Christina Ediale: March 2014

Colour Me Right.

I don't really know why is it that I am so fascinated by men's fashion than I am by women's... I observed that the major trend alert for men in 2011 was colours, colours and more colours! And they came to stay since then. And it suffices to say that you are sure to find more than one man in that event spotting a colour or more in his ensemble. Being a female, I totally understand the essence and progression of colours in my day to day fashion and style choices and can resonate with it when I see a dapper looking gentleman in his combination best. Whether all men who spot colours know how to go about it is another thing entirely.

I think men might be somewhat limited when it comes to vast colourful pieces to work with unlike women but when it comes to styling; the approach is more than a million ways to it. The belief that a man in colour is queer doesn't necessarily follow because fashion & style are diverse and put together, they transcend sexuality if proper care is taken on attention to arrangement, styling and presentation.

What designers are doing with colours in men's fashion, patterns, plaids, florals et al is really adventurous and highly mind blowing! I am sure there was a time in fashion history when men who donned colourful clothing were seen as queer or whatever but surely I like to believe we have all moved on from there. In the end fashion is for the brave, adventurous and well, rebellious fashionista. Like I mentioned above, very few men know how to infuse colour in their wardrobe and it’s really not rocket science but still it’ll take the eye of the very stylish man to come out a winner as the aim is not to assault the eyes of innocent bystanders.

There are so many style books out there that can help proffer solution(s) to this colour challenge but of all the books, I found that I couldn’t agree more with Esquire’s Big Black Book on how to wear colour. Of all the colours we have, there are a certain unexpected twelve shades that every man should have in his arsenal and they are as follows plus an extra five of my own: MountBatten Pink, Naples Yellow, Violet, Sun Yellow, Lavender, Moss, Parakeet Green, Magenta, Coral, Wine, Bleu De Travail and Pink. Grey, Pale Blue, Peach, Aubergine and Brown complete the extra addition.

All these colours may seem too much or strong for some but in truth, are all easy to tone down or spice up while still versatile enough for anything apart from the Sun Yellow and Parakeet Green which are the wildcards of the lot.