The infinite possibilities of plaid

While on a short work errand (shh...keep that under your hat), I passed by this plaided pair and asked to snap a pic to commemorate the explosion of plaid, check, and gingham here in the District and undoubtedly beyond.  They're literally everywhere, and I adore it because it's limitless in color and pattern: it can be classic or crazy--like the unexpected strips of pink on the left! 

The District...has gone...to plaid!

crazy knows no gender. only fellow crazy.

Before I knew to look at couture fashion shows as concepts, rather than ready-to-wear-walk-out-your-door-in-a-mushroom-shaped-leopard-print-pair-o'-pants, I mostly saw them as insane, yelling at magazines "you cannot wear that!"  Little did I know that men's fashion has the same sense of humor, and that its designers apparently smoke the same type of pot.  That is until I came across an enthralling slideshow in the Huffington Post and decided to show you a few of my favorites.


Behold:

Ann Demeulemeester

What the designer may be trying to demonstrate: the fragility, delicacy, and temporary nature of clothing; either it falls apart from use or we eventually throw it away. And/or: why cover up if we all know what is beneath the clothing?

What I see: from the neck up he looks like a very disgruntled dish washer at Golden Corral.

Ehud:

What the designer is likely trying to demonstrate: the power of color and color theory over how we perceive a look; and/or the shock of not just bright color but bright color in unexpected ways.

What I see: in a trash can somewhere there is a Starbucks cup with a very interesting lipstick stain. 

Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci

What the designer is likely trying to demonstrate: a continuation of this season's love of vegetation prints à la vintage horticultural drawings.

What I see: a man escaping after a one-night stand, dressed in the only thing he could find: the dress the woman wore the night before at the beach bar.

John Galliano

What the designer is likely trying to demonstrate: a recollection and reinvention of early-twentieth-century children's fashion in a bid for nostalgia, and the thus ironic rebellion against more conservative styles of today.  

What I see: it's rather what I don't see--the swirly propeller on the top of the hat.  Or the enormous lollipop.



Moncler

What the designer is likely trying to demonstrate: a prophecy of the clothing of the future--reduced to the only the most necessary elements by way of streamlined silhouette and thermal devices--as well as the needlessness of rugged, practical clothing colors as what little manual labor there is will be done by machines.

What I see: Tommy, the White Power Ranger (the original series is now on Netflix Instant and I am super-excited.  Also I just read "White Power Ranger" in my head and that sounds horrible.  Not to mention the racial/gender-based coloring of their uniforms.  My childhood just took a serious blow.)

But I digress...

Thierry Mugler

What the designer is likely trying to demonstrate: a partnership of truly masculine style and simple, streamlined shapes in the new season.

What I see: I majorly vulnerable area on a gladiator wearing Dickies khakis.



Walter van Beirendonck

What the designer is likely trying to demonstrate: acid effects different people in different ways.

What I see: a room full of inch-tall elf-people watching a model sport the cat's new toy. 



Walter van Beirendonck

What the designer is likely trying to demonstrate: I give up.

What I see: a room full of inch-tall elf-people watching a model sport the cat's new dropping.

That being said, I hope no one takes offense at my interpretations; I have the highest respect for fashion designers as artists and visionaries.  So I must sometimes respectfully say to such artists: "what the hell was that?" and hope they'll let us in on their creative processes. 

Or warn us to stay far away.

Fearless facial fur

Owen.  "O" as in OMG those are awesome chops, and "wen" as in when is this going to make a comeback?

I passed Owen on the street, made the connection as to what I just saw, and backtracked promptly.  These are chops of which Elvis himself would be in awe.  Sidenote: I'm not too thrilled to see that I do the same photo-wobble stance my grandmother does.  Ha.

Jason

I stopped Jason first because of his outfit; it's high time the tuck-in came back in style--it's more polished, and more flattering (let's show those waists people)--not too mention the très-European pant cuff.

But then I took a closer look....

It's glorious.

If I were him, I'd put a little pomade on the ends of that 'stache and twirl it like a silent movie villain.  Oh, and a monacle.  What was that?  Did I mean for Halloween?  Oh.  Oh of course I did.  Of course.

DC men support their milliners

Walking from Dupont to Georgetown today I saw more men with hats than without.  And I am loving it!  Old men, young men, teens, dads, boyfriends, sons, everyone!  The winner?  Banded straw trilbies and fedoras.  Not a frayed baseball cap or trucker hat in sight.  Thank the lordie.  

HipsterDandy stealth mode.

Forgive the weird angle and all of this pic; it was my first semi-successful attempt at a stealth shot.  As inspiring as the photographs are on blogs like STREETFSN and The Sartorialist, I found I prefer to actually go up to my subjects and say hi.  After all, I have over 250 business cards that need to pull their own weight.

Ruddy; check out his website, http://www.ruddywashere.com/!

I also met Ruddy, who, after letting me record his crisply-tailored look for posterity, schooled me a bit on the world of men's fashion in DC and made me feel like a right noob.  But he did it so politely!  I loved his multi-striped newsboy cap as well; the newsboy ran a close second to the fedora in popularity today, but none of them were quite so well-patterned as this!

All in all a very successful study of Saturday sartorialism (and alliteration); there are more pix, but I'm not going to dole them out all at once!  Be patient!

Prints: equal rights for all!

I was thrilled to see that men are getting on the prints bandwagon after for so long being relegated to pinstripes and the odd screenprint!  And not just prints, but full-on image explosions.  The best example so far: Prada.  Duh.


 

possible inspiration: a Florida grandmother's armchair.



an homage to the cowboy/spaceship/dinosaur pyjamas of his youth.



