Now it's the men's turn : Danish Mens Fashion

Picture: Soulland, https://www.facebook.com/shop.soulland

Currently you can read a series of articles about Danish mens fashion on various news sites, among others FashionForum.dk. David Jenkins wrote a chronicle in the Danish newspaper Politiken where he describes Danish mens fashion as developing towards the gutter, being androgynous, boyish and apathetical. This started a welcome discussion of men’s fashion. To David Jenkins there is only one way to go with men’s fashion; a high quality tailored suit and a tie tied the right way.

Current popular fashion with low-cut revealing t-shirts, skinny jeans and unisex-shoes approaches rock bottom rapidly.

I find mens fashion extremely interesting because of the challenges that lie within that area, one you don’t find in womens fashion. In women’s fashion there are so many possibilities and almost everything is allowed.

There is a paradox with men and womens fashion. A woman can show a lot of skin without you really taking notice. But if she shows too much breast it will become offensive. A man can take of his t-shirt and you won’t find it provocative, but he can’t wear an asymmetrical shirt only covering one shoulder or a deep cut t-shirt revealing a lot of his chest without it seeming vulgar. 

There is fashion for certain environments and situations that you should respect and I do love a suit that fits well on the man. Having said that, I miss creativity in mens fashion. It is locked inside a box and I think the resistance towards development of expression in men’s fashion is sad. We saw a similar opposition to the development of womens fashion in the beginning of the 20^th century when women started wearing pants and “oh what catastrophe” later embraced the suit and broad shoulders. As said in the documentary Modearkivet created by DR2, Chanel gave women freedom, Yves Saint Laurent gave them power.

Women haven’t abandoned high heels and feminine dresses. They just have the freedom to play with their looks, mixing jeans, sky-high heels and feminine little blouses or dresses worn with sharp blazers and flat boots.

I find it liberating seeing mens fashion becoming more expressive and playful, not paying attention to stereotypical gender roles. Maybe it takes men looking a little feminine for a while, but I believe in time this evolution of fashion will open our eyes as to what you can wear as a man and not loose masculinity.