[jyl]

It seems that the more a murse looks like a small briefcase, toolbag, duffel, etc the less murse-y it looks, and the more man-ly. As I previously noted, there also seems to be a preference for bags that look like military surplus.

However, for convenient carry in the urban jungle, a vertical (portrait) orientation is actually better than the briefcase's horizontal (landscape). Easier to thread through the crowd, squeeze onto a packed train, wiggle between the pregnant (?) ladies on the elevator. And a leather/olive/webbing look doesn't necessarily go with a gentleman's smart outfit, much less a business suit.

So we come to the vertical orientation, glossy leather murses. Is there one that doesn't look like masculine woman's handbag?