By Chris Lobo
In the natural world, the male peacock puts on an extravagant display to attract the attention of the female.
In the human world the roles are reversed.
In much of modern history, men have been hardwired to blend in rather than stand out. We are not the peacocks of our species – women are. This has been true throughout most of human history. It is in our wiring.
The bold and colorful geometric patterns of the peacock male’s plumage for us men is seen as something that we would never dare to parade the equivalent of. In the human race, the female takes on this role instead. Make-up, hair styling, accessories and bright vibrant colors are reserved for her in her role of attracting male attention. That is not to say that men can’t adorn themselves in the same way, simply that many choose not to (and if you’re reading modern follicle, maybe you’re in the group that chooses to).
As a result of this mentality, fashion companies can’t help but respond to what the male consumer is willing to wear. Men’s fashion is so boring because the majority of men fear wearing bold looks. The majority of men believe caring about what you wear is something that is reserved for women. Many even see it as a feminine trait, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
This is the way it has always been, right?
Not really, there are exceptions to the rule throughout our existence.
History has shown us that men’s fashion can be exciting rather than boring
Trends are not permanent and men’s fashion has switched to interesting, rather than boring, many times across cultures and ages.
The Renaissance, 18th-century France, and the samurai of Japan all embraced elaborate, striking menswear – from gilded doublets to embroidered silks and lacquered armor.
Let’s look at two modern examples:
Dandyism
Take the most recent era of our history where the dandy reigned supreme.
From the early 18th century in England, men in crisply tailored suits were the norm. The dandy placed a strong emphasis upon his physical appearance and his personal grooming. Impeccable style became the status quo – setting the groundwork for many of our modern day men’s styles.
Tailored suits were an essential for any man. And the dandy gave birth to the tailors of London’s Savile Row. An institute of modern men’s style that continues to hold sway on the fashion world’s collective tastes.
Far from boring and an example that still influences us to this day.
The Rock Star
The rock star is the ultimate peacock and is the perfect example of men’s style not being boring.
Do you think Steven Tyler, lead singer of Aerosmith, ever looked boring on stage? Did Prince, in his prime, ever look like he was running down to the store to buy some milk? Even rappers, the modern day rockstars, have you ever seen Pharrell Williams wearing a regular suit and tie combo? Or what about Bad Bunny and his slick Carribean tailoring?
Rock stars make men’s fashion fun, why are they so interesting to watch?
Because out-there fashion gets attention and sets them apart from the everyman.
Looking at these exceptions we begin to understand why men’s fashion actually isn’t boring. It’s just the majority of men that choose not to step out of their comfort zone. Conformity is a choice many of us make due to fear. And fashion companies will sell men what we’re comfortable wearing.
Why is men’s fashion so boring?
Somewhere in the mid 20th century, caring about how you look and what you wear became uncool.
You can see it in all the media of the last century.
Fashion magazines stopped writing for men and instead focused on women. The Hollywood archetype of the Alpha male action star was always seen wearing jeans and a white tee. By the 1950s, James Dean, the iconic movie star, cemented this look into the collective conscious and made it cool among rebellious teens. And then, later on from the 70s to the 90s, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone defined the action movie star and their wardrobe, a basic utilitarian style that didn’t have time to worry about what they were wearing.
Why is men’s fashion boring? Not caring about how you look is seen as cool in this era. Not trying is not only acceptable, it is deemed as a more masculine trait than actually caring.
As a result, men that don’t try often criticize the ones that do. Men policing how other men dress can be seen in many places, from social media to modern tv.
What can we do about it?
We have already seen that men’s fashion does not have to be boring.
It is a choice we have collectively made.
Caring about style by reading about fashion and grooming, magazines like men’s style and blogs like this one, modern follicle, is one way men can start to choose differently. Putting an emphasis on what we wear and how we wear it is how we can take back that choice. The more of us that are comfortable trying bold styles and have the courage to show it off, the more responsive fashion companies will be to releasing bolder designs.
We can choose:
- Color instead of monochrome.
- Extravagant instead of conservative.
- Bold and refined instead of humble and drab
- A patterned button up shirt and chinos instead of a white t-shirt and dad jeans
Our contemporaries have shown us how it’s done. The rock stars, the dandies, the artists of the world – we can choose to have style and still retain a strong masculine identity.
There is no need to fear the bold.
We should fear the boring.
Life is too short for another gray hoodie.
