Style Overload?

Trends represent a big segment of fashion consciousness, this is an indisputable fact. For the last couple of seasons the nautical, preppy, town meets country and military trends have had a huge influence on the clothes we buy and the looks we create. More recently the biker trend, block colours and new, more vibrant patterns have gradually been permeating the male fashion world. Without trends I’m sure a lot of people probably wouldn’t really know what to wear, we rely very heavily on them to dictate our style, irrespective of whether you are a strict trend follower or prefer the style of the ever ubiquitous, sartorial gent.
However, this reliance on trends does of course create issues. In this instance I want to concentrate on key items; the pieces that create the trends we all love to follow, the things that fill our stores and wardrobes, the things we consider fashionable.
But what is the problem with this? Surely we need these items because they play such a pivotal role? In this particular case it is something that we have touched on a great deal in previous articles but never really discussed in any great detail; key items becoming too common. I should point out however that I don’t just want to create a list of items that could be construed as over worn or clichéd, I also wish to consider whether or not this should actually have any impact on our choices.
As we have said numerous times before, fashion is an entirely subjective beast and we base our decisions on what we as a person find attractive or fashionable, but does a quest for individuality drive us away from pieces that we might have invested in otherwise?

The Items

This issue isn’t restricted to one particular season or item, it goes across the board; after all, key items don’t just feature in one particular trend. Often these items can adapt to numerous trends and are very useful when creating outfits that fuse a number of looks or developing a more classic, timeless style. When you consider that a transitional wardrobe is something all fashionable men should be striving for, this debate becomes a lot more important.
Below are just some of the items that could well be considered to be style overload.

The Boat Shoe/Espadrille

I thought I would start with shoes because as we all know they are arguably the most important part of any outfit. I have grouped together espadrilles and boat shoes because they serve much the same purpose and niche of the footwear market, so what applies to one more often than not applies to the other.
It is fairly obvious just how popular both these styles of shoe have become, in fact it is now very hard to walk down the street without seeing at least a few pairs and they are available almost everywhere. This has been the case for the last couple of seasons and you could be excused for beginning to consider them a little too common or lacking in individuality; certainly there has been some level of market saturation, one only has to look at TOMS for an example; irrespective of their great cause and company ethic, from a fashion point of view, everyone seems to be wearing them (I also wonder sometimes whether people actually realise what the company itself does, rather than see them as a nice shoe that is currently on trend).
However, although I personally don’t wear either shoe (I’m not a fan of the style), I do think they both still have a very important role to play in both current and future trends as well as within timeless fashion. Boat shoes in particular play big roles in the preppy, nautical and heritage trends, while espadrilles are the perfect alternative to the many more formal styles – a good way to introduce individuality to your outfit as a whole. It is perhaps more an issue of HOW you wear them, rather than WHAT you are wearing.

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Cuffed Jeans/Trousers

The subject of much fierce fashionable debate all on their own, cuffed jeans are a good example of a trend whose popularity has sky rocketed within a very short period of time; this being the cause of debate, is this a good or bad thing?
Much of the issue stems, I believe, from the cut. They often come as carrot, banana or drop crotch jeans, meaning you are mixing two very new and different designs that have very little in common with the standard denim we are used to. They also suffer from a great deal of stereotyping and appeal (for the most part) to a very strict demographic; certainly not a look to be enjoyed by everyone, but we should also consider the factor of geographical location.
This is a topic we touched on before when discussing Brand Association and it rings very true here; on a recent trip to Birmingham for example I noticed an overwhelming prominence of cuffed trousers and jeans, whilst in other places they are much less common. While I think this is a factor, I also believe that it is also an example of a specific style becoming popular in a particular area; it suits their dress sense and fits in with the majority of the people they know. In the end they can still be seen as current fashion and being on trend, but it might not be what you personally consider to be fashionable.

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