i-D August 2008
Pierluigi Macor; Anastasia Barbieri
Everytime I see a perfectly executed menswear for women editorial I instantly think of this article from Vogue US. I've mentioned it a gazillion times here so you probably all know it, but it's about a man who wrote that women don't understand how they make men feel when they slip into their shirt, button it up a little and run out the door. That we just don't understand. I love that article. I remember reading it on a train somewhere - up the blue mountains maybe - in an old sweater of my dad's and a polo shirt that I had knicked off a friend. Cosy and curled up in the recesses of those baggy items I felt safe and warm and very, very content. I love menswear. I wear it all the time. I've been known to shop in the mens department, somewhat brazenly, and emerge triumphant with all manner of boxy parkas, plain chinos and starchy round-neck sweaters. I still think that the mens section of acne trumps the womens hands down. I regularly steal things out of my dad and brother's closets, especially since the former has the most perfect array of chambray shirts and the latter has some fantastic sweatshirts that you can throw over everything. I just wish there wasn't a stigma attached to it. I wish you could shop in the menswear section and buy mens clothes for yourself and not have to "steal" them from your boyfriend/ex/father/brother etc. I hate that fashion vernacular refers so frequently to the look as "borrowed from the boys". Why does it have to be borrowed? Why can't we just wear it and own it and love it because it's fantastic?
This is just such a great editorial. It looks like menswear - and some of it is - but some of it is just the women's collections that happened to lean heavily on the tenets of tailoring and simplicity. I love the idea of a clean shirt poking out from a tweed jacket, of a big trench coat wrapped double around, of suiting up - one of my absolute favourite things to do in the whole wide world. I love how beautiful and striking Anastasia looks, no make up, middle-part in her hair, growing out her fringe and all, just casually going about her life in clothes that are unfussy and heavy duty. My gap Men's Parka, which to this day remains my greatest menswear purchase for sheer wearability, is just like that. It doesn't faff around, it get's the bloody job done. Plenty of pockets for stuffing shit in. Sleeves to roll up so you can get your hands dirty. The best thing about menswear is that it is designed for wear and tear. I can't even think about all the clothes that sit in my cupboard with rips and tears after the first wear simply because they're too delicate. Clothes that have serious, well known labels and all. I'm sick of that. I want clothes that do their job. They, on their own, might not be anything to look at, they're just simple shirts and trousers and blazers and trench coats. But you, wearing them, make all the difference.
Menswear is rendered more interesting by the sheer fact that a woman is wearing it. It's simple. That's why the Le Smoking is still so popular - and sexy. And that's why i-D wants to thank all the women who have worn men's clothes. Because we do it so well!
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with the title I want to thank all the women who have worn my clothes. You can bookmark this page URL http://startthefire-cafagesta.blogspot.com/2011/08/i-want-to-thank-all-women-who-have-worn.html. Thanks!
