A Man Mused on Men's Fashion Journalism.
Recently, I realised that I hadnāt bought a menās lifestyle magazine in an age. As an impressionable teenager, there was always at least 1912318 one in my bag, and I only read the fashion sections. Now, as a wiser boy-man hybrid, I forget the fashion section and go for the features. Yes, my interests have grown, but itās more than that: I avoid the fashion section.Ā
Why? Itās part boredom, part loathing. Not only does every fashion section in every mainstream menās magazine feel to read the same (minus the odd exception like GQ Style and Vogue Hommes Japan), I think that they combine to create a rhetoric which sits at odds with an essential attribute of journalism in general, and also with my reasons for loving fashion in the first place.Ā
Iām talking about the prescriptive tone which underscores the āGuidesā, āRulebooksā and āManualsā of menās magazines: which rams an archetypal ideal of what is and what is not to be a well dressed man, down the readerās throat.
āNever wear shorts more than an inch above the knee...never carry a man bag...never wear a short sleeve shirtāĀ (paraphrased from some of the most recent issues of the biggest menās magazines).
To me, an essential attribute of journalism is that it reports on things I, as a reader, am unaware of, or gives me insight into an alternative outlook on things that I am aware of. Whether itās politics, fashion, music or sport, I donāt pay Ā£4.00 to read the same BS month in, month out.Ā
This is where, in my opinion, mainstream menās fashion journalism has gone wrong. Its journalists choose not to report on the designers which challenge and refresh, or the explorers of the sartorially less trodden road: they choose not to sew a view of menswear which reflects its modern, changing and diverse existence. Rather, they choose to regurgitate and recycle an uninspiring, threadbare and flaccid view of menswear, which is as relevant as an article on health which champions the eating of fruit.
In doing so, they risk causing their reader to forget how to explore fashion as a way to express themselves, rather than as a way to sartorially bleat along with the rest of the herd.Ā
I sound like iām going to piss on the clothes and skin the pets of all those who work at the ominous sounding mainstream menās lifestyle magazines. No. Iām not against advice, or trend reporting. What I am against is inflexible rules in what is an essentially creative arena. Oh, and bad journalism. Itās simple: I donāt pick up a magazine to read what Iāve already read, especially in the same magazine, and I like what I do read to spur me to form my own ideas about the subject.Ā
...I also have a pair of Gucci shorts, a pair of Peter Jensen shorts and a pair of Carven shorts, which are all more than an inch above the knee, and I think that I look bloody good in them, especially with my man bag, you tossers.Ā
P.S I start an internship at one of said mainstream menās lifestyle magazines at the end of the month...I have dreams of reciting this article in a fancy boardroom, and vomiting colour all over their grey world. Reading this P.S over, I realise iām completely delusional...iāll be brown nosing for a few years yet (in my short shorts).Ā
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