Esquire’s Ten Trends for Spring 2011
It must have been the recession. The recession forced us all to hunker down, simplify, and do less with more. In a style sense, maybe the return to focusing on fit and cut while leaning on traditional patterns and colors was caused by the global financial white-knuckling of the past couple years. It was a minimalist’s preffered environment. Y’know, as long as you could ignore that whole teetering on the edge of world wide economic meltdown thing.
But now that things seem to be doing a little better… here come the cargo pants? People are taking risks again, and it’s showing up in clothes. Check out Esquire’s picks for the upcoming season’s trends, then c’mon back for our take and to leave your reaction.
Esquire’s 10 Spring trends with the official Dappered.com Take
1. Bold Checked Everything – MAYBE. Small stuff only. How about bold stripes instead?
2. Nautical Sweaters – SURE. If you want to branch out. LEC has one for $50, but note the shoulder buttons. Not everyone will dig those.
3. Double Breasted Suits – NO. Guys finally started wearing well cut two buttons. Easy.
4. “Colorful” Leather Jackets – NO. C’mon. The reference pic is Michael Jackson.
5. Denim Western Shirts – NO. If you wear jeans a lot, it’s tough to do denim on denim.
6. Trimmed Tennis Sweater – NO. Unless you use “Muffy” as a sincere pet name.
7. Three Piece Suit – YES. Nice to know you can now get an affordable one.
8. Club Collar Shirt – NAH. Seems like change for the sake of change?
9. Slim Cargo Pants – NO. See #8. Multiply by a million. This started in the fall.
10. Contrast Color Wingtips – NO. The contrasting colors and texture of the perforations make em’ a little too loud. A little too much. (which seems to be a theme) And are those lighter patches canvas? So leather, canvas, contrasting colors, wingtip perforations, and a blue heel? It’s a footwear casserole. Why not saddle shoes like these instead
As always, your turn. Agreements, disagreements, and additions go in the comments section below. And do yourself a favor, go out and get a subscription to Esquire. It’s as good as it gets. Tennis sweaters and all.
I disagree with you on this one. Denim on denim is getting back in style overe here in Europe. Doublebreasted suits are awesome. I also like slim cargo pants. I agree with you on your note about the leather jackets however.
Not into the cargo pants, even if they are slim. For me, either the cargo pocket must be slim enough to not function as cargo pants or it looks odd. In which case, it’s just there and may as well be a normal pant anyways. I think denim on denim is… tough. Usually looks terrible, but I think it can be done.
But I do think the Esquire pic of that Armani double-breasted suit looks great. I’ve never seen a good one in person though.
I love my chambray button-up. I just don’t wear it with denim pants. Also I’d DEFINITELY wear those two-tone wing tips but I’m also liking the saddle shoes you linked.
100% with you on double-breasted suits though.
Wearing saddle shoes screams “Please kick my ass”
what’s the old saying? no one has gotten a handjob in cargo pants since ‘nam — holds true
Two toned saddle shoes look like golf shoes to me.
Have to agree with you on all points Joe. Some pretty shocking pieces there, and not in a good way. I’m not on board with the cargo pants thing either, but aren’t they advocating they be trim, and then they show those Dockers which seem to be the antithesis?
The minimalist stuff of the last few years will be missed greatly.
Cheers,
Ben
I’d skip #8 for sure, maybe #9 as well. The rest, I’m good with.
I actually really like the slim fit cargo look. I like a lot of the workwear elements that people seem to be throwing in lately. It may be a trend, but it’s one that I’m ok with.
I agree with you on the wing tips though. They seem a little “zoot suit” to me, or something a guy in a high school Ska band would wear.
There is nothing good about cargo pants
I have to agree with John D. Sherrill. First off, being an ex-punk and ex-military, I will always have a soft spot for cargo pants. Sure the are overdone to the point of ubiquity but what is wrong with making them better?
While I am being contrary, I have to say that I like Trimmed Tennis Sweater. I’m too big and fat to pull it off myself but I can imagine the fancier of us fancy lads looking quite styling in it. Besides, we have so many prep pieces in our wardrobe, how can we declare something as too prep?
