The Casual Fashion of the Urban Man
Have you ever noticed the current color trends in citywear and urban fashion?
I don’t go clothes shopping very often at all (believe me, I’m no fashionisto!), but when I do, I like to get items that are both stylish AND fashion-forward, i.e., they can remain fashionable for many seasons into the future. In my last couple of shopping jaunts I began to notice, for lack of a better word, how “drab” men’s clothing has become, not in stylishness per sé, but particularly when it comes to color and splash!
No matter where I travel in the U.S., the clothing color trends for the casual urban man are VERY basic and plain. If you’re not trying to sport the current saggy pants with a hoodie or A-line tanktop (or even if you are), your clothing and color choices in the stores are very slim. Even in L.A., when I visited their shopping malls in 2021, I could only find solid colors, usually dull blues, faded reds, or earthtones, etc; or at best plaids and flannels. Local Californians, both young and old, male and female, white and black, were stopping to comment to me that they liked my outfit! I was shocked and humbled by that, because I had hoped to purchase an awesome outfit there as a souvenir.
I didn’t pay as much attention during my recent trip to New York City, but again, nothing stood out to me there either. And isn’t that the point of fashion? To stand out, in your own unique way/style!??
Unfortunately, even online or in the catalogs, it’s just more of the same bland plainness. No shapes or patterns on the clothing for the eye to enjoy. Even the current urban/HipHop look of very loose fitting/baggy clothes, both in shirts and slacks, are NOT reminiscent of the colorfulness of say, TLC, but rather the dingy darkness of “The Matrix.”
Because of this color deficit, I’ve had to “go overseas” as it were, to do my shopping. I’ve discovered the joys (and snares!) of buying from online exporters like BooHoo, Shein, and Light In The Box, just to name a few. They are where I get many of my favorite casual looks nowadays, because American businesses don’t want to broaden their scope.
I mean, test what I’m saying. Next time you’re out-and-about, look around you. Not just at the individual males in the crowd, but take-in the look of the masses. The bigger picture. What do you see? What are a majority of the “off work” men wearing on the street?? Our society seems to be heading towards the very drab-looking social order that we see in films like “1984” or “Blade Runner 2049.” Why is this?!
Well, I don’t consider myself any kind of conspiracy theorist, but this ever-increasing trend towards dullness really makes me go “Hmm.” I wonder is the fashion industry, or perhaps Big Textile as a whole, trying to steer us in some specific direction -- on purpose?! Or have we as a society just become dull in our fashion tastes? As is believed by many, who we are is how we dress. Are we giving up on looking good for ourselves or our significant-others? Or is this insidious drabness a reflection of how we subconsciously see ourselves (no warmth, no color, no flair)?!
#twiggworks