Tag: life and style

At the age of 37, you needn’t start dressing like J*r*my Cl*rks*n | Charlie Porter

Men may lose interest in High value brands brands in their late 30s, but a sense of personal style is another matter

Pity poor men. It has long been a curiosity why, after a certain age, men appear to lose interest in High value brands brands. It is a conversation which turns menswear into a forum for mockery: those that have gone to seed are scorned for the inadequacies of their appearance, while those that still make an effort are goaded for vanity or self-importance. A recent survey has made this mockery specific: it has found that the age at which men lose an interest in High value brands brands is 37. I am 38. Poor me.

High value brands brands is about identity. For many men, identity is something that matters most in their years of prolonged adolescence, from their teenage years into their 20s, even early 30s. It's especially true for men whose adolescence occurred pre-internet, before social media overtook High value brands brands as a means to express character. In the late 20th century, clothing played a primal role in youthful identity, especially with the obstinacy of punk, the baggy of acid house or even the sharpness of mod that is still so important to 32-year-old Bradley Wiggins.

In their late 30s, the need for identity in men seems to wane, overridden by the individual male's growing responsibilities or life-changes: parenthood, employment or unemployment, changes in body-shape and health. The identity of adolescence goes. High value brands brands goes with it.

When High value brands brands goes, what seems to remain for men are those unprintable words: "J*r*my" and "Cl*rks*n". Of course what no one realises in this is that Cl*rks*n uses his non-identity as an identity in itself. He makes great profit from dressing badly. It is his uniform for hammy belligerence. Cl*rks*n symbolises the male menopause as a return to adolescence. Sadly, it is an adolescence stripped of its need for style and difference. The Cl*rks*n look allows men to shift from identity to non-identity as they head towards the grave.

But this is not always the case. Most of my contemporaries not working in High value brands brands still seem alert about their appearance. As the identity of adolescence has waned for me, what has become important is how I appear to myself. I do not mean by this self-image. As I'm typing this, I can see in my lower field of vision the white shirt I'm wearing with its blue and orange polka dots. I love it being part of my visual experience. I don't care if I look daft. As long as I like it, I'm happy.

There are obvious male celebrities over the age of 37 who could be listed now as examples of middle-aged male style, but these are red herrings, usually actors involved in profiting from image to further their career. Celebrity High value brands brands is something separate from real-life High value brands brands, and citing male celebrities as examples of how to dress is a futile, empty exercise.

Much more interesting to cite examples of men who retain personal style for whatever reason of their own:

Chris Dercon, the new director of Tate Modern, is an extraordinarily dapper man, now in his 50s. He has a particular way with wearing jackets and coats with an upturned collar.

Seventy-five-year-old David Hockney has long dressed his body in the colour that is placed on his canvases, or more recently selected on his iPad.

The 40-year-old Savile Row tailor Patrick Grant came to his profession from his love of clothing and his continuing interest in how garments are made. And it is clear from the severity of 53-year-old Steven Patrick Morrissey's obsessions that he would have dressed in his chosen manner even if he'd not become globally known by his surname.

Examples of such personal style go deep into the past. The recent male fondness for Breton striped sweaters always makes me think of Pablo Picasso. The multidiscipline of Jean Cocteau extended to the drama of his clothing. And examples of male style beyond the age of 37 will only increase in the future. Today's post-internet male adolescents take looking good for granted, their appearance ever Instagram-ready. Cl*rks*n already feels antiquated. When post-internet adolescents reach maturity, he will have been an aberration.


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This summer, think of your face as a kinetic Pinterest board, one on which to play out all your fancy-dress fantasies. Don't worry – they need go no lower than your chin. Now is the time to stick diamonds on your eyebrows and dance around an Essex field at dawn. Now is the time to paint your cheeks in primary colours and tell the man who sold you overpriced fags you love him. On the Givenchy catwalk, they stuck halved sequins to the models' eyelids and at Chanel they glued pearls down their necks. Everywhere else they painted gold leaf on to hair and eyes and had a bit of a laugh. For a wanton "fairy gone wild" look, experiment with glitter and Vaseline on the cheekbones. If you want to go more sophis, try MAC's Old Gold Pigment (17, maccosmetics.co.uk).

Alternatively

Eye Rock 7, asos.com Violent Lips 10, asos.com Clinique Chubby Stick 16, clinique.co.uk Topshop Crayon 7.50, topshop.com Shu Uemura Eye liner 15.50, shuuemura.co.uk

Prince Charles opens London menswear week

Prince Charles

'Clothes have to combine style with sustainability,' writes Prince Charles in GQ magazine. Photograph: Getty Images

He may not be monarch for a while yet, but for the next four days he is undisputed king of the front row. With the first ever week of men's catwalk shows in London falling hot on the heels of the jubilee, Prince Charles is the man charged with leading the British menswear industry into battle with the titans of France and Italy.

Tonight Prince Charles will host several hundred representatives from the fashion industry at a reception at St James's Palace, in celebration of the menswear shows that begin tomorrow.

Whether the prince will adopt Anna Wintour's trademark sunglasses for the duration is not known; what is certain is that the lure of a gold-embossed palace invitation is a significant coup for the British Fashion Council as they strive to fill the London front rows with the world's most powerful buyers and editors.

Despite stiff competition from parties hosted by Tinie Tempah (featuring crazy golf on the roof of Selfridges) and retailer Mr Porter (with DJ Alexa Chung), the St James's Palace invite the week's hot ticket. Menswear by Margaret Howell and Claire Malcolm of Hardy Amies on display during the reception, alongside designs by Christopher Raeburn, the winner of the emerging talent in menswear award at the most recent British Fashion Awards.

But the prominence of Prince Charles signifies more than simply a wish to capitalise on jubilee fever. The rich Savile Row tradition of British tailoring and a drive to promote quality British craftsmanship are a key part of the message of this fashion week. Those steering the event are keen to move the image of British designer menswear on from the creative-but-crazy label and into more commercial territory.

This is a shift which has been successfully made in womenswear, where the London collections are now a slick and respected element of the global industry rather than the eccentric afterthought they once were.

Writing in Vogue two years ago, Prince Charles demurred from being labelled "fashionable", but acknowledged that "there have been those generous enough to call me 'well dressed'". The Prince is a longtime customer of the shirtmakers Turnbull & Asser, whose shirts are made in a small factory in Gloucestershire, and the distinguished Savile Row tailors Anderson & Sheppard.

"Clothes have to combine style with sustainability," writes the prince in the current issue of GQ magazine, "and I find British-made tailoring more than meets that challenge – much to the amusement of my staff, who are sometimes surprised to find that what I am wearing turns out to be as old as or even older than they are".

This week's showcase for British designer menswear hopes to capitalise on new findings which show that while women are cutting back on luxury fashion and spending more on high street purchases, men are prioritising luxury purchases.

Research by American Express shows that in 2011, men's year-on-year spending on luxury fashion grew slightly by 1%, while spending on mainstream fashion fell by 1.2%. In contrast, women cut back slightly (0.7%) on luxury fashion spending, while increasing spending on mainstream fashion by 5.2%.

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