caughtwithmyclotheson.com

My friend asked me to style him for our impending ball today, much to his girlfriend’s dismay - he later confided he detested the wallet she’d brought him (and had enlisted his sister to ‘buy’ him one, I say ‘buy’ because he’d actually previously picked it out himself!)

It’s no longer a strange phenomenon for guys to care about their appearance, in fact it’s readily applauded in a society where many (middle-aged) men remain grossly attached to their worn-in jeans and tucked-in shirts. I speak from experience - many of my male friends adore shopping and are keen to hop in the car with me when I announce I’m ‘popping into town’. Even my Dad knows who Marc Jacobs is. Is this not a complete metamorphosis from the unwilling males who previously detested mulling around high streets and shopping centres? If so, what’s triggered this change?

It seems men are no longer immune to the glossies - images of perfectly preened, toned, and stylish men sit on the front of every male magazine from GQ right through to Esquire. The phenomenon is unsurprising really given the impact seemingly perfect female models have on the female readers of vogue and such. Men’s attitudes to this bombardment of perfection are in fact much healthier. Whilst a women thinks she ought to diet to look perfect in those Tsubi skinny jeans, a man will not hesitate to squeeze into the skinny-fit tee Jude Law’s recently been spotted in, regardless of his physique. Men seem to realise that these unachievable standards are just that - unachievable, they therefore shrug and get on with life. Looking good to a man is relatively simple and does not require lotions, potions, and bottles of Evian. Men can literally have their cake and eat it, or rather buy their Prada and wear it. Women however, would rather have an exquisite - not to mention expensive dress - in a size too small for them, sat rotting in the back of their wardrobe acting as ‘inspiration’, than give in and buy the dress in their actual size.

Put simply, the modern woman has much to learn from the modern man, we females do not always have one up on the men in the fashion stakes. Our attitude should not be focused on improving our bodies, but rather on improving our style. Arguably some men really ought not to be wearing skinny fit t-shirts, but then women ought not be dieting to extremes. Fashion was made to be enjoyed, not a form of sadism. Love it for what it is, fun, exciting and fickle.