Hey gals, the ’90s called… about that fanny pack? They say you can keep it

Photos: Jolin Tsai, Yoyo Cao, Aimee Sun Yun Yun / Instagram

The wet market, pasar malams, beer garden kopitiams and your secondary school ODAC bootcamp. These are just some of the places in Singapore where you’ll sport aunties, uncles and gruff PTIs carrying the utilitarian sports-inspired fanny packs.

We’ll be frank here: These hands-free bags — they’re also known as belt- or bum-bags — aren’t necessarily on our list of all-time stylish accessories.

But the great thing about fashion these days? Designers get inspired by anything utilitarian and elevate them to high-fashion status (cue Balenciaga’s gargantuan blanket bags circa Spring-Summer 2017).

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Recently, we’ve been seeing more celebrities including the likes of singers Jolin Tsai, Tanya Chua and stylish women like Aimee Sun and Yoyo Cao endorsing and loving this #trending accessory.

Why? Well, thanks to major fashion designers such as Alessandro Michele and Miuccia Prada, the humble hot-in-the-’90s bum-bags have been given a style upgrade. Meaning? Beautiful and witty detailing, luxurious hardware, great leather and altogether a very chic punctuation to complete your style statement.

Scroll down to see the celebrities who’ve decided to team up with their new waist-side companions. Warning: You may even be inspired to pull out your own bum-bag from the back of your closet afterwards.

Jolin Tsai and Tanya Chua

A post shared by 蔡依林 (@jolin_cai) on Feb 27, 2017 at 12:07am PST

Some bffs share matching tattoos but for famous singers Jolin Tsai and Tanya Chua, they’ll rather have matching bum-bags. Afterall, friends who carry the same bags, stay together right?

Aimee Sun Yun Yun

A post shared by 孫芸芸 Yun Yun Sun (@aimeeyunyunsun) on Jun 8, 2017 at 8:26pm PDT

This is Demonstration Alpha when it comes to getting your fanny-pack game on: If you’re feeling like a riot of prints from top-to-toe (in Aimee’s case, floral), the fanny pack comes in handy as a punctuation mark to direct the eye. And the more arresting the colour, the better. Fire-engine red? Yes, if also to accentuate the red lilies print on her jumpsuit. Clever girl.

Gucci GG Marmont belt bags

A post shared by Gucci (@gucci) on Jun 11, 2017 at 3:28am PDT

Gucci’s Pre-Fall ’17 collection saw design wizard Alessandro Michele breathing new life into the fanny pack trend from the ’90s. The designs that you see here are part of the fashion label’s iconic Marmont range, featuring the signature and unmistakable interlocking Gs.

Song Jia

A post shared by china_celebrity_style (@china_celebrity_style) on Apr 5, 2017 at 11:45am PDT

Chinese actress Song Jia (Red Cliff) shows us how easy it is to elevate the classic white shirt and jeans combo instantly. Just throw on a statement making Prada leather fanny pack of course!

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Yoyo Cao

A post shared by Vanessa Seward (@vanessaseward) on Jan 3, 2017 at 7:02am PST

Prefer a more military inspired look? Turn to fashion entrepreneur Yoyo Cao who brings on the layers in this #OOTD. The bum-bag that you see here also makes travel dressing easy; you won’t have to fish through numerous pockets in your trenchcoat to retrieve your belongings.

Dwayne Johnson

A post shared by therock (@therock) on May 23, 2017 at 6:57pm PDTAnd of course, there is the aforementioned The Rock. That this Johnson rocks a fanny on his waist? A-hem, we can go on with the innuendos. But after his improvisation of Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off on the recent Lip Sync Battle, can we expect anything less amusing from him? As his Insta-#throwback shows, in fashion (as in life), some things never change. 

And of course, there is the aforementioned The Rock. That this Johnson rocks a fanny on his waist? A-hem, we can go on with the innuendos. But after his improvisation of Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off on the recent Lip Sync Battle, can we expect anything less amusing from him? As his Insta-#throwback shows, in fashion (as in life), some things never change. 

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Louis Vuitton Menswear FW’17

A post shared by mrkimjones (@mrkimjones) on Jan 20, 2017 at 12:28pm PST

Are you always ‘borrowing’ clothes from your boyfriend’s closet? Well, come next season, you’ll want to get him to buy this Insta-worthy belt-bag (a collaboration between Louis Vuitton and Supreme) and carry it as a crossbody yourself.