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Men’s Style Predictions for 2013

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2012 had plenty of surprises.  Let’s all put on our prognosticating caps and give the fortune telling thing a try for 2013. Leave your thoughts on what might happen in men’s stlye this year in the comments.  Photo Credit: Beck Gusler

#1. Two Aesthetic Camps Emerge:  Hyper-Busy, and Minimalist.

The trend has been more = better these last few years.  Y’know, bright shoes, bracelets and bowties… all at once. Not everyone has liked that look or the retail world’s attempt to capitalize on it.  Expect the arms race for busyness to continue on one side, yet on the other there just might be a passionate return to clean basics like dark suits and white shirts.

#2. jcp continues to improve

Stylistically speaking.  Financially, well, who knows.

#3. Lots of linen and linen blends.

Used to be your choices were cotton, wool, or some synthetic blend.  Starting to think that linen is going to have a big year in 2013.  J. Crew is already offering a linen & silk sportcoat (now $271.60 w/ STYLEFIND) and it’s only January.

#4. Jacket sleeves get shorter, jacket tails get longer, button stances drift higher.

Retailers seem to be getting the note that most of us don’t have the wingspan of Kevin Durant.  Sleeve length can be a deal breaker for plenty, especially if the makers stubbornly stick to functional buttons at the cuffs.  The flipping the-cuffs-back thing has also petered out, so let’s just make em’ non functional.  The chopped jacket thing is also all but done, and the already underway rebound will be more traditional length blazers, sportcoats, and suit jackets.  Meanwhile, the current stance on J. Crew Ludlows is elegant, but it’s down there for sure.  An inch or two higher than that looks a little more athletic.  Also expect more 2/3 roll jackets.

#5. Shirt Collar and Ties continue to get wider

The razor skinny tie and itty bitty collars have gone the way of the Jonas Brothers.  The come back of more substantial collars and wider ties won’t be full Merril Hoge, but, expect ties to sniff 3″.

#6. You might just consider wearing pleats.  In limited circumstances.

This is another rebound from an extreme.  Pant rises bottomed out in the low rise trend, and shirts were coming untucked like crazy.  Now they’re heading back towards the true waist, which even on men is slimmer than their hips. The way to gather that fabric without it bunching = pleats.

#7. Macy’s cleans up their act.

From their catalogs to their stores to their over embellished INC blazers.  They’ve got to get less chaotic.  Don’t they?

#8. Park & Bond’s going out of business sale doesn’t quite equal CLAD’s

Word was GILT is set to pull the plug on their full retail site.  And their winter sale has already shown flashes of awesome, but couldn’t they just take this stuff and put it on GILT?

#9. Skyfall is released on DVD and…

People realize that while it was certainly good (and the clothes were great)… it wasn’t that good.  Was it?

#10. Store Wars 2013: J. Crew finally gets a win

In year three, Frank and his crew might be the odds on favorite to get it done.

Your turn guys.  Rub those crystal… um… balls?  Anyway.  What are your predictions for the upcoming year in men’s style?  New trends?  Changes in how you shop?  Leave it all in the comments below.

crystal ballz“If Sylvia Browne doesn’t pick up this spare, Ms. Cleo wins the Omaha Classic!”

Comments

  2. Agreed about JCP. Was there for a couple hours yesterday and, although it was a depressing and confusing retail environment, I left with a couple pair of nice cords, a j.abboud shirt, and nice merino sweater for less than 60 bucks. I live in JCP’s corporate home town and want them to do well but kindof felt like a jackal picking apart a wounded animal.

  3. I also agree on JCP. The sale they are having now doesn’t seem to be growing so I hope they are just clearing stock.

    My prediction: Cuffed jeans showing some ankle/sock. It might take most of the year for that look to hit the southeast though.

  4. My tailor warned me about this, too. I don’t think I can go back, except maybe on formalwear.

  5. Agreed. Got a $50 gift card for Xmas. Pickings were slim (perhaps because of Xmas) but left with a J. Abboud shirt on a clearance table, a flannel shirt, and the St. John’s Rappel work boots (great boots btw), for a total just shy of $52.

  7. Sorry Joe, still not losing my love of Skyfall. Sure, there were some weak points (the first half of the final action scene felt a bit “Burn Notice-y” rather than Bondian), but I still think it redefined how good a film a Bond movie can be. I’m particularly excited to see who they have after Sam Mendes in the directing chair, along with the very nostalgia-inducing final minute that sets up the next several films.

  8. Um, sorry but no. Perhaps I can tolerate one pleat per side but for the normal stuff? Not gonna happen for me.

    And for what it’s worth, the only time pleats work is with a suit (and even then, that’s pretty iffy if you intend to separate the pants and the jacket.)

    Pleats = still too ’90s and early ’00s for me, bro!

