The rise of high-waisted, the scourge of fashflation, signet rings and other style musings
There’s a lot to unpack in the menswear world right now. Here are seven of my hottest hot takes
A break from regular transmission this week, with a few of my keenest observations from the world of fashion as we head face first into spring summer ‘24.
Fashion is far too expensive
Last week Frasers Group - fronted by rag trade Goliath Mike Ashley - announced that it was placing luxury retailer Matches Fashion into administration, just over a year after purchasing it for a bargain basement sum.
The industry reeled. Following hot on the heels of Farfetch’s recent share price collapse and boardroom exodus; the demise of Matches marked the end of a golden era for digital-first luxury retail, and the beginning of an unpredictable new one.
Personally, I felt a pang of sadness when I heard the news because I’ve always loved shopping on Matches. The buy is broad and strong - with interesting pieces available from unexpected brands, alongside classic staples from bigger names.
I hopped into my Matches shopping basket the moment the story broke and immediately questioned whether to buy the four or five items waiting within because a) it might help pull Matches back from the brink, and b) (more honestly) I was concerned that the whole app might disappear in puff of smoke before I had a chance to by my silly little Loewe loafers.
But, as I prepared to hit the “buy now” button, I paused to take in the final sum. £4,300. For five items.
There was no cashmere in my basket, no watches, nor were there leather handbags. The contents consisted of two pairs of shoes, one pair of jeans, a denim jacket and a cotton bomber. Coming to a total of, I repeat, FOUR THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED POUNDS. That’s the price of a second hand BMW, or a hot tub. You could buy a Rolex for that, or a new piano. A pedigree dog, or two.
Quickly, I shut down the app and began to wonder - is the ludicrous cost of contemporary fashion what’s ultimately done it for luxury retailers?
In the wake of the pandemic I popped into the flagship store of one of Britain’s most iconic shoe brands, which shall here remain unnamed. I needed a new pair of loafers for a wedding and I felt confident that I would be able to pick some up for three or four hundred pounds, as I had done many times in the past.
Browsing the shelves of the shop I was shocked to discover that nearly every pair was priced at £795 or above, almost 100 per cent more than they had been just a few months before. The (lovely) server told me that the increase was due to both Brexit and inflation. I walked out of the shop both miffed and empty handed.
It’s a story which is being repeated across the luxury industry. Prior to covid, I would treat myself to a pair of runways shoes from Prada most seasons. I was willing to swallow the five or six hundred pound price tag as a necessary fashion evil to be incurred without question. Now, the same types of shoes cost between £850 and £1,200, a hike which not even the cost of living crisis can help me justify to my bank manager.
I’m fortunate. I have a good job, I earn a reasonable wage and I have no dependents. In this country that puts me in a minority. If I can’t afford to buy the (very) occasional, stupidly excessive fashion item, therefore, you know that something’s gone a bit wrong.
It seems to me that fashion is now reserved exclusively for the 0.1 percent - and with the aforementioned crisis hitting everyone apart from that group - it’s little wonder that multi-brand retailers like Matches are struggling, when the bulk of their customer base can no longer afford the majority of the things they sell.
It doesn’t help, of course, that tax free shopping is a thing of the past in this country; meaning the world’s wealthy now choose to travel to Paris or Milan rather than London - where Matches is headquartered - to do their shopping (ta, Brexiteers!) but exorbitant prices are likely to help make up the resultant shortfall only in the (very) short term.
So for the love of buttons, fashion brands, bring your prices down. It’s not just about saving our beloved retailers - though that does feel important. It’s also about making beautiful clothes (a smidge more) accessible, it’s about supporting the fashion industry at large (which in this country alone is worth between £60-70 billion, and employs up to 500,000 people) and helping the environment in the process.
Because how can consumers be encouraged to move away from cheap, fast fashion if the only other option (vintage notwithstanding) is so unreasonably overpriced?
