The Summer months are fast approaching and given the dreary winter of cuts, wars and Dancing on Ice that we’ve all had to endure, the people of Britain, are undoubtedly looking forward to a bit of sunshine but the question is, what should we be wearing this Summer? On Thursday evening I discovered what’s in vogue for men’s fashion this year at a GQ menswear show at, Selfridges, in Manchester’s Exchange Square. Brace yourself lads it’s going to get a little bit colourful from here as it would seem dark blue, grey and black are out.
On the chilly Thursday, prior to the catwalk show, I’d been working as a waiter in a Mexican restaurant and I had to take my evening’s attire with me as I would have never had enough time to get ready and get to Manchester in time for the show. Given that the event is heavily fashion based I thought there is a very high probability I was going to be judged for my chosen ensemble. So I decided to play it safe with a grey cardigan topping a white shirt and skinny tie complemented by tinted navy jeans and sky blue plimsolls. Surely this couldn’t fail.
After completing my shift I went to make the dramatic Clark Kent transformation from waiter to fashion journalist and discovered to, my horror, whilst dousing myself in bottle after bottle of aftershave, to rid myself of the smell of chicken fajitas, that I’d forgotten my jeans and plimsolls. As time was ticking away fast and I had less than an hour to get to the event a dilemma developed. Do I risk going home picking up my carefully selected footwear and jeans or just gamble by my wearing the now grubby lower half of my work uniform?
I had no option and went with the latter, as I arrived in Manchester making the long walk past the CIS to Selfridges I stood In every puddle I could find in the hope that my salsa and guacamole covered shoes would miraculously begin to gleam so I didn’t look like the amateur I clearly was. Staring at the big wheel that stands proudly next to the now rather imposing Selfridges building I thought how can I comment about fashion when I’m wearing trousers that make me look like I’ve just finished a long day at school.
Entering the menswear department I suddenly started to feel at ease, this could have been something to do with the free alcoholic beverages, and began to wonder around the displays for the new season. The handy information leaflets informed me of the four big looks for men this summer including, South Pacific, which consists of khaki designs and bright Hawaiian shirts, although, I’m not overly convinced this’ll be a massive hit with Manchester’s abundance of Liam Gallagher impersonators but who knows it could catch on.
If that isn’t your bag then maybe, Carry On, will be this fashion aims to rediscover, Britannia, raising memories of a good old fashioned jaunts to the seaside wearing vibrant stripy T-Shirts and high raised shorts that even an 1980s footballer would blush at the sight of. After speaking to the sales assistant, at length, about this look, which I have to admit did grow on me by the end of our conversation, she concluded by saying the Charlie Chaplin look is back in…I never knew it went out.
Selfridges seemed to have committed to revving memories of Starsky and Hutch, Marc Bolan and Frank Zappa’s moustache in the, 70s Holiday, display. I’m pleased to report that we can now safely dig out the loafers and bleached denim from the attic and wear them once more, also, it might be a good idea to start growing an afro too.
The final ensemble for the summer months is, Rainbow, which does exactly what it says on the tin. I was blinded by the light of looking at multi-coloured jumpers and cardigans that contained every colour known to man. From this look I couldn’t help but wonder if this meant James May is a style icon? As he’s been wearing very similar stuff on Top Gear for years. In all honesty, this did look rather fitting for the summer, it just would be complemented by a few rays of sunshine descending onto our shores. Although I doubt, Rainbow, will age all that well but it could well be a guilty pleasure this summer.
The night ended with the main event of a catwalk show hosted by T4’s Jameela Jamil (I had to Google her as most weekend morning I’m too worse for ware to be out of bed watching television) presenting the looks in greater detail. With offerings from top designers such as Ralph Lauren, Acne, Gucci, Jill Sander and Kurt Geiger amongst others.
A few expected insecurities crept in during the show as I stared at the admittedly rather handsome runaway models while simultaneously I caught a reflection of my somewhat portly figure but this depression soon turned to excitement as I spotted former contestants of Channel 4’s Coach Trip (My favourite TV show) admiring the clothes on display. I did hope that tour guide Brendan may have been present but alas he was nowhere to be found.
The evening was a great success and seemed to please those much more qualified than me to judge fashion the only slight glitch was that the lovely Jameela kept name dropping Jude Law and Sienna Miller saying that they were big fans of the looks, that she thought they’d probably wear matching outfits, only for someone to remind her after her 12th reference to them that they’d recently split-up (Oh dear!).
I think it’s fair to say most of what was on display was aspirational attire, given that the outfits cost more than my car, but there were a few looks which I could see really working on the streets of Manchester this year, so guys maybe forget about roaming around shirtless (Obviously this‘ll disappoint many ladies I’m sure) the second the sun appears (getting that all too common and not particularly appealing red lobster look) and go for a rainbow jumper instead. Also the good people at GQ and Selfridges have assured me that socks and sandals do not mix so try your best to steer clear of them I know Jude Law does.
