Mens' What? Mens' Where?
Mens' What? Mens' Where?
Maybe "menswear" shouldn't exist, but menswear definitely should.
Hi all, thank you so much for your patience in my protracted absence. My move back to NYC has been an overwhelming ordeal, full of badhearted pool-playing maniacs, cash only bars with high ATM fees, mysterious cuts on ONLY my right leg, assisting the brilliant stylist Dione Davis for a Vogue Netherlands cover shoot, learning lessons I’ve already learned five times over, and having $5 in my bank account at any given moment. I did, however, christen my new apartment’s dirty mirror with a pic in the suit I found for $25 in less than five minutes upon entering L Train Vintage for the first time in years—some vintage Italian little boys’ suit that fits my 5’1 self like it was tailored, my second time experiencing such a streamlined suit scenario in ‘shwick (sorry, I’m a slave to the gods of alliteration):
And yes, those are Nike Cortezes ($60 in an Argentinian Nike store), not what I will brattily call “the Bode dupes.”
I also just submitted a piece that’s been in the works for over a month with quotes from the likes of Blackbird Spyplane’s Jonah Weiner on whether or not “menswear,” as a commercial clothing category, must exist. Spoiler: I assert that it doesn’t, for several reasons, and I won’t undermine the piece by laying that out right here and now, but suffice it to say since there is no “men’s” body type or “male” aesthetic, the only factor truly driving the sequestering of menswear into a category distinct from the rest of fashion/de facto “womenswear” is an underpinning class-based anxiety that traces back to the 18th century—in a surprise to no one, my dear Avery Trufelman (who I can now say I’ve met IRL!!) has gone into the depths of this history for
, if you want to pregame the eventual publication of my article by listening to the extremely interesting and useful episode I referred to throughout.Under the auspices of this article, I also had the fortune of corresponding with Chris Gayomali, the brave soul who thoroughly lambasted the current state of menswear in an infamous edition of
, and he shared with me several nascent brands creating gender-expansive clothing that I’ll share at the end of this post. I’m not really making a point here, I hope the piece comes out quickly and I can share it with you ASAP for more of a thoughtful interrogation of the construct of “menswear,” but in this post I’m simply sharing a handful of pieces, looks, and labels that would likely fall into that category despite its ultimate arbitrariness—though it doesn’t have to exist, it does right now (largely because, paraphrasing my favorite quote from Chris, men are scared of having too many SSENSE tabs open on their desktops), and I’ve been feeling super inspired by a lot of more masculine-coded style lately. Thanks for being here, and I’m going to do my best not to fall off again anytime soon.If you like these posts, please let me know by liking and commenting here or on Esque’s Instagram, subbing to the Esque Substack (this) for free or get bonus posts for seven bucks a month, or for ZERO DOLLARS, share (tag me if on IG so I can see and thank you)!
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THANK YOU for being here, and I am always available @that.esque on Instagram for sartorial scandals/situations/summons. Here is a little preview of what’s below the paywall:
I love Lyle McGraw’s creations—this post taught me what a “pill pocket” is, and I’m always learning more-esoteric sartorial terminology like that from his designs. The clothes he makes are nuanced, utilitarian but tender, a recontextualization of “military-style” elements into uniforms that don’t feel rooted in violence or hegemony. His eye for color and choice of materials that will only deepen in their coolness with age intersects with a sensibility that’s clearly masculine but not in a way that feels aggro or like it has something to prove.
One of the few nonbinary fashion plates I’ve found whose style I SUPER jibe with, Charlie is a wizard at clothing manipulation—I never in a million years would have thought to layer a super-oversized button-down under a sweatshirt so it spreads out underneath like a kind of half-skirt. Everything about every look they pull is specific, it’s almost intimidating to observe how deliberate they are with their choices of garment, layering, and color coordination, but more so endlessly inspiring.