1. Bold Checked Everything – gingham is great. that said, everything in moderation, one item per outfit please.
2. Nautical Sweaters – St. James inspired sweaters are great, if you don’t dig the buttons, I don’t see you really getting into anything nautical
3. Double Breasted Suits – I agree, but think slim/tailored double-breasted sportcoats work. Especially in non-traditional colorways – leave to brass buttons to t. howell III
4. “Colorful” Leather Jackets – haha, just foolish.
5. Denim Western Shirts – must be a top a horse.
6. Trimmed Tennis Sweater – nothing wrong with these, especially since they’re also cricket/crew sweaters, usually in white, can go under anything and over anything. Trim is always better than 1990s bag
7. Three Piece Suit – Yup.
8. Club Collar Shirt – never wear open and without a pin. If you can pull that look off, more power to the wearer.
9. Slim Cargo Pants – all personal taste, these aren’t A&F frat wear.
10. Contrast Color Wingtips – one man says loud, another says individual, again if you can wear it confidently and don’t have too much going on upstairs it’s all good.
A blue gingam shirt paired with a trim white tennis sweater, all under a subtle double breasted sport coat. paired with wool, trim-fitting cargo pants (I believe Club Monaco has a nice pair out for S/S11), finished with two-tone wingtips would look crispy. The “blue” of the heel is the rubber grip of a wooden heel. easily replaced if that’s your sticking point. Keep up the great work, Dappered Team
Come on guys,
Unless you are doing some type of outdoor or blue collar work then cargo pants should be off limits. That Banana Republic ad is awful. Slim cargos are awful.
On the saddle shoes, I’m not a fan of distinctly different colors, but there are a lot of brown on dark brown and things like that, that look great.
And my only point of disagreement is on leather jacket. Obviously a red one isn’t going to look good for 99% of people, but they also mention light brown. I think a trim light brown leather jacket is a great look.
Thanks Tim.
Former Punk Rock kid here too. I also like the tennis sweater.
There’s an occasion for any style. For some of these items the occasion will be less often but that’s OK.
Agree on the leather jackets. A look-at-me-red jacket maybe not, but darker colors are great. A brown is nice, as well as dark blue, dark green, grey, something like that. Not purple, not red, but there’s nothing wrong with something more interesting than just black.
Adam, I agree with you that the Banana Republic ad is terrible but, since then, I have seen some new cargos which I think are quite stylish. If you read the Esquire piece, they don’t say that they are recommending slim cargos but updated cargos. Something better and more refined.
There is a pair of Rag & Bone cargos in the latest issue of GQ (not on the web yet) which I hope is where they are taking this cargo trend towards. They look great, stylish and would be perfect for a day out, this spring or summer. Something that you can wear at your company picnic or a concert and look sharp without looking overdressed or douchy.
I do agree with you about leather jackets.
I actually have two pairs of those Cole Haan Saddles shoes and they rock. I’ve gotten tons of comments on them. If there is a Cole Haan outlet near you those are normally available for even cheaper. I got mine for about $30 each as they were already discounted in addition to 60% off. And as for the comment saddle shoes screams “Please kiss my a$$”, really? You can say the same thing about skinny jeans or sweater vests, pocket squares or a number of things advocated of this site. But to each his own.
I agree with you on all counts.
I sort of like the cargo with the Banana Outfit, but I doubt I’d like them in real, everyday life. Cargos are just…no.
I sort of like the cargo with the Banana Outfit, but I doubt I’d like them in real, everyday life. Cargos are just…no.
As for cargo pants, it’s like playing with fire. But I think it looks FANTASTIC here. http://s3.amazonaws.com/data.tumblr.com/tumblr_lgtpwbSJbv1qargt4o1_1280.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0RYTHV9YYQ4W5Q3HQMG2&Expires=1299084155&Signature=qhxknsg4AXFF9FEeCkGEEu3WJBw%3D