Conversely, the sporty and rich aesthetic still dominates
I loved Verity Parker’s recent shoot for The Sunday Times Style. In it, the stylist showcased an immaculately shambolic take on the prevailing sporty and rich aesthetic: part-Princess Diana on the School Run, part The Biebers heading out for bubble tea in Beverly Hills.
The constituent elements of the look include (but are not limited to) roughed up designer bags, sporty split-sided shorts and sweatshirts, oversized One Fine Day macintoshes, horse bit loafers worn with tube socks, vintage-looking caps in garment-dyed cotton, cashmere sweaters draped as capes or scarves, and oversized blazers in tweed, silk or office-friendly super 120s wools.
Important to also note that a successful interpretation of this look does not allow for a jot of conspicuous branding. No logos to see here (unless, of course, they belong to a local zhuzhy grocery shop or a Russell Group university - see below).
The good news is that you don’t need to shell out on exorbitant fashion (though you could probably stump for a cap or sweater from Matches to help it out) to get the look yourself. All the relevant garments can readily be found vintage; and the more soft-handled, worn-in and sepia-toned they are, the better.
Just be sure to always throw in one bright item among all the neutrals - preppy shades of old jaguar-green, rheumy eye-pink and new money red will work well.
High rise is winning in the fight for our waistlines
I’ve had my eye on a pair of high waisted jeans from Loewe for a good few months now. Designed to sit just below the ribs, the jeans are flattering because the rise creates a clean drape and break in the leg. I’m also tall, so high waisted works well on my frame.
I didn’t want to shell out £825 for the jeans, for obvious reasons, so I went looking for viable alternatives at Levi’s. The brand’s “Ribcage” jeans for women actually look quite good, though they come up a little too short in the leg.
Whichever brand you opt for (Dries van Noten and Lemaire also do great denim takes on a high waist), the key point to remember is that a high rise jean will work best worn with a simple white Tee or shirt, and a longer line blazer worn over the top, for posterity (you don’t want to leave it all exposed and risk looking like a young Simon Cowell).
Because like I say, the reason to wear a high waist is not to show off the fact that your trousers are high waisted, but rather to create an impeccable line in the leg. Keep that in mind and you should be able to pull off the vibe without looking like the aforementioned pop impresario or as though you’re auditioning for Bugsy Malone.
Oh, and it’s important to bear in mind that pleated jeans are the devil’s work.
Try a Flight Scarf
I’m writing this fresh off a flight. On said flight I was wearing a pair of black Issey Miyake Homme Plisse sweatpants (the only trousers to wear in the air as they’re ultra-comfortable, flexible enough to sleep in and not too insulating), a black cashmere sweater by Luca Faloni and a woven cashmere, ultra-fine gauge scarf by Brunello Cucinelli, in midnight blue.
The scarf is wrapped tight around my neck like a shroud and I always wear it, whatever flight I’m taking, whatever season it is. I’m not sure why I’m so committed to the scarf, but in truth there’s something deeply comforting about it- the familiarity of the fabric soothing the inevitable stress which comes with crossing continents in a metal tube moving at inhuman speeds.
The scarf also acts as a stylish alternative to a neck pillow, if not as useful, and it keeps me warm when the temperature inevitably drops, in-flight. What’s more, I can pull it up over my nose and mouth if someone takes their shoes off, like the man to the right of me did a short time earlier, or a sickly-looking person starts coughing in my vicinity.
Here’s my pick of the travel scarves for you to try on your next long haul flight.
Robert Downey Junior was the winner at the Oscars
Everyone’s banging on about how great Cillian Murphy looked on the awards season run - and yes, stylist Rose Forde did a cracking job putting him in wide-shouldered Saint Laurent (using David Byrne as her reference) and bandana ties teamed with smart Zegna and Versace suits.
For me though, the real style winner at the 96th Academy Awards was Robert Downey Junior. Not only did he perfectly embody the slightly rodeo-tinged aesthetic of the moment in his bolo tie, flairs and clicky boots, but he managed to look considerably younger than his years whilst doing so (screamingly obvious dye job, notwithstanding).