  9. I have been eyeing the St. John’s boots for awhile. After reading your post, I plan to order them today. Were they true to size?

  10. Seriously! I just need a 38-40R usually, but at 6′ and long arms, sleeve lengths are the bane of my existence.

  11. I went down a 1/2 size with still enough room for thick socks. A full size down was too tight. Took them home and put a coat of Kiwi saddle soap on them, let them dry, and the next day rubbed some Lexol leather conditioner on them and they’re a nice rich deep brown color. Makes the yellow and red laces pop. IMO, well worth the $30 price.

  12. Yup. I went to JC Penneys, last week, and they had nearly the entire JCP line on clearance. Their poplin, oxford and dress shirts (all of which I love) were selling for $14. It felt like stealing.

  13. I honestly think they’ll happen when pant rises start to raise (super low rise are already gone). Again, not saying wrong or right, just predicting. I do think though a single pleat on each side instead of the ol’ accordion lap is pretty unobtrusive, and will get the job done when it comes to gathering that fabric.

  15. 1) Best caption I’ve seen on here in a while. 2) Think the lapels will widen out with the ties and collars? As long as the sack suit from the 90s doesn’t come back, sounds like a move from 60s-ish proportions (think Don Draper) to more 40s-ish styles (think Carey Grant).

  16. Unless you are a heavy set guy, I still think 2.5″ tie width is the best. Pleats need to go away for good, not come back. I also think arm holes need to get higher and sleeve length longer. I feel I need to stick with a brand like indochino for all my suiting and blazers since the fit just isnt right at places like BR. Granted everything else in my closet comes ffom BR.

  17. I agree with Joe here. Skyfall was enjoyable to watch overall, but the plot had more holes than a wheel of Swiss cheese. The first half was a bit of a slog; the second was pretty fun. I liked most of the acting but a lot of the characters’ presence seemed forced (Q, Moneypenny) and the plot made virtually no sense at all.

  18. My wife bought me the wool JCP pants Joe wrote about. These are now by far my favorite cool weather pants. The fit is spot on and they are very comfortable.

  22. Some of my predictions:
    – bavarian inspiration: think suspenders with shorts, fedoras accented with feathers
    – aztec print on everything
    – real life bubbling outfits (men and women)
    – sexting (already kind of hot right now)
    – tailoring: negative break on pants (effectively floods, but can’t call it that)
    – atkins diet

  24. As much as I don’t like pleats, I can see them coming back. As long as it is just one pleat per side it won’t be as bad as the 90’s triple pleats. As long as it is just for suits and dress slacks, no pleated khakis.

  25. I refuse to believe #6. I will consider shopping for pleated pants when I shop for depends. Not before.

  27. I’m just the opposite. I’m all torso, short arms and legs. Everything I buy needs to have sleeves shortened. 🙁

  28. I’m a jcp employee as well so I share your sentiment. I can definitely see the company trying to be more stylish, I was pretty impressed with the fall output (at least compare to last fall) so I’m really excited to see what mr Wooster has in store for us come February. I’m particularly excited about the jackets that he mentioned in the article.

  29. I am a minimalist. I dislike all the Hyper-Busy guys trying way too hard. In my opinion it doesn’t look good, it just looks like, well,,, you’re trying WAY too hard. Call me old school, but style should be simple.

  30. To the long list of guys panning pleats, with all due respect, take a hike.

    1. Pleats are classic. If your only reference point for pleats is MC Hammer, you need to take another look at mens’ fashion history. As with everything, there is a right way and a wrong way — khakis, no. Flannels, trousers, suits, yes.
    2. Cuffs rock. And cuffs need pleats.
    3. If you’re heavy-set, have an actual backside, are a skier, a lineman, a prop or a lock, a cyclist, a lifter, a wrestler, a hockey-player, speed-skater, or heck, a fencer, you’re going to need more fabric in the thigh and in the trunk. If you’re any of these things and in any way fit in the middle, flat-fronts are simply not going to cut it. Unless you can afford to have a pair of trousers hand-cut for you (and if you are, why are you reading Dappered?), then pleats are really the only option.

    So for the rest of you straightly-built sartorialists out there who have the option, by all means choose flat-fronts if you prefer. But stop foisting your one-cut-fits all paradigm on the rest of the world. After all, most of us can kick your butts (if we catch you).

  32. Ditto. I’m hoping they fix the t-shirts as well, which currently run huge. I feel like the current line is torn between catering to either the big fat American guy or the skinny hipster crowd, and they should probably just start having both regular and slim fit options for everything. ps thoughts on the Florsheim Vance boots vs Stafford Camlins? With 25% emp discounts looking like $45 each..

  33. I haven’t really given it much thought. I have the Stafford Camlin though. I like them as far as a beater boot goes. I work in the suits department and I don’t look at the shoes much.
    I also work at Johnston & Murphy so I do most of my shoe shopping there.