Manifesto for the Reformation of Men's Fashions

[JohnH]

In the thread Interesting men's fashion fall/winter 2015 I stated the following:

It would be a bonanza for the clothing industry to get men to invest in these alternative styles. So why are these men's fashion shows so disconnected from what men would actually wear?

I also pointed out to get men to wear the alternatives would be to expand on existing options. Such an effort would not be an attempt for men who wear the garments to pass as women any more than women who wear plaid shirts, jeans, and hiking boots to pass as men.

So maybe we need to come up with a document to be published and passed onto participants of the men's clothing industry. There would be a huge bonanza for the firms involved to expand the clothing options for men. But the change needs to be a coordinated effort.

So, let's come up with ideas. Here is a copy of what I wrote in the same posting:

I agree these fashion shows need to model items that can be worn by the average man.

Women have the options of suits with skirts and pants, and on the other hand, dresses for formal wear.

To reach those options for men as I see it:

For the suit option, have a skirt along with a shorter jacket, but have them with traditional men's suit colors.

As an alternative to ties have ruffled shirts and floral shirts whose area around the neck is not meant for ties.

For the dress option maybe an option would be to extend Hawaiian shirts downwards to dress length, anywhere just above the knees to ankle length.

For shoes introduce block heels with the rest of the shoe having the traditional men's look. Once we get past the heel issue shoes could get lighter.

John

[crfriend]

For the suit option, have a skirt along with a shorter jacket, but have them with traditional men's suit colors.

For this style, I'd use the "Ike Jacket" (or "bomber jacket") as a starting-point. The waist-length cut might look pretty sharp with a skirt.

As an alternative to ties have ruffled shirts and floral shirts whose area around the neck is not meant for ties.

These already exist and are known as "poets' shirts" or, for the more crass, "pirate shirts". They come with all manner of neckline treatments. I have two and am contemplating a couple more.

For the dress option maybe an option would be to extend Hawaiian shirts downwards to dress length, anywhere just above the knees to ankle length.

This would be the "shirt-dress" style which has been mentioned before; a "polo-style" could work as well. The trick will be to get the sleeves the right length; everything available at the moment all seems to be 3/4-length sleeves which tend to look rather naff on guys.

For shoes introduce block heels with the rest of the shoe having the traditional men's look. Once we get past the heel issue shoes could get lighter.

That'd be more like, "reintroduce" the style. Such styles were readily available for guys during the late 1970s; it's time for them to make a comeback.

[dillon]

A Bolero jacket would look decent, perhaps with a bit of a tail, keeping in mind that men have a longer torso length, so it couldn't be simply a duplicate of a women's style.

[JohnH]

Of the bolero jackets I saw online with Google I thought they looked a touch too feminine to introduce as a first round. Maybe they could be introduced after men get accustomed to dresses and skirts.

John

[JohnH]

I would like the following document contain revisions and suggestions by others. I request you quote the entire document below the double line when editing the document and insert changes in the document. And then remove the [QUOTE...] and the terminating [/QUOTE] before posting the altered document.

We need to create a finished document that could be published and disseminated to the men's fashion and clothing industries, along with calculations of increased revenue with the expansion of men's options.

John

====================================================================================

Fashion shows need to model items that can be worn by the average man. The goal needs to be to model clothing that would begin to appeal to the average man so similar items could be sold to the public instead of fashion shows being art shows for the esoterically inclined.

Women have the options of suits with skirts and pants, and on the other hand, dresses for formal wear.

To reach those options for men here are the following suggestions:

For the suit option, have a skirt along with a shorter jacket, but have them with traditional men's suit colors. Shorter length jackets might include waist length coats such as bomber jackets.

As an alternative to ties have ruffled shirts and floral shirts whose area around the neck is not meant for ties. We already have Poet's or Pirate shirts that need to become mainstream and be true alternatives to shirts and ties.

For the dress option an option would be to extend shirts downwards to dress length, anywhere just above the knees to ankle length. Long sleeves need to be of a suitable length for men extending down to the wrists. Of course men's dresses would be tailored for a typical male body.

For shoes re-introduce block heels with the rest of the shoe having the traditional men's look. Such shoes were worn in the 1970's. Once we get past the heel issue shoes could get lighter.

[r.m.anderson]

Of the bolero jackets I saw online with Google I thought they looked a touch too feminine to introduce as a first round. Maybe they could be introduced after men get accustomed to dresses and skirts.
John

If the Bolero Jacket was tailored like the Prince Charlie jacket now that would be going somewhere.
Worn without vest and WITH a peasant blouse would make a fashionable statement.
Simple design sans the bright metal buttons and the coat tails could be significantly reduced !
There are many more ways for men's wear to subtly standout without much ado.
Carefully crafted a money/bag belt (aka sporran) could be worn complimenting the outfit.