Walking through Harvey Nichols (or any department store to be fair) you will notice that while there are at least 4 floors of womenswear (shoes, leisure, eveningwear, lingerie…. It goes on and on) I got to thinking is menswear boring compared to womenswear? There is not as much buzz about the latest menswear collections. No one counts down to New York Fashion Week to see what colour tie is going to be hot for fall, and there isn’t the whole issue of whether or not Topshop will do a good enough copy.
But then talking to my friend Jack, an obsessive fashion fan, and the kind of male that stays away from the Gap top and old jeans look in favour for a wardrobe of all black, trench coats and Dr Martens (topped off with his bowl haircut) he argued that menswear is getting more innovative and is slowly catching up with womenswear.Here is what he had to say:
Designers such as: Raf Simmons, Deryck Walker, Spastor, Marjan Pejoski and Bernard Wilhelm, to me, are really pushing the bar and seem to be setting the standards for many of the more reputable menswear labels. I think this is essentially due to being more daring with the clothes. Although dressing unconventionally is nothing new for men, the modern ‘mainstream’ picks up on things a lot faster than it ever has done before – in a sense, for men, there is more access and exposure to these designers than there ever has been previously.
Regardless of your personal feelings about the media, in terms of fashion, and in this case menswear, this can only be a good thing. One reason being that there is not a danger of “trends” for men, as menswear is by no means as fast paced as womenswear.
On the clothes themselves, I think designers are now seeing more possibilities in terms of playing around with shape and proportion.But more so creating clothes that serve no function whatsoever, which has always been the most limiting aspect of menswear, yet something womenswear has never had a problem with. Breaking this down creates so many possibilities. I think this is brilliant, as I never think about function of a piece of clothing, nor it’s practicality – will it keep me dry and/or warm? Who cares? It is nice to see that this attitude is now being displayed elsewhere.
Of course, it always helps if you have an IKEA bag full of 20’s to take out with you, as this will further break down your practicality/ impracticality ratio, but I can’t think of any men that are seen perpetually shopping anyway.I do hope that menswear continues to grow in this way, and someday fashion might not just be about womenswear.
What are your thoughts on Menswear? Is it more limited than womenswear?
images from men.style.com
from top: fall collection Jsen Wintle, Comme Des Garcons and Raf Simons
24 comments:
I do believe that Menswear is more limited than women's. With women you have more options... It's only natural
Il say the rules are more clearly defined with menswear. There are only so many kinds of suits-from bespoke to ready to wear collections...First time here. Love it. PS: I saw the post on the Sex and the City movie. It was a lil long so I didnt get to read it all, but I just read on Perez Hilton that one of the characters die?! Im so nervous......
I know the work of Spastor, because they are Spanish as me, and I love their designs.
I think menwear is more limited than womens, we have a lot of possibilies to get a better look only with the accessories.
yes it is more limited. Which is ok by me, because I like my man dressed casual cool anyway (not gap though). I like him dressed like p diddy/kanye west/tyler durden, or great jeans and solid T's, nice soft hoodies, interesting jackets.. The short hemmed pants and weird sweaters, skinny jeans, pointy shoes, socks, crazy color combos just make a man look unappealing to me.. Guys, look rich, confident, carefree - you're good to go..
I feel so bad about men clothes, because I am just not interested, it's weird! I think it's more limited in the sense most of them don't wear bags and they don't have the huge range of shoes we have. Furthermore, they don't have dresses... I think it's a mess!!
I think it is more limited because men are more "scared" about what the rest of men will think about him if he wears something different or new in terms of shape
I of course, LOVE this post. It's really smart of you to point out the differences in degrees of risk betw. menswear and womenswear. I love the raf simons below, and I think functionality remains an important question. most of the time that's not thought hand in hand with artistic concerns...
I think it is a lot harder for men, we've taken a male friend shopping a few times and though he is very stylish he's sometimes reluctant to try really different things. Men are more 'scared' of what people think about what they're wearing. Menswear is slowly but surely catching up.
