Thursday, July 5, 2012

Men's versus Women's fashion


I used to never be interested in Men’s fashion, as I’m a woman and I wouldn’t really care to know if a man’s clothes were inspired by something he saw on the runway or not.
However, currently it is becoming more relevant to me.

First of all because I feel like every barrier in women’s fashion has at least been broken down twice. It has lost the excitement it must have had in the twenties (no more corsets), the sixties (mini-skirts and trousers for women) or the eighties (menswear for women). Secondly, because I’m starting to understand that sometimes men also want things that are only seen as appropriate for women. And one of these is fashion.


In my highschool men weren’t allowed to wear short trousers, no matter what the weather was.  Women can wear all kinds of men’s shoes, but not vice versa. Wearing a handbag is often seen as inappropriate, even though in some circumstances you really need one.


It’s remarkable how hard designers try to make groundbreaking fashion for women, while in the mean time their men’s fashion is extremely conservative. The innovation in men’s wear is in the details, the very small details, even though there are so many big changes that can be made.

However, I think times are changing. Fashion loving men have found each other on the blogoshere: from lonely outsider to fashion insider. Fashion brands are targeting these men and they are moving away from the formula of the obligatory suits, casual streetwear and a few looks that are original, but are obviously just supposed to make the entire collection look less boring.

Most fashion brands had handbags for the next season, even though I think handbags hold only a small risk. You can easily move these handbags to the women’s section if they don’t appear to be selling.

I think Raf Simons’s has made the most groundbreaking collection of all. First of all he’s one of the many that seem to have responded to Scott Schuman’s pleas to let short trousers enter the formal wear. Only those of Raf are a bit shorter than those of others. He also has included many elements of women’s fashion, but in a way it looks like a statement, not in a way it looks like they are dressed in drag.

Next to the men’s collection for his own brand his Haute Couture show for Dior looks extremely safe, but I think women deserve beautiful high quality clothes just as much as men deserve progressive clothes. For the past decades women have been under so much pressure to change, while men were told to remain the same. I think it’s time that men are allowed to change as well. 


3 comments:

  1. aha it's the same for me actually- i always pop by the mens clothes and look around! :D

    http://wishuponasmile.blogspot.co.uk

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  2. I think you have an amazing blog. :)I am actually in need for this information. .. thanks a lot for the share..

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  3. This is such a great blog post! Very good information! Appreciating the hard work you put into your site and detailed information you present about womens and mens fashion!!
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