A bum bag is a small fabric pouch worn around the waist, secured with a strap — known as a fanny pack** in American English. The name difference is itself a famous source of transatlantic confusion: in Britain, “fanny” is vulgar slang, making “fanny pack” accidentally hilarious to British ears.
Bum bags peaked in the 1980s and 1990s as practical tourist accessories, then became deeply unfashionable for two decades. Around 2015, they staged an ironic comeback — rebranded as “belt bags” by luxury designers like Gucci and Prada, worn cross-body by festival-goers and streetwear enthusiasts.
Why It Matters
The bum bag is a case study in fashion’s cycle of sincerity, irony, and reclamation. What began as a practical item for tourists and runners became a symbol of middle-aged American dads at Disney World, then a deliberately ugly accessory worn by hipsters, and finally a legitimate high-fashion piece.
Today, “belt bag” is the preferred term in marketing to avoid both the vulgarity and the dad-joke associations.
Examples
- 1980s tourism: The original use case — keeping valuables safe while sightseeing.
- High-fashion revival: Gucci, Prada, and Supreme released designer versions from 2015 onward.
- Festival essential: Worn cross-body at Coachella, Glastonbury, and beyond.
Related Terms
- Fanny pack, belt bag, waist pack
- Cross-body bag, sling bag
- Tourist, festival, streetwear