With handles sturdy enough for heavy loads, plenty of pockets and sufficient structure that you don't have to dig around inside, it's a carryall, but more organized. This sizable bag is increasingly valuable as we tote the accoutrements of busy lives: mobile phones, iPads, sunblock, stuffed animals for the kids, water bottles.
The satchel has been around since the 17th century—doctors traditionally carried them, and so did the Pony Express, not to mention legions of schoolchildren. Their current incarnation came about just as tablet computers became a part of daily life.
Now that pockets are no longer adequate for the job of toting techno-gadgets, the obsessive search for the perfect bag is shared by men. The average man now carries seven items, from a cellphone to a pad of paper, according to research by the bag maker Coach. "All these protruding objects affect how my suit fits and looks," says Randy Maniloff, a Philadelphia attorney who recently went searching for the perfect bag.
At the same time, a more casual ethos has altered our taste in bags. In many places these days, a backpack is too collegiate, but a formal, hard-sided briefcase can look as awkward as dress socks with shorts.
The success of Proenza Schouler's luxe PS1 three years ago may have been a turning point, both for the brand and for satchels themselves, which gained "It bag" status.
Now, designers are creating bags for both men and women that have exteriors that are stylish and interiors designed for modern busyness. Hermès has seen an uptick in interest in nontraditional shapes for men, such as messenger bags and soft totes such as its Double Sens. Hermès has even been selling a slim tote that can accommodate an iPad, business cards and a notebook. "It's a man's clutch, in a way," says spokesman Peter Malachi. For spring, the company is developing a larger bag that could hold even more of the items that people haul around each day.
Bags are highly personal. You might be a messenger type—wanting that front flap to shield the unsightly mess within—or a hobo type seeking unimpeded access. Magnetic clasps offer ease, but a turnkey is more secure in a pickpocket zone. Zippers offer security, at the cost of added effort to open and close them (not to mention the risk of snagged scarves).
Tastes in bags vary around the country, says Bill Adler, founder and designer of WILL Leather Goods in Eugene, Ore. He says East Coast men tend toward more formal, full-leather, hand-carried bags, while the West Coast prefers lighter canvas-leather mixes with shoulder straps.
WILL recently launched a new satchel, the Everett, to answer the needs of people who travel with a small office on their shoulder. In designing its exterior, Mr. Adler gave a nod to the past—with a brass clasp imitating one from the 1920s, when new modes of transportation made travel a part of daily life. But the interior, he says, must hold the functions of today. The Everett has space for folders, technology and even a pair of gym shoes.
For men, the messenger bag, a bag with a long, cross-body strap, can make a style statement. Yet the space between that and a "murse"—a men's purse—can be slim. Generally, if a man's bag is too small to carry a legal-size document, it starts to look like a murse (though there is some leeway for squared-off iPad carriers).
When Mr. Maniloff went shopping in Philadelphia, he sought a satchel that would transition to his evening hobby—open-mike night at the comedy club—without drawing derision from his colleagues at the office: "It can't look like I'm wearing a pocketbook. Noooooo," he says. He settled on the casual, unobtrusive Tumi Alpha messenger-style bag with a cross-body strap. On the first day out, he loaded it with his wallet, keys, BlackBerry, digital recorder, notepad, pen, bifocals, work ID card, newspaper and a tin of mini Altoids. "I felt so liberated," he says, "not to have any of that in my pockets."
For me, like many people, a bag must have compartments, including a safe place for my iPad and easy access to my cellphone. It must easily accommodate manila file folders. It must have feet or some protection from scuffs when it sits on the floor (where it will inevitably spend much of its life). It must not look cheaply made, which means close attention to the heft and smoothness of hardware, as well as the finishing of seams and the interior. It has to transition into evenings without looking as though I took my briefcase to dinner (even though I did).
The good news is that there are many such bags out there, from pricey lines such as Reed Krakoff to mass brands. Women have many more options than men, but women's bags tend to be more expensive. Fortunately, some brands—Coach and Hermès, for instance—have styles in their men's collections that a woman can love.
Shopping online is risky. Few brands include enough information, such as the number of pockets and compartments, measurements, and detailed interior photos, for shoppers to judge them. Also, it's a good idea to hang a bag on your shoulder to assess whether the strap is wide enough, the handles long enough and the opening placed conveniently.
I returned J. Crew's Edie Attaché when I discovered it was too shallow to meet my prerequisites. Likewise, a Ted Baker Skolday bag was too narrow to be really handy. A Coach Classic Field Bag seemed ideal in photos, but the leather felt thin, and the hardware wasn't the sturdy stuff of the brand's classics. (Coach has been using lighter materials to reduce the weight of its bags, a spokesman says.)
Some bags were too gadget-specific for general use. Fendi's iPad case is gorgeous, but it turned out to be heavy and too big to slip into another bag easily—yet too small to carry wallets, keys and other items.
While mobile-phone pockets are common—many bags come with two—it was difficult to find a bag with space designed for an iPad. Fortunately, several bags, such as the Fendi 2jours, have a large pocket that can hold a tablet vertically.
After inspecting more than 15 bags, I found seven that met my standards. Three—the Tods D-Style Bauletto, Fendi 2jours, and Gucci leather hobo—are intended for women and can transition smoothly from the office to dinner. Four more—the Ted Baker Halfbee flight bag, the Gucci messenger bag, the Coach Bleecker utility tote and the WILL Everett—could work well for men or women—though several women I queried felt the Everett was too heavy.
Of course, there is no one right bag for everyone. The late Nora Ephron, who chronicled her search for a bag in the 2006 essay "I Hate My Purse," found her bag at the New York Transit Museum: a blue and yellow plastic bag emblazoned with the image of the city's Metro Card for $26. Waterproof, indestructible, and seen by some as a fashion statement, it was, she wrote, "definitely the best bag I have ever owned."
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