Menswear, Less and More For 2012

Inspired by Mr. Steve Dool over at We Are the Market, I’ve decided to do a list of things I would like to see more and less of in 2012 in menswear.  In blogging, in shopping, in all things getting-dressed.  2011 has been a good year overall for menswear, but 2012 has the potential to be even bigger.

Before I really get going, if you haven’t read Mr. Dool’s Ten Things, I really recommend you take a peek.  I agree with him pretty much across the board, and here are a few of my additions:

 

Tough-Guy Blogging

I’ll start with #menswear.  Dool’s got the rap lyrics covered, but in addition can we please stop trying to make liking clothes so damn tough.  You like clothes.  You don’t have to shoot photos of them next to naked women, somehow make the conversation sound violent, or reference “mad bitches” to defend your masculinity.  I know we’re constantly told that liking clothes is for women and fucking and fighting is for guys, but let’s work on the self respect and get away from that a bit.  Ok?

Intellectual Masturbation

The only other thing I’ll hate on from this year is all the self-congradulatory crap that flies around #menswear.  If you read the recent Vanity Fair response to GQ’s oral history of menswear blogging and didn’t cringe at how self-obsessed and self-indulgent #menswear can get, you need to think twice.  I have nothing but love for a lot of the guys who participated in the GQ thing, but VF hit the nail right on the head.  So lets laugh at ourselves, remember that we write about things like shoes and shirts, and keep on fighting the good fight with that in mind.

Self Curation

While collabs are overdone, genuine collaboration and combination is far from it.  The Armoury celebrated its one-year anniversary this year, and is still kicking it strong.  Those guys are a model for the rest of us.  They don’t get hung up on what categories things might fall into (Italian, Tailoring, Workwear, etc.) but go with their eyes and their guts.  They don’t worry about putting things together in a way that suits them, and that’s what we should all be doing next year.

Back to Basics

We’ve seen a lot of innovative stuff in 2011.  A lot.  And I’m all for trying new things, but not if it makes you forget the basics.  Wedge-soled brogues, techno-tailoring, and the latest-and-greatest-whatever all seem to be getting more page-space than stuff like proportion, fit, and process.  It doesn’t matter how much money you spend, where you buy your clothes, or what their provenance is if you still look dumb in them.  So for 2012 let’s stop innovating and start remembering, ok?

 

With that I’ll leave you for 2011.  We’ll be taking a brief holiday from Christmas until New Years, and I’ll see you all back here at Simply Refined come January 2nd, 2012.  Happy Holidays!