I think the situation is getting better but I think the core thing is that in general men LIKE the limitations imposed by menswear. That's what makes them appreciate the finer details, a well-cut suit from Kilgour etc....
I think menswear is more limited, but in the last time the limits were a bit pushed aways , but I think womenswear has nearly no limits (To the positive site I don't mean it in the trashy way, there is a limit for me )
I believe that mens fashion is limited, as there are little menswear shops around, although i think it is growing and there are certainly alot more designers buying into it! I think its definately one to watch... xx
I'm not really a fan of high fashion mens looks.They mostly either look costumey or childish and stupid.
There are a few good exceptions though, as you pointed out.Mens fashion should be as thoughtful and classy as womwns.
Menswear is more limited.
I love men with a great style!
In response to one of the comments above, as a boy, I certainly do not like the limitations of menswear. I think they are generic and prescribed. I don't understand why some of the aesthetics of womenswear cannot be applied to mens - and I don't mean big floral dresses with lots of frills, but just in terms of innovation. There is always the danger of something looking kooky or camp, but that is not to say that men should be restricted to a simple suit.
I think to an extent, all men like to dress "well", and to the majority, the difference between a bespoke suit and a pre-made one is almost irrelevant or unnoticeable. Obviously, with a bespoke suit, you are buying something that will last you for years and is beautifully made, but still falls into the same category as dressing "well", which isn't innovation and that is not the point of what I wrote.
So if men are going to take so much time and effort to find small details, surely this shows that they are interested in fashion, and in particular detailing, so there is no reason why this cannot be taken to another level.
But I agree that a lot of men are under pressure not to be daring. I mean it is a hard one to think about, but generally, I think the possibilities of new, exciting menswear are becoming much more apparent. Menswear IS changing and mens attitudes to fashion are changing with that. I mean sure, you will always have the ones that want to dress "casual cool", but why should those that don't be subjected to such limiting options?
UP WITH INNOVATION, DOWN WITH SMART/CASUAL!!!!!
Jack
i'll say it may not be limited !! but the guys know they cant go out wearin a pink swarovski jean with leopard and a green comme des garçons fur without being called a fag !! so i'll say we cant wear what we want !!unfortunately for us
mens wear is limited which makes it so much easier for a guy to invest in quality pieces. us girls have it tough with our selection!
glad you focused on this topic
I find fashion menswear can be so outlandish like would regular males really wear some of this stuff?
You are much more limited with menswear than with women's clothing. They can only have pants/shorts with a top and flat shoes. Girls can have blouses and tanks and dresses and wedges and heels and all sorts of fun things. Also if they wear some sort of print they'll be called gay or what not, while a girl is just keeping up with trends. I think it's also a lot easier to dress as a man because most men's style is timeless and stays the same with only a few minor changes so a man can buy a designer suit and wear it for years to come but a woman usually has to buy the new "it" blouse every season.
I already wrote a comment but I wanna add something. Example: men have very strong opinions about how a "good-looking woman" looks like. actually, they're very opinionated on many things in life, especially visual things. Maybe they are that way also towards clothing, as in they have a single image of "perfect" in their minds and anything else is not good enough, maybe that's why 99% of guys aren't that creative about their clothes. after all, stores don't make clothes that won't sell, so if there aren't many options that may be because no one buys it. does that make sense?
it is limited as it should be!! i'm surprising myself every time i'm thinking about menswear.. but i can't help it. i'm too conservative when it comes to fashion for boys! stick to the jeans and tshirt or to the armani suits plz! thank you :)
Ahhhh ... you should se the men in Milano.
Yammie, yammie, yammie.
Menswear is more limited by social perception. Girls can dress masucline and are said to have an androgynous chic look but if guys wear girly stuff they are immediatly called gay or told that they are crossdressers/
Wearing black it's timeless. Men are starting to step up their style.
men around my age(23) in milano WERE daring, they all had very flashy sunglasses on (I'm talkin oversized & pink & rhinestones), which I thought was very surprising..
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