Fanny (butt, not the UK usage) packs as crossbody bags?

March 20, 2024 5:12 PM

Have you seen people wearing waist/hip/fanny packs as crossbody bags and if yes, where? I live in Portland OR and have noticed many people choosing to sling their waist pack across the chest or carry it like a purse. If this is you, why not wear it at your waist? This category of small bags seems to have had a resurgence (maybe because of music festivals?).
posted by spamandkimchi to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (36 answers total)

This has definitely become a thing relatively recently (to my bafflement). The practical reason seems to be that some people prefer it for biking, since in theory you can access the bag more easily and the weight is more evenly distributed. It looks...pretty silly to me, but what do I know?
posted by praemunire at 5:27 PM on March 20 [3 favorites]

Many of the resident doctors in my hospital do this, within the specialties that have a moderate amount of 'stuff' to carry around. Within the outside world, not sure.
posted by cobaltnine at 5:29 PM on March 20 [1 favorite]

I want to highlight my buff shoulders and not my squishy waistline. Also easier to put on and take off.
posted by momus_window at 5:33 PM on March 20 [11 favorites]

Yes this is pretty widespread going on.. 2 years probably? I can only assume far less “dorky” stigma. Easier to don and doff without unbuckling. I remember reading that it has origins in Germany (bauchtasche).
posted by supercres at 5:33 PM on March 20 [10 favorites]

The lululemon belt bag became very popular a couple of years ago, worn as you describe. I’ll say that women’s clothing doesn’t really have pockets, or enough of them and the belt bag worn cross body as makes it super easy to access items on the go. In general I’d say that it just happens to be a current fashion trend.

https://shop.lululemon.com/p/bags/Everywhere-Belt-Bag/_/prod8900747
posted by raccoon409 at 5:33 PM on March 20 [7 favorites]

This has been a thing, at least on the East Coast, since about ..2018?

I wear a small crossbody/bumbag bag because it's less likely to be snatched than something hanging off my shoulder. And I don't wear it at my waist because I'm too active and it just gets in the way of any bending. (And I suppose because I've already got a pooch there from pregnancy/age, so a double pooch isn't flattering.)

I've worn a cross body messenger bag for decades so when I don't need to carry much stuff, a bumbag is already very comfortable for me.

The history of the fanny pack worn around the waist seemed to me to be associated with boorish Americans traveling abroad, so moving it to across the body also separates it fashion-wise from that.
posted by cocoagirl at 5:35 PM on March 20 [18 favorites]

Humorous follow-up. I've for sure seen the cross-body fanny pack among tourists in Hawaii
posted by DebetEsse at 5:36 PM on March 20

It's a young men's (under 30s) thing in Australia. See it all the time.
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 5:38 PM on March 20 [1 favorite]

This has been ubiquitous in Ontario, Canada for at least a couple of years, to the extent that when I was online-shopping for a "hip pack" a couple of years ago, almost all of them were pictured worn cross-body on retailers' websites.
posted by heatherlogan at 5:44 PM on March 20 [1 favorite]

This is the most logical reason I've ever heard.
posted by sacrifix at 5:57 PM on March 20 [3 favorites]

I have been using Fanny packs as cross body for like 10 years bc it’s a convenient place to put my wallet and other stuff. and bc I have a really high waist it looks kind of stupid if were to wear the fanny pack at my natural waist. When I wear it where my pants go to, it falls down. So I sling it over my head and Unclip as needed, which is way easier than adjusting for around the waist.

Sorry for typos but I felt so strongly about that that I needed to respond on mobile
posted by capnsue at 6:07 PM on March 20 [8 favorites]

This is like saying have you seen people carrying Stanley cups lately, as if it's a quaint regionalism, and why not a different more practical water bottle, as if that matters.

It's a trend.

You are seeing people wear small bags in this way because small bags worn this way are very on trend right now.

