Tais Elyse Designer. Stylist. Shopper

I decided to write for this blog partially because I was fascinated by how perspective on men’s fashion can be so small and limited at times. The saying goes that there are no rules when it comes to fashion. But most men (and by “most men” I mean men outside of the fashion industry) are intolerant of many styles or trends, especially anything that could possibly be perceived as extravagant and/or effeminate. Examples?

Jewelry is still a questionable accessory that spawns obsessive “how to wear” tutorials or debates in men’s magazines.  The term murse is still met with derision laced with a bit of anxiety, as if a man in need of a handsome bag for his papers, iPad, or other miscellanies normally jammed into pockets is a preposterous notion. Open toe platform shoes, even from a designer known for “re-inventing the wardrobe for men without scaring them,” have yet to gain traction in men’s fashion. The list could go on and on. And if you listened to such a list, you might also start wondering if American mainstream men’s fashion will ever depart from the dominant, safe utilitarian aesthetic and move towards a more open, experimental state.  

So for my last post on this blog, I wanted to address this issue of the lack of boldness in many men’s wardrobes. It has been a challenge to think of ways to style men that achieved a balance between anomalous and acceptable because many men are hesitant to venture into unfamiliar sartorial territory, whether due to personal tastes or external agents pressuring them to dress a certain way. But if it is the latter that is forcing you to second guess your choice to wear a floral shirt, a necklace, or simply a tie to your lackadaisically-dressed office, then your response should be a flip off. Because even for men, there really are no rules in fashion. Sure, my previous blog posts are riddled with rules on how to wear something:  the sleeves of a short-sleeve shirt should be fitted; or you should be wearing slim fit anything all the time. But I am not saying that you absolutely should not wear baggy clothes. If you are going for the slouchy look, then by all means wear slouchy clothes. Instead of rules, there should be an awareness of what you want your clothes to say about you or at least, what your clothes are saying about you.

As a woman writing for a blog that instructs men how to get their fash on, it has not escaped our attention that whenever the fellas in our lives kibitz about our sartorial choices, we tend to feign deafness. But we can’t deny that at times, we can be downright delusional when it comes to thinking about what looks good on us. We often give into the hype surrounding trends that invade each season’s fashion scene. A case in point: we still cringe at the thought of having donned low-rise jeans and our whale tail all throughout the early 2000s.    

So maybe we should take a cue from ourselves and try something new too – listen to men’s take on women’s clothing. And we are eagerly looking forward to doing just that at our upcoming event on February 18th. In the meantime, we are betting that the gentlemen at the event will be crying foul over these recent trends:   

Jumpsuits. These body-hugging one-pieces elicited this (male) opinion: “It’s like I’m vomiting from my eyes.”  Source:  Nitrolicious

OR 
  
Geriatric-Inspired Swimwear. Nothing kills a man’s unbridled lust for your half-naked body at the beach quite like covering your lady bits with granny panties.
Source: Style.com

So gentlemen, have we anticipated your turn-offs? Or did we neglect to mention an even more hideous trend guaranteed to condemn women to celibacy? Come and tell us at the styling event this Friday!