Moving Onward

    Its an interesting, but not surprising thing, that as the restrictions that have confined men with regard to their ability to express their emotions freely without fear of social reprisal are falling away, and the feelings about sexual diversity are broadening, the place where the Attire language is developing the most new words the most rapidly, is menswear.
    Where the apparel options for men have been extremely limited for a long time, not only in cut and materials but with a narrow color palette, those boundaries are being chipped away daily.  Now, a man can walk down a city street in brilliant green pants, carrying an over-scaled clutch bag, and not instantly be tagged as anything other than stylish.
    And more things than color and accessories are being effected.  Tunics and robes, skirts, kilts and wraps, leggings and tights are all making their way into the fullness of the subset language that is men's attire.
    What is intriguing to me is how this is all playing out on runways so far.  The majority of designers who are playing with these notions have not yet found a clear voice with which to express these changes.  So, what ends up happening a good deal of the time, is that the message gets muddied, as new concepts get grafted onto existing ones without much real consideration of line and proportion.  The results are often a bit clumsy, which means that the potential to really affect change is diminished.  A potential customer is less likely to try a new idea out themselves if they cannot "read" the message clearly from the runway or in print.
    With all that in mind I am going to give you here a series of images of edgier men's fashions, without comment on my part.  Take a good look at them and assess yourself, whether you think they succeed or fail, and why.  Then let me hear from you.

  And don't be afraid to disapprove, dissent is important in any discussion.