Why are wide leg pants in style? Why do the kids like TikTok? Why was everyone in the 90s eating low fat yogurt? No one can ever know.
posted by phunniemee at 6:47 PM on March 20 [24 favorites]

I've definitely seen them over the last few years in the Seattle-Tacoma area. I think it looks a bit more comfortable than wearing them around the waist, but I think I'd look stupid doing it.
posted by lhauser at 7:18 PM on March 20 [1 favorite]

I do this. I am fat and don't have much of a waist. I find belts and things around my waist uncomfortable if they are too tight and sometimes it is hard to get the length just right to stay up but not pinch. I do wear it around my waist occasionally, but some of my pants don't work well with it and I get a weird sag. Why do I have it then? Well I like the size and I like how thick the strap is. So many tiny purses have tiny straps. I treat mine like a wallet and put inside my larger purse. I take it out and put it over my head and one shoulder when I got to lunch or somewhere I don't need my purse.
posted by soelo at 7:22 PM on March 20 [7 favorites]

I’ve been wearing fanny packs over my chest since 2006.

I overfilled my bag one day and it was bouncing against my hip/ass in an annoying way. So I took it off my hips and slung it around my shoulder/chest, with the bag on my back. It was much more convenient and really suited my crusty bike messenger matrix assassin aesthetic.

I can assume you’re seeing it because everyone stole my sweet style, cayce pollard-like.
posted by meowmeowdream at 7:29 PM on March 20 [12 favorites]

I looked so dorky with a waist pack in 1989. Crossbosy forever.
posted by jb at 8:00 PM on March 20 [3 favorites]

I do this because I got the pack as a gift and thought might as well use it. I lived through when fanny packs at the Fanny were cool and then became uncool so I am actually viscerally unable to wear a Fanny pack the “right way”. It turns out to be great for carrying just a phone and wallet when you don’t want a whole purse and don’t have pockets. P.s. - in the PHX area and not the only one doing it here
posted by Tandem Affinity at 8:40 PM on March 20 [5 favorites]

If you have lower back pain, it's more comfortable to wear a bum bag/fanny pack as a cross body bag

rather than around your waist, where it can dig into your lower back.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 9:04 PM on March 20 [5 favorites]

I saw someone wearing a bag like this at an REI store. I purchased the same bag but I have a larger chest so I felt like it didn't really have the same look when I tried to wear it that way.

It did seem like worn across the front would be a great way to easily access the bag oneself, and in a more difficult location for pickpockets to access. A person could wear a jacket over the bag strap to make it less accessible, bags worn at the waist are easy to cut the strap on if one is in a setting where there might be people looking for bag straps to cut.
posted by yohko at 9:05 PM on March 20 [2 favorites]

Yeah this is common everywhere in the US, in my experience and per my social media. Lately I tend to see it as part of a “mom uniform” with a lulu belt bag, atheleisure outfit, sneakers, and an optional Stanley cup or Owala bottle. I do recall seeing it pop up as more of a fashion thing with like, designed belt bags/sling bags around maybe 2018-2019? I’m in my mid-30s and have seen this bag style in-person in all three places I’ve lived in the last four years- Louisiana, Las Vegas and Kansas.
posted by MadamM at 9:34 PM on March 20 [3 favorites]

I do this because I bike with a backpack, but I like to keep my phone, wallet, and keys quickly accessible. I feel like it'd get in my way cycling worn on my front around my waist.
posted by invokeuse at 9:48 PM on March 20 [1 favorite]

It's my understanding that there may be some practical considerations here. Depending on the shape/size of the body/bag parts in question one position may be less awkward or more comfortable.
posted by oceano at 11:42 PM on March 20 [1 favorite]

This seemed to be popular here in Spain a few years ago, mostly among among teenage guys/young men. I attributed it to the fact that phones have gotten too large for pockets, waist packs at the waist are dorky, and most men won't wear a shoulder-strap bag because ingrained cultural misogyny (at a global level, not specific to Spain).
posted by nanny's striped stocking at 2:10 AM on March 21 [3 favorites]

I find it more comfortable that way, and mine has a back pocket that's hard to open when worn at the waist.
posted by wheatlets at 4:02 AM on March 21

I bought one online recently, and all the models on the website were wearing it crossbody instead of the regular way. Not wanting to be unhip, I tried that and liked it. I am also squishy around the middle and don't need to add to that impression.
posted by pangolin party at 4:06 AM on March 21 [1 favorite]

I did this in 1988, so not new!

