It’s been a full decade since the classic Friends episode, The One with Joey’s Bag, in which Matt LeBlanc’s style-related tribulations put back the cause of men’s accessories, well, ten years or so.

The plot, you may recall, sees loveable-but-dim actor Joey Tribbiani wearing a “man’s bag” (on the dubious advice of Jennifer Aniston’s Rachel) to an audition. He fails to get hired, largely due to his evangelical promotion of said accessory, prompting the conclusion that perhaps “the world is not ready for you and the bag”.

Despite having left the unlikely lives of six smug New Yorkers well behind us, the male population’s dilemma about what we should cart our endless stuff around in remains a thorny one. A briefcase just doesn’t fit with most modern metropolitan lives or wardrobes, while the old-fashioned rucksack remains the preserve of students, Europeans and leafleteers.

The alternatives are by now myriad, with laptop cases, messenger bags, one-shouldered courier packs, satchels, weekenders, record bags and more all evolving sufficiently to appeal to less specialist needs. But that doesn’t mean finding the correctly balanced combinations of style and functionality, refinement and machismo, business gravitas and aesthetic appeal is ever easy.

In part, this is because most men remain acutely conscious of their masculinity when it comes to matters of fashion. So while men naturally eschew the idea of different bags for different outfits, and affect disdain for the notion of this season’s must-have models, many also get terribly worried about carrying something that looks girlish or camp. Hence the magnified importance of functional elements such as straps and handles, as well as pockets, zips, compartments and clasps.

“Men aren’t so interested in short-term trends, especially in accessories,” says Tom Chapman, owner of Matches, one of the UK’s leading independent designer retailers. “They want something that’s functional but has that timeless quality of real craftsmanship. Even in the current climate we are still selling a lot of high-ticket accessories by the likes of Lanvin, YSL and also Marc Marmel. Men are prepared to pay a lot for a bag if they know it will do the job and last properly.”

In recent years sales of men’s bags have steadily increased: changes in mobile communications and working practices mean we feel the need to keep the accoutrements of life close to us at all times. Bill Amberg, the UK’s undisputed king of leather goods, also points out that, “As we are now so much more paper-free, men no longer need a bag for documents and therefore more versatile bags are being used. Men are comfortable with using many different types.” Ranges worth investigating include designer brands Paul Smith, Dunhill and Mulberry, high-street chains including Reiss and Banana Republic, and accessories brands such as Porter, Jack Spade, Gravis and Manhattan Portage.

Male consumers have begun simultaneously to realise, as Chapman points out, that it’s worth investing in something they use on a daily basis and that shapes that all-important first impression. If the canvas record bag, with its wannabe-DJ connotations, represented the Nineties, a soft leather briefcase-cum-shoulder bag sums up the more quality-driven Noughties.

As yet, the Continental male “clutch” has failed to gain more than a tiny toehold in the British market, despite the efforts of several high-profile style journalists and bloggers (one of whom even dangles a Hermès Kelly – one of the all-time classic women’s handbags – off his arm at the menswear catwalk shows).

As designer Henry Holland says, “There’s a difference between a manbag and a handbag – it’s often about the length of the straps; they just look ridiculous on men when they tuck them under the arm… Men’s handbags should be banned!”

Perhaps the needs of the modern man are best exemplified in the unlikely form of an 18st international rugby player. Joe Worsley, who’s been doing battle for the British Lions in South Africa, says, “I travel all over the world and play a tough, physically demanding game. But I also have a wife and a young son, so I need the things that I use day to day to be multipurpose.”

In our increasingly complex world, a man’s affection for his bag is no longer a love that dare not speak its name. The manbag is a style essential. Just so long as it’s not too girlie.