During the last week as I have been browsing through all my sources to pull for Friday Fashion Bibliography I have been seeing photos of the SS2016 menswear collections and passing them by. It occurred to me that this is is a curious omission for someone who frequently wears Japanese designers that design menswear looks for women. Come on… Comme des Garçons means “like the boys”!
I clicked on some of the shows and realized that there is something important for me to know here. I was inspired in regard to my own styling and noticed that at times it was difficult to distinguish between male and female models. The clothes could be worn by either, with subtle differences in fit and proportion. The shapes, fabrics and colors were the same. A whole new universe of possibility and disappearing boundaries opened up and I saw stereotypes float away along with the notes of the runway music.
In trying to answer the question of what the concept of unisex fashion actually means, I came across this quote by Alexia Aubert from Solovière, a unisex shoe brand that I was quite taken by, “Unisex simply means that a product is so beautiful that both men and women desire it”. So this is now my rubric as I view the menswear collections: “What takes my breath away and what do I want?” Surprisingly, or maybe not so, a great many of the pieces I have viewed.
See my Pinterest board for some of the menswear looks inspiring Accidental Icon right now.
Coda
One of the many comments and suggestions I received from my readers after last week’s posts was to just let myself wear white shirts and jeans. By exploring this possibility and following some of your suggestions, I have come away from my wall feeling inspired and challenged. Many thanks to all of you. So today is the first of a series of posts where I will challenge myself to wear white shirts and jeans and see how I can style them in creative ways. Today I am wearing one of Calvin’s shirts in honor of menswear collections. More on the styling Wednesday in Details.
Exciting…
What is male or female in dress? Yin /Yang? where is the line of demarcation or is there one? Is it conceptual? curves?lines?
You and that wall are talking to me.
There is a 1991 Donna Karan Vogue white shirt pattern sitting in my sewing cupboard. Enormous and billowing – perfect for an Australian summer – but nobody round here is wearing such things. Having seen these recent photos of yours, I’m going ahead regardless. Beautiful, androgynous, comfortable clothes.
Disappearing boundaries and seeing something in a new way is exhilarating to me. You have opened up another category of experimentation! And you look stunning in Calvin’s shirt with jeans!
Disappearing boundaries and seeing something in a new way is exhilarating to me. You have opened up another category of experimentation! And you look stunning in Calvin’s shirt with jeans!
I wanna to see all your proposed outfits. I’m waiting to see them 🙂
I wanna to see all your proposed outfits. I’m waiting to see them 🙂
Love that definition!
Always great to see what we can do with restrictions. Redefining is the sign of an artist in my book.
Happy redefining! 😀
That ‘Hache’ shirt is gorgeous (also the Calvin) am now in the middle of winter here quite jealous of your billowing summery whites. Agree with Caro W, In Aus we should be more adventurous in that regard. Speaking of which, do so love the way young Japanese men wear skirty things a lot and beautifully so. If it’s comfy and looks good, wear it, who cares about convention.
That ‘Hache’ shirt is gorgeous (also the Calvin) am now in the middle of winter here quite jealous of your billowing summery whites. Agree with Caro W, In Aus we should be more adventurous in that regard. Speaking of which, do so love the way young Japanese men wear skirty things a lot and beautifully so. If it’s comfy and looks good, wear it, who cares about convention.