men's wear

Back in August, I had the opportunity to do a little background research for a magazine writer who was investigating the origins of the white shirt and black tie. While the tuxedo’s beginnings date to around 1885 and the assistance of England’s then Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, it took the twentieth century for masculine formal wear to really take off. The black bow tie was an innovation of the 1920s and jacket lapels grew progressively sleeker into the 1930s.

In preparing my curatorial lecture on “Fashions of the Art Deco Era,” I reinvestigated the effect of Hollywood on fancy dress for men. “Black Tie” costume is still considered a variation of the tuxedo. The white shirt achieved its authority in 30s versions with the aid of pearl buttons or studs and an obligatory wing collar. Historian Alan Flusser still possesses the definitive word on the principles behind formal dress, in his Clothes and the man and Style and the man.

Mark van de Walle was kind enough to give me a fabulous link to a website called London Lounge. Check it out! And then he alerted me to another great site, The Black Tie Guide.

And, by the way, my predictions about the presidential candidates have proved true. They are too busy slugging it out in their rather dull suits and neckties; given the financial roller coaster ride of recent weeks, there is no room in this campaign for fashion to rear its head. There are other social forces of a much more serious nature at stake. And please don’t get me started on the so-called “Palin Chic…” Talk about desperate journalism!

Well, The New York Times Style Magazine offered its “Men’s Fashion Spring 2008” issue on Sunday. The emphasis was on hard-edged masculinity, a trend to be expected now that troubled times and belt tightening are in order. Although the occasional pale pink shirt could be found in an ad here and there… The emphasis was on hard-edged masculinity, a trend to be expected now that troubled times and belt tightening are in order. Although the occasional pale pink shirt could be found in an ad here and there…

Here’s a rather appropriate quote I found in my research papers for “A Rakish History of Men’s Wear,” from an old-time academic, Friedrich Vischer (1807-1887), writing an essay entitled “Fashion and Cynicism” in 1879:
“We cannot escape fashion once it has assumed the place of traditional dress. As we just said, fashion represents through and through the keenly roused spirit of modern culture, including, to be sure, all its bad habits, but fashion represents spirit.”

I’m wondering if I’m the only one who thinks that men get a better deal from the fashion industry? Historically, men did own fashion: peacocks out-strutted peahens every time. The NYPL exhibition “A Rakish History of Men’s Wear” told the story of how men were the fashion leaders until the early modern era, coinciding with the birth of haute couture, and then gave up their primacy to women.

With sufficient perspective, however, I wonder if men just didn’t take a roundabout way into a new form of fashion dominance. Other social and costume historians have been pursuing the same theory, with varying conclusions. One of the best studies is by Tim Edwards, Men in the mirror: men’s fashion, masculinity and consumer society. This 1997 publication traces the often surprising emphases placed on modern masculinity through the 20th century, and how the workplace shaped clothing choices.

And, if I want to be devilish, the recent outcry about skinny male models at the New York Fashion Week shows brings a new speculation to mind. While anorexia and eating disorders occur in young men, too, this phenomenon is most usually attributed to the immense social pressure placed on girls and women to be fashionably thin. Could we be heading to an “equal opportunity” attempt to point out this problem with men? The fashion industry gets blamed for many things. Is super-skinniness a new problem for the opposite sex?

The verdict is in (on my part) on the New York Spring 2008 Fashion Week results. Men’s Collections: 6, Women’s Collections: 2.

Diddy seemed to enjoy putting touches of European classicism into his Sean John collection. Many designers, especially Robert Geller and Rag & Bone, had fun shrinking and layering existing casual gear. Tim Hamilton, once again, demonstrates how he’s someone to watch on a regular basis. Clayton Kirking, our chief, thinks I should have titled this post as “Skinny Boys and Dandies: No Cod Pieces at Bryant Park.” Hmm, I’ll have to think about it, especially after Guy Trebay’s rant in the Times…

All in all, I’d take the insouciance of the Spring 2008 men’s wear lines anytime over the ambiguities and mixed metaphors of the women’s wear designs. Isn’t it interesting that, while women still get the lion’s share of runway time, the men’s collections usually come off seeming so much more put together? Men just still seem to do better when things fashion-related occur, or at least they know how to make the fashion stakes more agreeable.

Regency spinster Jane Austen understood the advantages the opposite sex has dealing with popular culture issues. In Persuasion, she writes: “If there is anything disagreeable going on men are always sure to get out of it.”