Follow Jacob Elordi’s Lead and Get Yourself an Actual Handbag

You know that TikTok gag about how men carry all of their earthly possessions in their pants pockets? Are you still guilty of trying to squish an iPhone, a beat-up wallet, wired headphones, and a ballpoint pen that’s missing a cap in the pocket of your jeans every time you leave the house? Well, Jacob Elordi is here to suggest a hands-free alternative: an actual (and preferably luxury) handbag.

Elordi, one of Hollywood’s foremost fashion dudes, is an equal-opportunity handbag enthusiast, and the actor’s current collection of it-bags is impressive. He’ll carry a teensy-tiny bag, be it a dainty Fendi Baguette or a Celine messenger the size of a slice of toast, with gusto. He’ll sling a crossbody Bottega Veneta Cassette or a Burberry Olympia across his chest like a homecoming king sash. He’ll show the world how much he loves print media by lugging around a bottomless Shakespeare and Company tote or Bottega’s braided-leather ode to the ubiquitous carry-all from NYC bookstore The Strand.

Or, as the actor did at the Venice International Film Festival this week, he’ll lug one of Louis Vuitton’s new traffic-light-yellow Monogram Speedy bags around the city’s Marco Polo Airport as though he were Rihanna herself.

And even if Elordi (as a six-foot-five, A-list actor whom Sofia Coppola described as having the same magnetic charm as Elvis Presley) isn’t exactly the archetypal everyman to usher in what should be a widespread menswear movement, he’s exactly the right figurehead to demonstrate why carrying your stuff in a bag, rather than your back pocket, is a sensible thing to do. As far as attainable style goes, a Jacob Elordi endorsement should make you think twice about getting an eyebrow piercing—but it shouldn’t make you think twice about investing in an actually good handbag.

It’s 2023. We haven’t heard the term “murse” in years. The recent “Attenzione, pickpocket!” phenomenon proved that storing valuables in insecure vessels puts them at risk. TikTok is calling you out for your goofy current storage strategy. It’s time to liberate your pockets.