On the chilly Thursday, prior to the catwalk show, I’d been working as a waiter in a Mexican restaurant and I had to take my evening’s attire with me as I would have never had enough time to get ready and get to Manchester in time for the show. Given that the event is heavily fashion based I thought there is a very high probability I was going to be judged for my chosen ensemble. So I decided to play it safe with a grey cardigan topping a white shirt and skinny tie complemented by tinted navy jeans and sky blue plimsolls. Surely this couldn’t fail.
After completing my shift I went to make the dramatic Clark Kent transformation from waiter to fashion journalist and discovered to, my horror, whilst dousing myself in bottle after bottle of aftershave, to rid myself of the smell of chicken fajitas, that I’d forgotten my jeans and plimsolls. As time was ticking away fast and I had less than an hour to get to the event a dilemma developed. Do I risk going home picking up my carefully selected footwear and jeans or just gamble by my wearing the now grubby lower half of my work uniform?
I had no option and went with the latter, as I arrived in Manchester making the long walk past the CIS to Selfridges I stood In every puddle I could find in the hope that my salsa and guacamole covered shoes would miraculously begin to gleam so I didn’t look like the amateur I clearly was. Staring at the big wheel that stands proudly next to the now rather imposing Selfridges building I thought how can I comment about fashion when I’m wearing trousers that make me look like I’ve just finished a long day at school.
Entering the menswear department I suddenly started to feel at ease, this could have been something to do with the free alcoholic beverages, and began to wonder around the displays for the new season. The handy information leaflets informed me of the four big looks for men this summer including, South Pacific, which consists of khaki designs and bright Hawaiian shirts, although, I’m not overly convinced this’ll be a massive hit with Manchester’s abundance of Liam Gallagher impersonators but who knows it could catch on.
If that isn’t your bag then maybe, Carry On, will be this fashion aims to rediscover, Britannia, raising memories of a good old fashioned jaunts to the seaside wearing vibrant stripy T-Shirts and high raised shorts that even an 1980s footballer would blush at the sight of. After speaking to the sales assistant, at length, about this look, which I have to admit did grow on me by the end of our conversation, she concluded by saying the Charlie Chaplin look is back in…I never knew it went out.
Selfridges seemed to have committed to revving memories of Starsky and Hutch, Marc Bolan and Frank Zappa’s moustache in the, 70s Holiday, display. I’m pleased to report that we can now safely dig out the loafers and bleached denim from the attic and wear them once more, also, it might be a good idea to start growing an afro too.
The final ensemble for the summer months is, Rainbow, which does exactly what it says on the tin. I was blinded by the light of looking at multi-coloured jumpers and cardigans that contained every colour known to man. From this look I couldn’t help but wonder if this meant James May is a style icon? As he’s been wearing very similar stuff on Top Gear for years. In all honesty, this did look rather fitting for the summer, it just would be complemented by a few rays of sunshine descending onto our shores. Although I doubt, Rainbow, will age all that well but it could well be a guilty pleasure this summer.
The night ended with the main event of a catwalk show hosted by T4’s Jameela Jamil (I had to Google her as most weekend morning I’m too worse for ware to be out of bed watching television) presenting the looks in greater detail. With offerings from top designers such as Ralph Lauren, Acne, Gucci, Jill Sander and Kurt Geiger amongst others.
A few expected insecurities crept in during the show as I stared at the admittedly rather handsome runaway models while simultaneously I caught a reflection of my somewhat portly figure but this depression soon turned to excitement as I spotted former contestants of Channel 4’s Coach Trip (My favourite TV show) admiring the clothes on display. I did hope that tour guide Brendan may have been present but alas he was nowhere to be found.
The evening was a great success and seemed to please those much more qualified than me to judge fashion the only slight glitch was that the lovely Jameela kept name dropping Jude Law and Sienna Miller saying that they were big fans of the looks, that she thought they’d probably wear matching outfits, only for someone to remind her after her 12th reference to them that they’d recently split-up (Oh dear!).
I think it’s fair to say most of what was on display was aspirational attire, given that the outfits cost more than my car, but there were a few looks which I could see really working on the streets of Manchester this year, so guys maybe forget about roaming around shirtless (Obviously this‘ll disappoint many ladies I’m sure) the second the sun appears (getting that all too common and not particularly appealing red lobster look) and go for a rainbow jumper instead. Also the good people at GQ and Selfridges have assured me that socks and sandals do not mix so try your best to steer clear of them I know Jude Law does.
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