Boys Watch the Girls While the Girls Watch the Boys Who Watch the Girls Go By…

It’s occurred to me, looking through the archives of this blog, that there’s an awful lot about the ladies – but almost nothing at all about the gentlemen - a sore oversight on my part, which I will seek to redress in this here post.

Perhaps one of the reasons why I haven’t written much this year about men’s style is that I always thought that men’s style was much more straightforward than women’s. On account of the absence of breasts, hips and thighs, I’ve always held a firm belief that men have a much easier time dressing themselves – i.e., put on a pair of decent jeans, a button down, and a jacket, and you’re ready to rock the kazbar.

However, recent and close observation of the males in my life has lead me to conclude that men can be just as fabulous, if not more so, than us ladies. (Recently there has also been a lot of close – cough- ‘observation’ - of males who are not in my life, more’s the pity, at gigs and on sidewalks, but that’s a homily for another time).

I think we don’t notice male style dilemmas as they are played out on a more subtle level than female ones. As mentioned above, the fact that there are simply less shapes and styles of clothes for men to choose from means that there’s going to be less plurality in male dressing – it’s hard to break away from the pants and shirts model when it’s socially unacceptable to wear anything else. However, within, and perhaps because of, these confines, there are some spectacularly stylish men whom I feel it is my duty to valorise on this humble blog.

I ought to start with the inspiration for this post. On Saturday, Rosie Bon Jovie and I had the immense privilege and pleasure of listening to a brilliant indie-rock-folk band, The 45, at Ainslie Hall. The lead singer of said band, apart from having a voice like Nick Cave and the lyrical talents of Geoff Buckly, was a brilliantly stylish man, a light on the hill to which all of you gentlemen out there should aspire. Aside from a brilliantly scuffed pair of workboots and authentically worn-in jeans, this young rocker had perfected the waistcoat-shirt-tie-hat combo. This is territory where many have strayed and failed spectacularly, particularly in the first year of an arts degree at university. Proving that old fashion maxim about wearing your clothes rather than letting them wear you, this muso demonstrated that what I had once dismissed as wankwear can, and is, fabulously stylish when it’s done with a sense of integrity and reality – with a sense of owning the clothes rather than the clothes owning you.

My fabulously stylish friends, Jordan Hawthorne and Brody Leon, demonstrate, in their different approaches to style, that there are many ways for men to be fabulous on a tighter than tight shoestring budget. Jordan Hawthorne’s approach is to focus on quality accessories. Although Jordan looks similar whenever I see him, he always looks good, on account of having a capsule wardrobe of jeans and a few shirts coupled with brilliant accessories. Of note are his choice in glasses frames – which are always just noticeable enough to make you comment, but not so outrageous as to make him a laughing stock – and his signature satchel. I covet this satchel, not only for its innate beauty and practicality, but because of its quality and the feeling that it gives of being timeless. Which makes sense, given that Jordan picked up this particular piece of fabulousness in the middle east, during a year overseas. Again, like the abovementioned rocker, Jordan’s style works because, in addition to being well thought out and classically well accessorised, it is all his own, and speaks to his interests and his experiences.

In contrast to Jordan Hawthorne’s understated style, Brody Leon encapsulates all that is good about flamboyant-old school-vintage-student-chic. His endless and cheerful parade of tweed jackets always brighten the ANU campus. Never one to shy away from more flamboyant vintage numbers, Brody has numerous fabulous pieces, the highlight of which is his tuxedo jacket with tails – an authentic twenties number, I believe, and a piece which those not endowed with natural style would be swamped by. I have also heard tell that Brody Leon has come into possession of a particular pair of red Cuban heels…having not seen them with my own eyes I cannot pass judgement, but I’m sure they are as stylish as everything else in Brody’s wardrobe.

There are so many other stylish men that I know, I could go on for ages. I haven’t touched on Jimmy Henry’s board short collection, or Pete Morrisey’s burgundy velvet 70s blazer, or Hugo Kirkham’s leather jacket. If I had to draw a common thread that unites all these fabulously stylish men together, however, it would be their sense of stylistic integrity – of staying true to what they know is fabulous. Something which, in spite of my earlier reticence, is worth an honourable mention on this blog.