Today's post is inspired by the above photo, though it's a topic I've been ruminating on for quite some time and it feels topical now since menswear is showing and what not. When I shared this photo from Daniel Hurlin's collection, "Perfect Blue Tamara," on my Tumblr, someone reblogged it and felt the need to comment:
And I was all like, "homey don't play that game." Number one: Oh no, is he not trying to be hot for you? How dare he! Lord knows the only reason to get dressed is to impress your judgmental ass. The worldview that an outfit must be specially arranged to conform to someone's idea of what's "hot," infuriates me and is baddumbwrong. Number two: Just because YOU think this outfit is "weird pyjamas and a stupid jacket," doesn't mean it actually is. While I generally keep the tone of *fruitpunch apolitical (well, liberal a.k.a. sane) and lighthearted, lighthearted can still want to smack some sense into internet users whose blithe remarks are casually indicative of straight-privilege. Educate yourself! Hurlin's notes for the collection declare, "He deconstructs the patterns of classic menswear, manipulates cuts, compartmentalises bodies, isolating certain parts, or suddenly revealing others: a mosaic of faded colours which sometimes makes one think of Kazimir Malevich. Employing violent contrasts, Daniel Hurlin creates an attractive fiction where elegance conceals a trap which is as delicate as it is deadly." BAM #knowledgeispower
The commenter's attitude and the resulting pissed-off-edness it awakened within me brought to mind the gender-bending, convention-thwarting work of a designer whose work is always captivating, Walter Van Beirendonck. My apologies if any of the below images offend with their "not hotness":
The commenter's attitude and the resulting pissed-off-edness it awakened within me brought to mind the gender-bending, convention-thwarting work of a designer whose work is always captivating, Walter Van Beirendonck. My apologies if any of the below images offend with their "not hotness":
Granted, there are plenty of other designers whose work continually challenges the status quo, I'm just rather keen on Van Beirendonck's styling (the colors! the hair!) I feel it's important to reference progressive menswear designers for their perspective on male sexuality, as popular attitudes toward dress and what is/isn't appropriate for a "gender" is a dialogue we conduct daily through our sartorial choices. This isn't to say that I personally am fighting the good fight for men wearing cropped-sleeve polka-dot sportcoats and embroidered satin drop-waist kimonos (I just made that up, that doesn't even make sense) - Lord knows I enjoy wearing pants and, increasingly, baseball caps. But when it comes to Fashion, a good menswear designer, to me, presents a collection that reflects (and distorts) cultural attitudes and encourages a dialogue about masculinity and I, a consumer, take note of that and keep it in the back of my mind while getting dressed. (Kept in my mind as of late: J.W. Anderson's latest collection.)
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Miuccia Prada has done this for the ladies for years, but the narrative impact of her more erudite collections is lessened (to some degree) by the cultural attitude that some women dress for men and some women dress for other women. The trappings of traditional femininity have been toyed with for years, thanks to the dominant patriarchal social structure of the West providing at times in our history few other outlets for female self-expression than dress, but lots of opportunities to be fed up with society's bullshit (actually, I guess that time would be now, VAGINA.) Upending traditional notions of masculinity through high-end fashion still feels like somewhat less-charted terrain, since why wouldn't you want to look like a man since they're so awesome and can wrestle sharks and eat live bears??
I digress...my point regarding Prada is simply that her collections will always be desirable (though not necessarily commercial), particularly to women who love Fashion. [On a sidenote: the Met's current Costume Institute exhibition extrapolates this question, is fashion of the body (about sex) or beyond the body (about art), from parallels between the work of Prada and samplings of Elsa Schiaparelli's oeuvre. The two women pointedly challenge convention throughout their careers and it makes for quite a beautiful exhibit - I don't know if you'll want to f*ck it, but it's pretty nice. Check it out.] When a man dresses for this new Fashion...what do we make of him? What does Savile Row make of him? For whom (grammar, y'all!) is he dressing? Is it impossible for him to be attractive? Or, are our eyes just not yet trained to appreciate the silhouette of the post-modern man?
We know what one commenter's thoughts are...and I hope we can get more progressive than that. In conclusion: if you want "hot guys," flip through an Abercrombie advert, or better yet, to quote Avenue Q, "the internet is for porn" - I'm sure someone else's Tumblr can help you with that.
For Daniel Hurlin's full collection, "Perfect Blue Tamara," click here. Walter Van Beirendock images via Style.com. All opinions expressed are mine own and relate to current trends in mainstream Western fashion and do not take into account punk/queer subcultures, etc., sorry! I welcome dialogue in the comments...
