Take That gentlemen

As a woman and a fashion obsessed woman at that, I have found myself spending an increasing amount of time each day pouring over the musing and images of many a blogger (see here). But most of these bloggers are women. This month’s Men’s Style theme was something of a diversion for me and for the blog. I’m not sure how it will go down with regular readers but I hope that even if it doesn’t appeal too much, you’ll stick with me. Everything you normally love about the blog will be back to normal come 1 February. (Or nearly everything! I have a few special features planned for you too.)

It is no secret here that I live with my other half, affectionately know here as “the boyf”. Now, I am ashamed to say that whilst I like a man to be well dressed, I never seem to be particularly helpful in picking out clothes for said boyf. Maybe this month’s theme will help me to be better at this? Maybe.

I make no claim to be an expert on men’s fashion and style, therefore. I know what I like and what I don’t like but I do not feel qualified to define this. I’m sorry to say that more often than not on the streets of the UK, I don’t like what I see: butt-exposing jeans; ill-fitting shirts/trousers/coats/anything (!); mismatched colour combinations; and many many more crimes against fashion. It seems I am not alone in my belief that British men could do with smartening up a bit, indeed Patrick Gant – recently crowned Menswear Designer of the Year (2010) – agrees: “It makes you want to cry how scruffy everybody is”.

My research for this month’s posts have led me to some blogs that can claim to be an authority on how to be stylish as a man:

Style Salvage: A fabulously stylish Menswear Blog written by two long-time friends from across the UK. My favourite part of the blog is its celebration of all things British in fashion; from Dr Martens to Harris Tweed and Cheaney. Of course, it comes as no surprise that one half of Style Salvage is the boyfriend of uber-stylish blogger Susie Bubble.

The Sartorialist: The original street style blog. No one does it better. It might be exclusively men’s style but when Scott Schuman turns his camera to the men folk, he always snaps the most stylish of men. And many of them, it would seem, are Italian.

We Have No Style: Ok, so this blog isn’t entirely mens’ style based but these two certainly have style and are worth a mention here.

It seems that men’s fashion in the past decade has become as changable as women’s fashion. With increased interest in the catwalks for Men’s Fashion Week, so the pressure has been on to create a new “look” each season. A more traditional and dapper look seems to have been lost. Whilst it might not appeal to most men, I did find an interesting article on my journey through the internetz: Take That: style icons for older men. But gentlemen, think about it this way: the ladies go mad for the Take That men, so learning a few style rules from them might not be such a bad idea?

How do you like your man to dress? Or if you are a man, how do you like to dress?