my more casual days out (which is a pity, because the quality of the material and tailoring wouldn't look too out of place in a work setting).
- It's pricey if you get it at full price ($68).
posted by hellopanda at 9:06 AM on November 20, 2017 [1 favorite]