One of the biggest issues I have with mens fashion can be summed up in one unforgivable fashion item: The blue checked shirt.
Go into any menswear shop in any mall, shopping centre or online site and have a look through. Ok, I know you won't. Because you are lazy, you should probably get outside more. But because I love you, look at these things.
Go into any menswear shop in any mall, shopping centre or online site and have a look through. Ok, I know you won't. Because you are lazy, you should probably get outside more. But because I love you, look at these things.
Roger David, H&M. MJ Bale, Zara.
These 'items of clothing' are a mainstay of the menswear industry. Every year, each menswear label will pull out a collection that has at least one of these tea towels in it. Easy design, no brainer, phone it in. And what's the worst part?
They sell. Every time.
Did you ever think why men want these? Who decided that the blue checked shirt was an empowering status certifier? or a sex symbol? or a sign of creativity or self expression? No one. No one did.
Then how did these things get ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE? Like those little brown roaches in a sharehouse, you can hardly turn a corner or cook jaffles without seeing one of these things. Who did this? Who is to blame?
Truth Bomb: Your mother.
Don't take it personally, not just your mum, every guys mum. When you were fifteen your mum had to find clothes for you to wear. Something inoffensive, something you can "grow into". Now, lots of mums are busy working, raising kids, trying not to lose their whole lives while teenagers sap there will to live. They don't know what's "hip" in young mens fashion. They don't want their sixteen year old to have empowered status certifiers, or to be a sex symbol. They are looking for something that makes their little boy look like a sweetheart, but also doesn't colour clash with the pink-as acne he has. So mum buys you the blue checked shirt, and you wear it. She tells you how smart you look, and so does your dad and all your friends. You are taught that this blue checked shirt is a fine look for "Johnny Schooldude", and you develop a series of blue checked shirts and variations for different occasions.
Now before you all go and cry victim while I hold your mother accused, there is an accomplice in this crime.
Second Truth Bomb: It's you. It's still your fault.
So, don't let me lose you here. Young people have learnt from their mum what to wear, but the problem is that as guys get older, they never re-learn what to wear. They are using the same rules they learnt as children and applying them when they are grown men. They do not consider what styles look good on them. They do not consider the fits that flatter them. They are not aware what the options at their disposal.
So, blue-pill/red-pill moment.
Some people have the revelation. They start taking an interest in what they like to wear, and seek to learn more. They step up, and learn that fashion is not just meant to be for your mother and your girlfriend to pick for you, but an opportunity to assert yourself; to express yourself; to show those around you that you have a status, or character, or confidence. When you see these people on the street, you can see that they have it, it oozes from them.
And then some guys don't. They sit on that chair in clothing store, while their mum/girlfriend throws shirts at them that they hate. Most are blue checked shirts, and the guy tries them on. They kind of fit, and they'll do, so they just say "yes" so the whole saga can end because they are too afraid to try.
Pathetic, really.
So now that you've read this, you need to consider what you're doing. Who do you want to be? Do you take up the mantle and rise to the challenge? Do you accept the responsibility for your appearance, embrace it, and then reap the amazing and exciting rewards?
Or, do you ignore it? Do you opt out? Do you dress like an awkward adolescent for the rest of your life, never graduating into the responsibilities of adulthood? Do you chose to never understand the full potential you could achieve, the maximum amount of handsome you could be?
The choice is yours really: the red pill, or the blue checked pill.
[See what I did there?]
James VV.
They sell. Every time.
Did you ever think why men want these? Who decided that the blue checked shirt was an empowering status certifier? or a sex symbol? or a sign of creativity or self expression? No one. No one did.
Then how did these things get ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE? Like those little brown roaches in a sharehouse, you can hardly turn a corner or cook jaffles without seeing one of these things. Who did this? Who is to blame?
Truth Bomb: Your mother.
Don't take it personally, not just your mum, every guys mum. When you were fifteen your mum had to find clothes for you to wear. Something inoffensive, something you can "grow into". Now, lots of mums are busy working, raising kids, trying not to lose their whole lives while teenagers sap there will to live. They don't know what's "hip" in young mens fashion. They don't want their sixteen year old to have empowered status certifiers, or to be a sex symbol. They are looking for something that makes their little boy look like a sweetheart, but also doesn't colour clash with the pink-as acne he has. So mum buys you the blue checked shirt, and you wear it. She tells you how smart you look, and so does your dad and all your friends. You are taught that this blue checked shirt is a fine look for "Johnny Schooldude", and you develop a series of blue checked shirts and variations for different occasions.
Now before you all go and cry victim while I hold your mother accused, there is an accomplice in this crime.
Second Truth Bomb: It's you. It's still your fault.
So, don't let me lose you here. Young people have learnt from their mum what to wear, but the problem is that as guys get older, they never re-learn what to wear. They are using the same rules they learnt as children and applying them when they are grown men. They do not consider what styles look good on them. They do not consider the fits that flatter them. They are not aware what the options at their disposal.
So, blue-pill/red-pill moment.
Some people have the revelation. They start taking an interest in what they like to wear, and seek to learn more. They step up, and learn that fashion is not just meant to be for your mother and your girlfriend to pick for you, but an opportunity to assert yourself; to express yourself; to show those around you that you have a status, or character, or confidence. When you see these people on the street, you can see that they have it, it oozes from them.
And then some guys don't. They sit on that chair in clothing store, while their mum/girlfriend throws shirts at them that they hate. Most are blue checked shirts, and the guy tries them on. They kind of fit, and they'll do, so they just say "yes" so the whole saga can end because they are too afraid to try.
Pathetic, really.
So now that you've read this, you need to consider what you're doing. Who do you want to be? Do you take up the mantle and rise to the challenge? Do you accept the responsibility for your appearance, embrace it, and then reap the amazing and exciting rewards?
Or, do you ignore it? Do you opt out? Do you dress like an awkward adolescent for the rest of your life, never graduating into the responsibilities of adulthood? Do you chose to never understand the full potential you could achieve, the maximum amount of handsome you could be?
The choice is yours really: the red pill, or the blue checked pill.
[See what I did there?]
James VV.
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