Keeper of the Kangol.
Archive for the 'fashion' Category
One thing that has always bothered me is the cut of men’s shirts that are available on the market these days. They are usually cut very wide and for someone with a slim build that doesn’t make for a good fit. You can usually find slim fit dress shirts pretty easy, but most casual shirts tend to drape over my svelte frame so I always end up having to pay $15-20 in addition to the cost of the shirt just to have it tailored to my torso.
One example I can give is Banana Republic. I don’t shop there much anymore because any time I find something I like there in their casual shirt line, I always have to factor in the cost of tailoring the baggy out of it.
What’s interesting is that even when the cut for their shirts are for people with fairly wide/large bodies, they promote a slim v-shaped look with those very same shirts. Ever notice how they display their apparel on the mannequin?
Wow, look at V! Looks great right?
Fail!
They do it with sweatshirts too.
Can you belee da shit?
Not every line is guilty of this. At Express there is a good selection of slim fitting shirts and 7 Diamonds also designs their shirts for a more modern look. American Apparel also gets honorable mention. I’m hoping more apparel manufacturers start doing the same. There is definitely a market out there for that fit and they’re leaving money on the table.
I think I’ve finally begun to see the beginnings of a slow but sure death for skinny jeans. The more mainstream retailers were slow to catch on to the craze but on a recent visit to JC Penney they had almost nothing but skinny jeans pile after pile. I can only hope that this means they’ve officially stopped being cool (not to bag on JC Penney btw, I did get some cool cargos there on the same visit).
I first started seeing the hipster/emo set wearing these skintight jeans a couple of years back and could not for the life of me figure out why in the world that look became cool for guys. It got to the point where finding a relaxed or even normal fit pair of jeans for men that I liked at Nordstrom or any other department store was next to impossible and even if I did they’d have only one wash or color available in that style.
I’m not advocating that we bring back those Hammer-styled Silver Tabs of old or God forbid that stovepipe JNCOs ever make a comeback. I’ll be happy once this fad passes and relaxed fit jeans that give my jewels some breathing room are back as an option in all colors. Skinny jeans on girls—great! Skinny jeans on dudes—wack!
