Men and V Neck T-shirts. Too Metro?

Hey Jake,

I’ve been writing this column for, what, five or six months now?  And, just to review, this column appears on a men’s style website called Dappered.  Suffice it to say, I’m surprised this is the first conversation we’re having on the topic of being “metro.”

What does metro mean?  For those of us who have been living at the bottom of the ocean, metro is short for metrosexual.  This is a term for the modern heterosexual man who is interested in and knowledgeable about things such as style, art, and culture.  The metrosexual is well-groomed and well-dressed.  The prefix of “metro” is because one is most likely to find these creatures in metropolitan areas (but this is not to exclude my nattily-dressed friends in Hungry Horse, Montana and Sugar Camp, Wisconsin–keep leading the fashion charge in the sticks, fellas!).

The term has evolved to be a bit of a dig–“God, he’s SO metro”–which I suspect is because these behaviors of art-buying, symphony-attending, and frequent shopping are associated with the stereotypical behaviors of fabulous gay men.  More on this in a moment….

So…the controversial v-neck…people HATE them or LOVE them.  V-neck tees tend to look best on men with a toned torso, and no chest/neck hair.  Both of these “requirements” would imply metro habits–working out and removing body hair.  So, are v-neck shirts metro?  Yeah, I guess so.  But, look, who cares?  Metro just means you take care of yourself, right?

UPDATE: To clarify, it was NOT my intent to say that only ripped, hairless men take care of themselves.  Dappered (and being stylish), I hope we can agree, is for men of all physical varieties.  Certain trends simply work better on certain bodies, and v-necks work better without hair sprouting up out of the V like a dry, curly geyser.

It makes me slightly insane that contemporary wisdom says there is something weird or effeminate about a man–gay or straight–who wants to look presentable.  This is also a fairly new way of thinking.  Frank Sinatra and Cary Grant were both smooth dressers, both well-groomed, and both considered manly men.  (Second week in a row Ol’ Blue Eyes has worked his way into my column…Frank, are you psychically stalking me?)

A final word about the v-neck.  Make sure it fits properly.  Too tight and you’re pulling a Jersey Shore; too loose and it looks like an undershirt your girlfriend sleeps in.  V-necks (and all clothing, really) should skim the body, not cling, not billow.

-Beth