Men and the Red Carpet fashion

Hi, girls. This is a rather philosophical question about what is appropriate for a men to wear on a red carpet ceremony.

Last night Chris Rock made a joke about why no one asks men about their clothes on red carpet events. That's because they all look the same. It was quite a good joke but this comment has a deeper meaning. Women are supposed to use haute couture on red carpet, to be vivid, stylish and "go crazy" with colors, shapes, textures, sparkles and so. Creativity and good taste are their limite. On the other hand men are supposed to use... tuxedos. Very well made impeccable tuxedos, but why only tuxedos? I think this is unfair, boring and kinda sexist.
So here is my thinking. Next year I think men should also go to big names of haute couture and ask for dresses. I'm not suggesting they should go cross-dressed in feminine dresses. I'm suggesting they should challenge stylists to think out of the box on how to make an incredible dress (or any other garment) for a man that will look amazing and manly.and be a match for those glamorous dresses women use. Let them play with textures and shapes and colors too, why not? What do you think about it?

9 years ago

rachylou

Veteran

So I'm reading online here that psychoanalyst, John Flugel, coined a phrase the "Great Masculine Renunciation." He connects the abandonment of male frippery to Enlightenment thinkers and their perception of fashion as irrational.

In my own life, I grew up with the phrase "innovation is not appreciated in men's clothing." Everyone seemed to really like the spectacle of flamboyant dresses anchored by a martial line of tuxedos. A neutral to offset the statement, if you will - only it's about fashion as a crowd thing not an individual thing.

It would be fascinating to see that engineered in the reverse. Get all the women to look the same in a dress and the men different in pants.

Kari

What about the equivalent of 18th-19th century male fashion?

http://www.kristenkoster.com/a.....s-fashion/

Marina

Active Member

Rachylou, that sounds like some very interesting reading. I believe men fashion x women fashion is strongly connect with how gender holes and values are seeing and work in each society/period and it affects our gender perception and values in a deep subconscious level as well. I agree it would be really fascinating to see how things would work on a reverse situation. We would probably be able to learn a lot with that.

Kari, that is a very good start. Men fashion had so many interesting shapes and styles through different ages and cultures. Its kinda sad they are discouraged to explore it more.

Thank you for your toughs, girls

Aziraphale

It's a neat idea, but in my experience, most men don't really care that much about what they're wearing. The do, however, pay attention to what women are wearing.

Speaking of which, Az...The way men *notice* is different from women apparently. There was a tv program about this. Like ask a man if he remembers the guy in the yellow shirt and he'll be, 'huh?' Or he'll be really into his cool cap, but the gestalt with all the other items of clothing may be a little 'so what.' Still, men used to be more flamboyant. Which I think is interesting.

I believe this is not an innate trait about men, but something they learn from the way they are treated since they are very young. I have lots of friends and co-workers with young children by now. I've been observing how most people react entirely different with boys and girls without noticing. Usually when a girl arrives people say "Hi. How beautiful you are" or "what a beautiful dress". Both men and women do it. It's very unusual someone saying "you look beautiful" to a boy in this same circumstance and I never ever saw anyone complimenting a young boy about his clothes. With boys it's just "Oh, look how big you are" or "hey champs"/"hey buddy" with some funny hand shake. Boys are praised a lot more often for being smart, strong, running around and for being good at some sport than for being beautiful or well dressed. They are asked about school, soccer or other activities, while girls will be praise for looking good very often and usually before anything else - even when this isn't true. Without noticing we teach boys that their clothes don't really matter and teach them to focus on other things.

ps.: my mother always treated me the same way most people act with boys. I didn't care about clothes either until I got my first job and I started to notice how differently men and women are treated when it comes to clothes.

It's interesting. Your family has the deepest impact, but my brother has held out in a sea of dandy relatives. My father bemoaned his sartorial sense. But he's also the very very youngest, my brother.

Rachylou, I love imagining your "sea of dandy relatives!"
I come from a family of thrifty-to-cheap engineers. Once we gave my grandpa a new wallet to replace one that was totally ripped apart, held together with duct tape, and he thought it was a waste of money. However we totally got my dad hooked on the US What Not to Wear back in the day (he called it "While You Were Badly Dressed") and he was proud to start tossing out terms like "Oooh, that's a LAYERED look!" When wearing a sweater over a button down.

chirico (Chiara)

(website)

I had a similar thought on Mon when looking at all the pics from the event. One Italian newspaper put Steven Tyler in the worst dressed list (he was at an after ceremony party).

http://www.justjared.com/photo.....oscars-06/

Now, I don't care much for this outfit, but what would we expect ST to wear? A tuxedo? He would look ridiculous for who he is, IMHO!
So, looks like men can't win...

gradfashionista

I was on the lookout for tuxes, and noticed the differences. I can even tell you that I was a big fan of Eddie Raymond's McQueen (IIRC) velvet tux jacket, and were I to attend such s glamorous affair, I would don a Smoking St Laurent fix or variation thereof. As much as I live some aspects of style and fashion, there's a part of my brain that turns off when I see a bunch of gowns because most do not appeal to me in any meaningful way.
I hear what you're saying, though I imagine men in showbiz are in fact more attuned to fashion because of the ramifications it has for publicity.

That's just adorable, Kari

Chirico, it must have been Steven's shoes, hehe

Grad - I find it interesting. Men do work within tighter parameters. Crystal 'piping' on a tux lapel from a male entertainer... and I'm all 'he's flash!' Same on a woman and I might be more like, 'you can do better than a little bedazzle,' lol. Ahem...

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