On Sunday, I sat for three hours and talked fashion trends, personal style, and styling insights with two guys: one who self-identified as "not a fashion guy at all" and the other who claimed to not to know much (in spite of questions about specific suit brands). Are you a self-proclaimed 'non fashion guy'?
{photo from davetutin.typepad.com}
I don't even know if these guys will care that I'm using them to talk about men's fashion, but theirs is a great example of how men fall into one of three categories: {1} you really get it & actually do it ["it" being fashion] ~ {2} you get it & don't do it ~ or {3} you don't get it & don't care. The two guys I conversed with fell into category 2 ~ they understood all of the basics, they could tell you what brands worked for them and what didn't, they could recount stories of their first trips' to Nordstrom to purchase a 'good' pair of shoes, they could tell you a few higher-end brands, they could definitely tell you what they liked and didn't [in spite of asking me for professional insight....and my answer being different from what they wanted to hear], and they could tell you the evolution of fashion trends (unbeknownst to them) from Girbaud jeans to the recent trend of slim cut shirts.
All that said, both said they did not participate in 'any of that garbage' ~ LOL! There's so much I could recount but I'd rather share my takeaways as I view them as more relevant and, frankly, hilarious but still very telling....
- Most men don't know they participate in fashion
- Unlike ladies, men know what they like (trends and professional know-how be damned!)
- When men find something they like, they stick with it
- Men are, in large part, afraid of color
- Contrary to popular belief, men develop a 'fondness' for items and are not quick to get rid of even after knowing it's expiration date has past
- Most men are amazingly clueless to other men's sense of fashion
- Men know that Europeans are more fashionable
- They also think anything slim cut "isn't cool" ... unless they're small themselves
- Aside from their use of color, straight men think most gay men are fashion-conscious (even if they're not)
- Men think style blogs aren't for them (although secretly they do read them)
For those gents who fall into category {1} and even for those who are in {2], an easy way to ease into fashion or dabble in its obtuseness, is through b-styled by blueprint Style Club. Click here for details and sign-up ~ it's always a great ideal to have a little personalized and professional know-how even if you don't want to hear it sometimes!