Trends can be misunderstood. Stop most men in the street and they’ll tell you they don’t follow fashion trends, but look inside their wardrobes and hanging alongside the timeless classics you’ll see ripped jeans, seventies knitwear, Cuban collar shirts… and those are just the trends he still likes.
Sure, there’s a lot of 50/50 fashion out there (pyjamas for wearing outdoors, anyone?), but in-between all the catwalk looks trotted out for shock factor, there’s a heap of new stuff that’s not painfully boring and is thoroughly wearable. Ergo, it’s perfect for taking you from plodding pedestrian to menswear maestro.
This spring/summer, you don’t have to concern yourself with the messy business of sorting the cool from the crap – we’ve gone and done that for you. What’s left is all killer, no filler.
Vertical Stripes
Breton strips are synonymous with summer, and grimacing in the rain at barbecues or festivals. But since they’ve also been hijacked by everyone from school-run mums to cocky club promoters, you could hardly call them groundbreaking.
Solution: Turn them 90°. The vertical stripe is officially menswear’s new go-to pattern. Seen on everything from bombers to field jackets at the global fashion weeks, there’s no denying that it was one seriously stripey season. In real life, you’re aiming for Armie Hammer’s effortless Call Me By My Name wardrobe – but take it too far and you’re one half of Bananas In Pyjamas.
To avoid animated fruit, the width of your stripes is key. The best examples for SS18 included straight, narrow stripes on T-shirts, short sleeved shirts, and cuffed joggers. When creating your own looks, one vertically striped piece at a time is often enough – the double vertical stripe is an advanced style move that only the most confident of men can pull off.
Tonal Dressing
Forget what you’ve heard about opposites attracting, menswear is going for the full-kit look this season. But before you channel Run-DMC in your Adidas Originals tracksuit and shell toes, there’s a disclaimer: we’re talking about tonal color matching, not wearable billboards.
Think of tonal dressing as spring/summer’s answer to all-black everything, but with way more choice: the outfits on show for SS18 had more colour variations than your average Dulux chart. Tonal dressing can be worn in any situation. What is a tonal suit? Consider it for your summer wedding. What about a palette of pastels? Take a chance on it during your next summer vacation. What is a toned navy? You’ve probably worn that all winter long.
Colors you’re already well-stocked with are a good place to start – think blue or grey – but don’t be afraid of lighter neutrals and even pastel shades as the weather improves. Three is the magic number when it comes to the number of items that you should wear in a single outfit.
Side-Stripe Trousers
Picture this: it’s the nineties, jeans are the ‘smart’ option, and there are more side-stripe trackies walking the streets than people. Now rub your eyes, because hey, it’s 2018 and the side-stripe revival is real.
This season’s luxury designers have gone absolutely nuts for side-stripes. Balmain offered skinny versions. Prada had coordinating tops. Valentino went for retro sportswear. Basically, if you haven’t got lines down your legs for SS18, you’re not doing menswear right.
Side-stripe trousers have come at a pretty good time, with ‘athleisure’ in danger of becoming about as much fun as marathon training. Get a pair of stripes on your pins though and you’ll find the trend can go another mile or two.
Balance is the key to side stripes that don’t look like Sporty Spice. Yes, you can wear trainers with them, but you’ll need to add a smart knit or a slim-fit shirt to stop the ‘I socialize at bus stops’ vibes.
Dad Denim
Menswear likes extremes. So, just when it looked like circulation-restricting spray-on jeans were never going to die, SS18 gifted us with leg-friendly dad denim. Think loose-fitting, light-washed, straight up and out. Like a more stylish, dialled-down version of the normcore trend, dad denim unites baby boomers and millennials through a love of unfussy comfort (just don’t mention the housing market).
Irony addicts Vetements almost single-handedly kicked off the whole dad denim revival, and we couldn’t be happier. It’s comfortable, doesn’t make you look like you’re trying too hard and gives legs everywhere the breathing space they’ve been so desperately craving for the past decade or so. Simon Cowell is also vindicated, as he was aware that loosening up the legs would have a cyclical effect. Isn’t that right, Si?
Dressing like your father (but much better) is as simple as wearing cropped jeans or pinrolled ones (pools at your feet still aren’t cool). Pair them with statement trainers, Chelsea booties, and loose-fitting shirts and pastel-coloured shirts. Your vice-like grip on skinny jeans is over.
Technical Jackets
The winds of change have blown for SS18 and what’s deemed hot property in men’s outerwear has done a complete 180. The silky suede bomber that you bought last season is still incredibly attractive. But if you want to show off your menswear skills, a technical jacket is the best option.
Before you groan, we’re not talking dishwater dull mountain trekking gear. The technical jackets you’re about to see land in the shops have kept their weather-fighting superpowers but are now designed in a way which won’t send you to sleep. The jackets are color-blocked and come in pastels, dark moody shades or even pastels. It’s clear that technical jackets are a lot more stylish than they used to be.
This reinvention gives you a wide range of styling options. Throw one on over jeans, tailored trousers, knits, shirts, trainers or Chelsea boots… you’d be hard pressed to go wrong. Also, you’re sure as hell going to get your money’s worth – summer, as always, is bound to be a write off.
Checks
We know what you’re thinking, checks can’t come back because they never really went away. Technically you’re right, but while checks refuse to ever leave the menswear party, the wrong type can make you look, well, square.
There’s still a chasm of taste between a gingham ‘going out’ shirt for Friday night with the lads and a classic windowpane suit. We really don’t want you letting yourself down in one of those short-sleeved weekend wonders, but fortunately you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to size, style and color this season.
You can make checks look good by using larger or more complicated motifs on your outerwear, trousers, and knitwear. Avoid giving innocent onlookers a headache by ensuring that your entire outfit is muted.
Tropical Print Shirts
We think menswear designers do things to us. The resurgence in tropical prints shirts, which at first glance seem like a sartorial trap, is a good example. Liking a tropical shirt flies in the face of all good reason: they’re usually gaudy, never fit particularly well and are invariably worn by overbearing men as a nonverbal way of communicating that you’re in close proximity to ‘a fun guy’.
Nobody therefore is more surprised than us that we’re fully into the idea of tropical print shirts for SS18. Paris was the city that most enthusiastically embraced this trend, despite it being a far cry from tropical. Louis Vuitton made us admit our error.
To get on board, you need to be subtle. This is something that almost every shirt-wearer has been lacking. Choose designs with simple colour palettes, and pair them with tailored dark chinos or denim to achieve the perfect look. Even if the weather doesn’t play ball this year, the outlook for your summer wardrobe should be totally and utterly tropical.