As refreshing as, well, fresh fruit after seeing that banana skirt and striped dress on every woman ever to be photo'd.

 Since many girls I know have closets that are 99% prints, you guys have some catching up to do; bring on the fruit, flowers, animals, people, furniture, electronics, letters, words, landscapes, birds, insects, paint smears, trees...

Kingsley is king

There's no way I'd let Mr. Kingsley get away without a pic (I swear I mean that in a non-creepy way)--gimme a glimpse of bow-tie and I'm hooked!  With a lux pair of perforated grey oxfords, LV Daumier check wallet, and winning personality, it's an outfit made in HipsterDandy heaven. 

The Loafer

In DC slang "loafing" is means "slacking," but as I was walking around today I saw so many stylish men in these comfy/sleek shoes that no one could accuse them of "loafing."  Unfortunately I would have had to fling myself across Dupont Circle traffic to snap a pic, as these loafers were as like hummingbirds: quickly spotted and quickly gone.  But I happened to stumble across Nam's shot of two Italian loafers with their oxford amico on STREETFSN; tomorrow I will be on the hunt for their DC counterparts!

Jay Bell tells men what buy and wear 'til it falls apart

Upon first starting this project/blog/self-education I came in with the assumption/stereotype that men's fashion had not changed much in the last fifty years.  And that may be partially true.  Aside from brief fads (trucker hats, piano key neckties, and popped collars), the shape of men's clothing stays true to a basic silhouette.  Case in point:



on the left, James Dean (obviously), and on the right, a look styled by Jay Bell for Barney's blog.

  But where men's fashion differs from women's is a focus on quality and utility: why mess with what so obviously works?  Men are often edged out of the fashion world; too fashionable/trendy and labels and stereotypes start to fly.  But men are adaptable and have chosen a different way to style themselves--their fashion language may be more like ASL: not loud, but rich with its own nuances.  To be concise: I love it. 


James pic courtesy of www.recliningpig.com

The greatness of Gatsby

I just love John Jannuzzi's "musings on the would-be sartorial choices of literary characters," especially when he presents looks that are as timeless as the characters he chooses.  I can't imagine any of these outfits would be out of place any time between Gatsby's era and ours, but 1920s bluenoses and Mrs. Grundies would likely think those keen jeans fit for an all-wet ragamuffin.  But a guy can’t always put on the Ritz in his glad rags; I think they’re the bee’s knees, myself. 

photo courtesy of www.textbook.tumblr.com

How NOT to Weir it (c'mon, like you could resist)

I know I am still learning the subtleties of men's fashion, I have no problem admitting that.  But as a long-time admirer of men (who regularly wear clothes), I know bad when I see bad. 



Hello, Bad.  We meet again.


In the great battle against stereotypes, another has fallen!  We love your skating, Johnny, but apparently gay men are just as susceptible to bad fashion days as the rest of us.  I never thought I'd tell a man this: please shave your legs. 
To ease the bleeding of the eyeballs, we need an aesthetically soothing balm...




aaahhh.



Fred on F

Fred brings a bit of Indiana Jones to the urban jungle!

Flash us a little leg!



The male ankle finally has long-deserved day in the sun



Do women influence men? Or men women? Or both? Or neither? I'm so confused.

We all know about menswear in women's fashion; hell, it's what half my closet is made of.  My favorite shoes are not my leopard heels, but rather my J Crew Elsbeth oxfords.  But what happens when the boys borrow from the girls?? This:

The Long-tailed Shirt

  Now I know fashion is organic and ever-changing--it's almost impossible to keep track of what started where after awhile--but I always thought the long-tailed shirt was made to cover the booties of us women less courageous in our spandex.  Since not many men wear spandex leggings (but if you do, hey, you're fabulous!) I never gave the shirts a second thought as menswear.   But I rather like it!   Lord knows if my boyfriend had a shirt like the Oak one above I'd take him to custody court for it if we ever broke up. 

The High Heel

Now the girls have owned this one for over a century, and we aren't giving it up easily (although if men want equal bunion rights, who are we to deny them their equality?); after all, we stole them first:



What do Louis XIV and Chuck Norris have in common?  They both wore lifts.  And rocked them.



Above: legs of a pilates god

But this mission is more "stealth" than "coup d'etat;"  designers are slowly re-introducing (or rather desensitizing) us to man-heels by 1/2 inch increments.




Mr. Jeffrey Campbell



I just hope the 2-foot-tall wigs aren't included. 

The Harem Pant

Alright, we all know the sordid story on this style: from fave of Aladdin's, to the untouchable wardrobe staple of Mr. Hammer, then stolen by the girls a few years ago.   But apparently men have snuck them back.  This reminds me of a particular trend in middle school, when the cheerleaders' boyfriends would borrow and wear their girlfriends letter jackets.  And think they were cool.  In shrunken cheerleading jackets.   Adolescence is a confusing time for us all. 
Anyway...
The boys can have this one back.  If they promise to give it its last hurrah and never speak of it again. 


Speaking of going out with a bang...

Lord.



A first post Don Johnson would be proud of!

I know, I know, our generation is plagued with the great questions of our time:

1. How do we reverse global warming? 

2. How long can we continue to rely on foreign oil? 

3. How can we bring Miami Vice to the world of today? 

Thankfully Reiss has provided us with the answer to at least one of these.  Whew. 

The solution?: streamlined ivory paired with sharp white, nude oxfords, and a pink every man can proudly wear.  And then share with his girlfriend.  It's not a hint.  Gimme. 

photo courtesy of http://www.reissonline.com/us/mens/lookbook/mainline/