MAN FRIDAY SILK ROUTE
Can Seventies style silks make a return in a man’s wardrobe? Stephen Doig considers the elegant options
In our #woke times, any connotations with Seventies-style sleaze is distinctly off the table. What once passed for a Boogie Nights Lothario is thoroughly called out as a sex pest thanks to the #metoo movement. But a key component of this chap’s uniform has made a defiant return in recent months: the silk shirt.
Of course, I’m not saying that every man who wore a silk shirt in the Seventies was a seedy sort, but it was synonymous with a sort of casting couch hedonism at worst, and Bee Gees disco cheesiness at best. Those that boogied to
Night Fever are now more into Night Nurse.
Not so these days. I noticed the subtle shift a year ago at a dinner in Paris with an assortment of fashion types, no fewer than three of them in navy silk shirts with slick evening jackets. Two of them, in their silky attire, went on to be praised on Instagram by fashion grande dame Carine Roitfeld (the sartorial equivalent of the Pope’s blessing) for looking sharp and elegant.
The brand that initially put fruity shirts on the map – Versace – is reigniting the trend and taking ownership of it in its new crop of lavishly printed silk numbers, which have become cult items in certain circles. Louis Vuitton’s silk shirts are like catnip to style bloggers and Instagram stars, while the rise of pyjama shirts as options for everyday attire has seen a host of silken versions appear. Man of the moment Don Glover, maker of the astounding This Is
America video that has gone into the viral stratosphere, has been known to sport silk shirts on the red carpet, ditto Bruno Mars.
So is it something that should be considered? It’s certainly an elegant option for summer, perhaps best kept to holiday sojourns; a silk shirt in tropical climes with a lightweight unlined jacket can look breezy and debonair. It’s also something that’s definitely “evening”, the liquid smoothness and shimmer of the fabric happily complementing that effervescent glass of prosecco at sundowners.
And while Versace and Vuitton would try to convince you to go all out in opulently printed varieties, it takes a brave man to pull one of those off. Like that Parisian trio, it’s best to stick to one solid colour or keep prints minimal at best.
And it’s also worth being brutal with yourself about whether you have the body type to pull it off; silk clings, so it suits rakish, reed types best. Not a hint of Stringfellow Lothario antics involved.
Louis Vuitton silk shirts are like catnip to bloggers and Instagram stars