The Ties the Limit

History of Men’s Fashion

Not so many years ago men’s fashion was limited to a dark suit, white long sleeve dress shirts and a dark tie. If a guy wanted to stand out or shake it up he would wear a colored or patterned tie. Leisure attire was jeans and a black tee shirt.  Then came the sixties. While the conservative population continued in the drab attire of the previous decade, men’s fashions began to experiment with color and design. By the seventies most every man owned a leisure suit and had a bunch of wildly printed dress shirts and ties in the closet.

By the turn of the century, many options in men’s wear were available. Stripped dress shirts were popular. Male models strutted the runways during fashion week equal to their female counterparts. But some unstated rules persisted. No brown shoes with a blue suit. Mixing and matching patterns was discouraged and even though real men wore pink, not many did. All of those defining restrictions have been eliminated.

Today an entirely new concept in men’s fashions is accepted. Color and style is more about personal taste than social acceptance. Designers recently have begun to show men’s clothing lines that are truly eclectic.

Classic style with a modern flare

Classic styles never go out of fashion. Today with choices of fabric and color, vintage designs can be very contemporary. Tailored dark suits with lavender dress shirts with or without a tie are timeless. Wearing striped dress shirts with contrasting patterned ties is perfectly acceptable. And wearing brown shoes with a blue suit, well, now men’s shoes come in many hues of blue so why bother? Elegance and class are making a comeback. Dress shirts and ties are more commonly seen in and out of the boardroom that ever in recent history. Men are selecting classic looks by choice, not from herd mentality.

Leisure Attire

Mixing styles for ware during leisure time has become common. It is an expression of a man’s personal taste and comfort. Wearing open necked long sleeve dress shirts with the sleeves rolled up to three quarters is a great masculine look. “Miami Vice” made pastel tee shirts worn under sport coats a classic look still worn today. Wearing a buttoned down shirt and a tie with shorts and sandals is popular with a certain affluent and intellectual group of guys. Never before have had men felt the freedom to experiment with texture, color and style combinations as they today.

Self-Expression

The trend from fitting in to self-expression has stimulated the immense change in men’s fashions. Personal choice now controls fashion. Wearing a white dress shirt or a lavender dress shirt is simply an expression of style and not a declaration of conformity or eccentricity. As more and more money is spent on menswear, the more choices become available. Even formal wear is available in every color and pattern and style conceivable. Single breasted, double breasted, and zoot suits in color and patterns are seen and are all the latest fashion.

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