Bring on the ‘sissification’ of men’s gear

FRILL ME: Feminine finishes are creeping into menswear THERE is a distinct feminisation of men’s clothing this season — fairy-fine lace blouses at Gucci, beadwork and embroidery at Burberry and Saint Laurent — that’s the opposite of sculpted suiting designed specifically to create a masculine frame. It’s less Marcello Mastroianni and more Bambi-limbed Mick Jagger in flyaway poet blouses and silken trousers.

As a nod to this most capricious of trends, Friday saw the unveiling of a video by Fendi starring a shaggy and moustached Lady Amanda Harlech (who in more familiar guise is the impeccably polished righthand woman to Karl Lagerfeld) re-gendered as a man, attired in the Italian house’s chunky menswear.

It serves to highlight the fluidity between the sexes’ wardrobe this season (the UK autumn), with Harlech in workwear shirts, patchwork suiting and fisherman sweater.

A fine piece of fashion theatre, no doubt, but do men ever want to embrace a degree of “sissification” in their wardrobe? Perhaps the easiest tack is to take a style cue from the panache of a young Jagger; donning his wife Bianca’s blouses, spangly trousers and flyaway blousons and not caring one jot about the sartorial rules of traditional masculinity.

Perhaps that’s the secret to experimenting with feminised men’s fashion: being unafraid to have a little fun with it. A silk shirt might sound disastrous, but add narrow suiting and it becomes a tactile option for evening, you disco devil, you.

There’s also something gratifyingly freeing about standard plaids covered in delicate blooms — don’t be afraid to show your softer side this season. — ©