Fashion Wednesday: The bare essentials of menswear
February 3rd, 2010
posted by Cillian O Connor
I know it’s hard to believe what with temperatures ranging from a near-freezing 1°C to an only mildly warmer 3°C this past weekend, but the Spring/Summer season has arrived (if only according to my calendar). As shiver-inducing as it may be, it’s now time to start contemplating your look for the next few months. Rummage around for those tailored shorts, fitted tanks (you HAVE been in the gym, haven’t you? No? Me neither…) and leather sandals that have served you well in the past and prepare to, in a manner of speaking, get a little bit naked.
Despite menswear’s reputation as the last bastion of conservatism in fashion, menswear designers are now eager for us all to get our collective kit off. Well, not entirely (sorry, gym-bunnies), it’s more of a case of offering a tasteful sneak-peek to strangers without actually going starkers. This is of course, sheer fabric/underwear-as-outerwear I’m talking about, and the runway couldn’t get enough of this haute voyeurism, either. Read it whatever way you wish - an ethereal aesthetic or just an opportunity to flash the goods, it’s a key look this Spring/Summer season.
At Dior Homme, Kris Van Assche advocated sheer (the vast majority of the collections’ looks centred on one piece - the sheer shirt) and sheer-on-sheer (a sheer loose-fitting blazer over said sheer shirt) which, although appealing enough, probably prompted many to wonder why the house’s prices are so exorbitant when the material’s actually nigh on translucent.
Another Parisian fashion fixture, Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy, approved of the trend, sending out models adorned in blackest-of-black mesh. It worked well (even donned with leggings here!) but even if you are buff enough, do please avoid the German gay bar-frequenter circa 1990s look.
Gucci’s Frida Giannini took a more subtle approach (and the probably the safest to adopt), pairing a slim-fitting v-neck knit with a bold blue shimmering suit. New York’s acclaimed export, Tim Hamilton, indulged in a spot of body-part-fetishisation. Models’ arms from the bicep down were clad in semi-see-through in shades of black and a colour which fused the masculinity of grey and the understated femininity of lilac.
All of the above are styles to source inspiration from and most offer ways of incorporating the trend into your day-to-day wear without leading to your a) catching sever pneumonia, or b) being labelled as a rent-boy. One sartorial misstep that could lead to the aforementioned is provided by Duckie Browne. I said it once, and I’ll say it again, I’m not so hot on nappies.
Tags: barely dressed male models!, Dior Homme, Duckie Browne, Givenchy menswear, menswear sheer trend 2010, menswear spring 2010
