Chapter 2: New Volumes
Thoughts on men and fashion - six summer episodes by fashion connoisseur and word acrobat Jeroen van Rooijen.
Thoughts on men and fashion - six summer episodes by fashion connoisseur and word acrobat Jeroen van Rooijen.
You know that popular internet meme with the bulldog standing up on its hind legs and leaning against the window? Above it is: "Men over 30 in tight pants" . In fact, older men with stomach figures in tight pants look something like this: Pressed sausage on thin little legs. To laugh if it weren't to cry. We state: slim fit is a dead end from which we have to get out again - a false path of fashion. Skinny pants are unhealthy and unflattering. Nevertheless, you see them in such an inflationary way that you get the feeling that the gentlemen wouldn't have anything else in their closets. Some of these pants are cut so tight they look like leggings, and some are so low at the waist that the plumber's crack shows at the back when the wearer sits down.
We feel sorry for these men who have been walking around in those baggy pants for almost a decade now. Or in stretch shirts, the button placket of which almost bursts if the tummy is not pulled in bravely. Jackets that, honestly, you can't button at all, lest you stop breathing. A high toll that aesthetics demands on the quality of life. Such clothes produce stress - and we've all had enough of that already? The question must therefore be asked: is slim fit still appropriate in our time?
The answer is: no, we need a new look. Now at the latest, after 15 months of keeping still and staying in, it's time for a new attitude to life of freedom, lightness and relaxation - and appropriate clothing. The style change – and the relaxed nature of the new man – bring more volume and comfort. Leading brands are showing pleats again, style-defining men of the world let the fabric flap around their knees with relish. "Skinny fashion is dead, long live volume", writes the magazine "The Rake".
What men need now: A pleat, maybe even two. fabric around the hips! So that you can put something in your trouser pockets again without it immediately becoming apparent as an indecent bulge. When it comes to jackets, too, the days of extreme waists are over. You no longer need to wear a corset underneath to be able to close the jacket. The new fits are again approaching a real body ideal.
A keyword that sums up this change of style well is "relaxed tailoring" - the DNA of the great art of tailoring is retained, combined with the wearing comfort of leisure clothing. This is the future - no, it is the present, the now. Come by our store, we'll show you the ingredients, because they're all already there.
Next week: New volumes, new men - this calls for a new consumption pattern. In a week's time you can read here how times are changing in terms of fashion shopping.
Jeroen van Rooijen is a freelance style critic and co-founder of the Alferano concept store in 2014.
