Guys have it easy if they want to pull. Here’s the failsafe date outfit: grey T-shirt, neither too baggy nor too tight. Jeans, also neither too baggy or too tight. Clean shoes (negotiable). Call it the Ryan Gosling effect – the guy has at least 187 different grey T-shirts, and that worked out pretty well for him (Eva Longoria).
But your boyfriend’s standard male date night outfit might be about to change pretty dramatically. Gucci – that old standby of sturdy Italian machismo – is leading the way with a very different male look. Instead of the glam power suits beloved by Hollywood A-listers and the like, its Milan show showcased droopy silk pussybow blouses, slinky see-through red lace tops and long skinny scarves.
Oh, don’t forget the mink-lined sandals. Meanwhile, Rick Owens put full-frontal nudity on the runway with models in tunics with cut-out crotch holes and no pants underneath. People are calling it #dickowens.
Obviously, ‘fashion people’ love a little NSFW skin on the runway – especially if sported by a skinny male model. Others have hailed Gucci’s new take on masculinity, comparing it to the gender-bending glam rock looks of Mick Jagger and Brian Jones. But I’m not sure most girls seriously wants a Tinder date to turn up in anything half as daring. And they definitely wouldn’t like it if said Tinder date borrowed a chiffon blouse from their wardrobe.
‘Even if a boy had stayed at my house and desperately needed something clean to wear to work the next day… I would be confused if they chose any of those items,’ says Kate, 26, after I sent her pics of some of the Gucci models. ‘Imagine if the guy was an average-sized lad. The outfits would make him look like a Tudor royal.’ As in, Henry VIII levels of obesity.
Some girls say they love the idea of going out with a fashionable man about town, but how often is that just lip service? I should know – I’m guilty of it. I’ve side-eyed my share of boyfriends as they experimented with deep V T-shirts (hideous), expensive Italian trainers (so trashy) and appallingly applied eyeliner (please, leave it to the MAC counter). My current guy bought a dangly clip-on earring from Claire’s Accessories for a dress-up night and has been wearing it on regular nights out. It has fake rhinestones in it. I’ve shoved it into the back of the dresser, half-hoping it falls behind the drawers and is never seen again.
I tell myself I’ve got more of an issue with the execution of these style choices and not their intention, but maybe that’s just self-delusion. I love women in suits (see: my girlcrush on Lorde and Julia Roberts). I’m the first to trumpet self-expression and creativity when it comes to women’s fashion. But all I want is a guy in a plain T-shirt and semi-decent jeans. In short: I’m a hypocrite.
‘I’ve probably been out with men who wear clothes girlier than that,’ says Hayley, 26, casting a critical eye over Gucci’s paisley silk blouse. ‘I dated a boy who wore a paisley cravat, very undone shirts and rather a lot of silver jewellery. He somehow pulled it off. I’m not a fan of man cleavage, but I’d rather someone had individual style than generic.’
Italian fashion critic Angelo Flaccavento calls the new, gender-bending male look femminiello, a term used in Naples to describe men who dress as women. It’s an affectionate term for those whose style presentation leans towards the female; it’s not necessarily gay or trans, and it’s definitely not straight and narrow. Instead, it blurs the boundaries between masculine and feminine. Flaccavento calls it the ‘fourth sex’. To him, it feels like a fresher, freer take on men’s fashion.
We praise women who experiment with androgynous fashion, but what about the other way around? How would we feel when men start dressing really, really girly? Maybe it’s time we all loosened up about all kinds of gender norms in fashion – including the ones that apply to men. At any rate, I might try to dig out that old Claire’s Accessories earring. If nothing else, I could probably get away with borrowing it.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.