- VADA @ London Collections: Men – Day 1 - 7 January, 2014
- The Man Month – Fashion – January - 4 January, 2014
- See it, Like it, BUY IT - 9 November, 2013
Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
Strutting into my local newsagents for a pack of gum, I am obliterated by the frowns and looks of disappointment by the manly men waiting to pay for what, I assume, can only be top-shelf magazines, petrol and maybe beer. Not too sure.
I can see speech bubbles on the top of their heads stating:
“What are you wearing mate?”
“Didn’t realize it was that sort of place”
And the most common one: “Poof!”
Lovely.
With the continuous bleed from womenswear into menswear we can now start to see more feminine cuts, collections and accessories being thrown into men’s daily wardrobes. Personally, I feel as though these pieces are being bought online more. I haven’t really come across any high street retailer that does metallic clutch bags for men quite yet. To summarize what I mean, I’ve configured a list of not so manly must haves.
The Clutch (or a manly name for it “ The Pouch”)
We see this piece of accessory being held high in clubs by girls trying to dance the night away. But as fashion moves, and boy does it move fast, we can now see the clutch being introduced into lots of different menswear designers’ collections. Balenciaga have at the moment beautifully cut clutches in a range of different colours. Zara are also jumping on the bandwagon and are doing simply gorgeous clutches/wallets, whatever you want to call them. But to be fair, men nowadays carry more. No longer can men shove in their pockets money, keys and a phone. We have so much more to carry. And personally I don’t feel like hoisting up my bag when I want to go buy a packet meal from my local supermarket.
The Skirt (or a manly name for it “Extra Layering”)
Ok, this is a little far out there. But it is happening! Remember Marc Jacobs’ entrance to the The Late Show with Jimmy Falcon wearing his black skirt. It caused massive controversy, but even Jacobs has been seen strutting his stuff down his own catwalks modelling the male skirt. In my eyes, I think it’ll take a longer time for skirts to have a high presence in the menswear departments of retailers. But hey, look at man bags, look how far they’ve come!
The Bag (or a manly name for it “The Man Bag”)
These have gone from strength to strength in terms of a more feminine look. Now men can purchase totes, satchels, and now even holdalls are becoming more than an overnight bag; they’re a daily accessory. I personally love bags. I’m always being bitched out on how many I have, but I think the right bag just gives your day a bit of fashion oomph.
Now don’t get me wrong, the classic savile row tailoring is still in full force within the latest designs of brands such as Sibling. But even their twist on making classic tailoring a bit more fun, feminine has gone down a storm at London Collections Men 2013.
Androgynous styling throughout many shoots is becoming increasingly popular. This of course can only be a ripple effect from the latest catwalk collections. Designers such as Lee Roach can be seen showing simply cut jackets along with flamboyant trousers, which when styled together just give off a fashion explosion of style.
This isn’t an article about cross-dressing or transvestites. I’m not forcing every guy to dress how I want to dress. If you want to throw on a check shirt and some bootcut jeans, maybe some CAT boots, then by all means do it. It’s a classic look. But if you’re like me and into wearing more feminine clothing I say don’t give a fuck about what other people think. If you want to wear it, wear it! Don’t feel bad if others look differently at you. Just know that you are making, in your own way, a fashion statement that is important to you and means something to you as an obsessed fashion lover. I don’t dress entirely like this. There are days where I can be seen in a shirt, jeans, hat and trainers. Mostly when I’m excruciatingly hungover.
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