I think the reason that the look worked so excellently was because the best supporting actor struck the perfect balance between his accessories, shape, and tones.
The Saint Laurent suit was cut to fit him like a glove - close and then drapey in all the right places. Many red carpet stylists do not have their clients see a tailor before big flashbulb moments, which is a mistake. Downey Junior, on the other hand, works with Erica Cloud, who clearly understands the benefit of her clients being seen to with the business end of a tailor’s chalk. The shoulder was strong, the chest was canvassed within an inch of its life and the trousers were hemmed to perfection - the former two points being particularly important for a man of Downey Junior’s 58 years.
The look was also tonally perfect, with every element cast in rich, inky black. This meant that although the accessories were slightly out there (see the bolo tie and rodeo belt) and the blousy shirt was a lot, it worked relatively seamlessly because the tonal contrast was so minimal. The eye became drawn to the disparate elements without being overwhelmed by them.
We’re about to enter a rodeo resurgence thanks to the likes of Pharrell Williams showing blanket coats and Stetsons at Louis Vuitton and double denim dominating at Prada. But if you want to emulate the look in style as opposed to silliness, my advice would be to make like Downey Junior and keep the base of your look classic, throwing in the occasional tonal Western accessory to make it sing, sotto voce.
And unless you’re a Grammy award-winning artist or an actual cowboy, leave the stetson at the door.
Stephen Linard’s loss is a real one
Earlier this week designer and stylist Stephen Linard died at the age of 64. A Blitz Kid who was dominant in London’s creative scene during the mid to late eighties, Linard was responsible for dressing everyone from David Bowie to Boy George and he had a unique aesthetic rooted in experimentation and play.
Memories are short in fashion. Many will today thank the likes of Harry Styles and his stylist Harry Lambert, and designers such as Harris Reed, Francesco Risso at Marni and Jonathan Anderson at Loewe for cracking open the flannel-clad menswear egg and injecting it with a sense of fluidity and joy.
The truth is, however, that it was visionaries like Linard and his contemporaries Judy Blame, Ray Petri and Vivienne Westwood who really paved the way for menswear’s bright, bold future - and for that alone we should remember him.
“Stephen Linard was an extraordinary man and a designer who never got the recognition he truly deserved.” Said Dylan Jones on Instagram. “He was a genuine maverick - funny, bitchy, wildly inventive, and always fun to be with. And he drank like a soldier and swore like a fishwife. “
Signet rings are a thing
Before I knew that signet rings were a thing, my boyfriend gave me one cast from 9kt gold for Christmas. Engraved with a crest which looks like a cross between a lion and a wolf, he bought it from Gray’s Antiques in Mayfair and it has a satisfying weight about it.
Now, I’m beginning to see signet rings everywhere. All the most beautiful people in Emerald Fennel’s Saltburn were wearing them (Jacob Elordi’s Felix Catton being the most notable), Leo Woodall wielded one as Dex in Netflix’s tear jerking take on One Day, and there seems to be a sudden glut of them available from a whole host of brands - David Yurman and Tom Wood being among the most interesting in their respective budgetary pools.
If you plan on getting in on the signet ring thing, the key to getting it right is to not dress like Felix Catton (unless you have the face and frame of Elordi), or indeed anyone who looks like they might own a castle in Scotland or be in line for a peerage. That means no Barbours, no red trousers, no over-ruddied cheeks and - of vital importance, this - no gilets of any shape, colour or creed.
Because the truth is, as one of the original class signifiers, a signet ring only works if it’s worn with a heavy dose of irony. Team yours with any of the other route one class signifiers outlined above (dm me if you’d like a longer list), then you’ll look less sporty and rich; more thick, landed and like you call where you live a “hice”.
Herewith, a few of the finest signet rings to test out right now.
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