When you work in the clothing industry, looking at bizarre designs and hearing hyped up claims about the latest trends is all part of a day’s work. For the average consumer, especially the average male consumer, the latest runway developments usually don’t mean very much and hardly make a ripple in the larger world of mainstream fashion. Every now and again though, the big players of the fashion world focus on something that the average guy could (and probably should) pay attention to.
This season, if you want to be chic without looking like a fool or breaking the bank, the new “it” color is grey.
Yes, we know, it’s summer and this is the time of year when conventional wisdom is probably telling you it’s ok to bust out those floral print, polka dot, brightly colored tops which have been sitting in the back of your closet since winter. But, in what seems like a collective fit of post-modern defiance, many of the world’s trendiest fashion insiders have thrown this tradition to the wind and are now opting for a stylishly drab, quasi-Bauhaus look instead.
It’s difficult to say whether colorless couture is trendy or retro, since as far as we know grey never really went away. It’s probably safer to say that this new anti-color movement falls into the larger classical/anti-trend trend which has been gaining ground over the past few years.
Whatever the case may be, grey is one of the few colors – along with black and white – which looks good with just about anything and never goes out of date. You can match a grey dress shirt with jeans, casual trousers, a leather jacket, red scarves, green watches and almost anything else you might want to wear. Unlike black and white though, grey is always regarded as modern and doesn’t carry heavy associations with evil, purity, mystery or modesty, making it a much easier color to wear in casual circumstances.
While it’s getting a lot of attention right now in the fashion biz, unlike other colors which have their day in the sun and then vanish, grey will probably be around for a while. Now, if only your greying hair could become fashionable as well.
Tags: Classic Fashion, Retro Fashion, Shirt Color