We went on a family trip this winter, and it was a great way to keep everyone's phone safe from thieves. :7) Interestingly, I sling the bag down under my arm, like a shoulder holster, while my kids wear them in front.
posted by wenestvedt at 4:25 AM on March 21 [1 favorite]

Wow, I didn't realize everyone else was doing this, too. I bought a festival bag from a maker in Germany on Etsy a few years ago, and it was made to be worn either way, as a crossbody or hip bag (with leg strap). It's been great as a crossbody and is my go-to.
posted by limeonaire at 4:44 AM on March 21 [3 favorites]

I recently attended an event wearing a fanny pack the “correct” way and was teased for NOT wearing it across my chest. This is now simply How Those Bags Are Worn.NYC, in my 30s.
posted by showbiz_liz at 6:16 AM on March 21 [5 favorites]

It's to do with a few things:

- Bigger phones gave way to the idea of things you carry with you and this gave birth to the concept of EDC (every day carry), something that a lot of people got away from after no longer needing to carry a knapsack for school. There are a gazillion EDC websites, blogs, and YouTube channels that review the bags and things you would carry in them: pens, notebooks, knives, flashlights, etc.

- Better designed bags! An 80s/90s style fanny pack rarely could be worn comfortably cross body. Companies like Tortuga, Pakt, Peak Design, Carryology, and many, many others started making bags that could be worn easily and comfortably in different ways. Much of this grew out of Kickstarter.

If you want to see the variety, use EDC as one of your search terms.

Incidentally, most carriers and manufacturers no longer call them fanny packs, but Slings.
posted by dobbs at 6:58 AM on March 21 [6 favorites]

Very common in the UK - I've noticed it over the past year or so, but it's probably been a wee but longer than that as I'm not exactly fashion-forward. I feel like the Uniqlo round shoulder bag (which looks like a bum bag) was part of the start of it - here's an article about that development, which says the Uniqlo bag came out in summer 2022.

I have a (non-Uniqlo) bum bag which I sometimes wear crossbody. Sometimes it feels more comfortable, more accessible, more secure. It's just nice to have options.
posted by penguin pie at 8:12 AM on March 21 [2 favorites]

Jamie in Ted Lasso wears a bag the same way, as does my 76-year old mother. It spans time and generations.
posted by fiercekitten at 8:33 AM on March 21 [5 favorites]

Yeah, the line has now blurred between Sling Bags and fanny/waist/belt bags.

I wear my less-pouch-style, more-sling-style both ways, depending on what I'm doing. If I'm on a long walk or hike, around my waist is better because I dislike the interface of bag and boobs, but if I'm out shopping or in a crowd or am going to be going in and out of restaurants (where I'm going to take it off) I wear it slung and just deal with the boob thing, as it's more secure.

My husband and I share my sling, it's sort of a joint EDC, but he only wears it slung. He doesn't have a bosom, though.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:08 AM on March 21 [1 favorite]

I polled some stylish (but not trendy) teenagers about this recently, and they said it's acceptable to wear a fanny pack crossbody but absolutely not around the waist. Even when I modeled it and showed how much more practical it is. Even the crossbody got some "if you must" attitude.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:34 AM on March 21 [3 favorites]

I do this. I do it because:

a.) I think it looks better
b.) It's more comfortable
c.) I don't have to cinch it as much
d.) I can take it off without unclipping it
e.) I feel like it's easier to protect myself from pickpockets
posted by pazazygeek at 2:54 PM on March 21 [5 favorites]

I've always found waist fanny packs to be uncomfortable. I have a waist that's several sizes smaller than my hips and they're always riding up. Given some of the other responses, I'm not sure what type of body they do work for. Perhaps none!
posted by umwelt at 10:23 AM on March 22 [2 favorites]

This is what I have, by the way. Technically it's called a utility belt. They have a lot of other great bags in similar styles. I've used mine heavily for 3 years and it's only just starting to show some wear. It works great crossbody!
posted by limeonaire at 2:19 PM on March 22 [1 favorite]