Fashion Bible » Men’s Fashion Trends

Style Guide – Denim Jackets

Clarke — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 13:45:55 +0000

Denim jackets have grown in popularity over the past couple of years, they stopped being associated solely with that rock n roll style and made the transition into urban / high street fashion. It’s a great piece of outerwear to have in your wardrobe and will find it’s way into your outfits all year round, in the summer it looks great with shorts and a T for those summer nights, when it gets colder you can layer it up and get that denim finish. It’s not really going to give you a smart sophisticated look but for those casual occasions it’s definitely an easy way to bring some style to your outfits, low cut and worn undone, a denim jacket’s good at revealing and complimenting your favourite T’s, Polos, Knits, sweaters or hoodies, where as trench coats, quilted jackets and duffels etc often conceal and over power all other parts of your outfit.

Another signature feature of mens denim jacket is its Retro appeal. If you like your denim jacket to look stressed, it will look even better after months of heavy wear. As far as quality and durability is concerned, do consider classic brands like Levis and Lee. Such renowned brands ensure you every single denim jacket is made with care and can last a long time. The beauty of denim jackets is the versatility they bring to your own style: mix them with, hoodys, tees, more denim, skinny jeans, tribly’s, desert boots, snap backs etc.

In terms of color matching, you can trust a denim jacket to mix well with a wide range of styles and colours. Whatever your favorite color may be, a denim jacket can always blend seamlessly to your liking, with this seasons popularity of coloured denim jeans and chinos, try going coloured down low and keeping it original denim up the top. However, if you want to create an impression you can always look for denim jackets in shades other than blue.

As far as material goes, the main material of a denim jacket is of course denim, however there are some nice combos of material out there such as fur collared and corde detail denim jackets. I’ve seen some mens jackets about where designers have gone for a zip up front to try and add a modern twist to an authentic garm but steer clear of these as all they’ve achieved is cheap and tacky, stick with those classic detailed brass buttons to hold that vintage feel. Denim material is well known to wear very well, so investing in a timeless classic like a denim jacket is going to give you great value for money. As covered in our post earlier this month on Men’s Vintage Clothing, if your a bit tight for cash, theres no need to go out and buy spanking new denim jackets as thanks to their durability there plenty of vintage and reclaimed branded jackets about you can pick up for reasonable prices.

Below are a few picks of different denim jackets and some ideas about what to wear them with.

Denim Jackets

Wear it with:

Denim jackets have always been popular with the rock n roll style but it was probably Kanye West who popularised the denim look with the masses and gave it that urban touch. It’s not rare these days to see denim jackets being worn with hoodies, snap backs, relaxed jeans and high tops and works just as well as the other side of the coin consisting of skinny black jeans, broques / deserts and vintage knitwear.

Fair Isle Knits and Nordic Patterns

Bungle — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 18:13:43 +0000

This was quite a popular trend last winter, the likes of D&G, Vivienne Westwood and Gucci didn’t hold back with this bold style and spiced up, the often bland area of knitwear, with these Nordic patterns, consisting of stars, diamond shapes, snowflakes, reindeers etc. It was an interesting trend that became popular with the masses as the high street labels followed with ranges of Nordic Inspired clothing and Fair Isle Knitwear. The bold patterned style spread across a wide range of clothing, including cardigans, jumpers, sweaters, jackets, gilets, hats, gloves, socks and scarves.

This Autumn / Winter

One particular brand still pushing the Nordic pattern trend quite strongly this autumn is the Danish street wear label Humor, which isn’t much of a surprise from the electronic music inspired fashion brand, as they are recognised for their bold clothing. There are some great pieces in their Fall / Winter 11/12 range, I’ve picked out a few below.

More Nordic Inspired Clothing

Autumn 2011 Fashion Trend – Roll Neck Knitwear

Bungle — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 21:30:59 +0000

The Turtle neck / roll neck trend was popping up a bit last year but it seems to be appearing a little more regularly in look books and fashion shows this Autumn. It makes a sensible alternative to the standard knitwear, shirts or t-shirts, roll necks can add something a little different to your look this Autumn, bringing out a classic / vintage 50′s style.

The variation in roll / turtle necks is quite simple, you get thick ones an thin ones. The thin ones, which are made from fine-gauge merino wool, can look good worn under a suit in the evening. As seen in the feature image, you can get experimental with the colours, matching them up with pocket scarves to freshen up a dull suit. Chunky roll necks, however, give that deep winter feel, so you might want to hold off those whilst we ride out the last of the warmish weather, when the cold does set in, you can combine them with parkas, duffles and many other big winter coats.

Selection of Roll Necks from Coggles

Roll Neck Knitwear at Urban Outfitters

Roll necks at Oki-Ni

Men’s Vintage Fashion

Bungle — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 23:19:26 +0000

There a have been many different looks and trends over the last couple of seasons that have taken inspiration from different era’s over the past century, it’s also been picked up on by many of the high street retailers and from this we have begun to see collections adding a vintage twist to modern clothing, e.g. Tweed clothing, washed denim, chinos, loafers, vintage sports wear, denim shorts.

With many High Street Fashion stores including vintage inspired clothing in their recent collections, it’s not too difficult to put together a vintage / retro look for yourself. However the bonus about going vintage is you don’t need to go out there and buy loads of brand new clothes, theres 100 years worth of clothes hanging around you can reuse, modify and restyle. There many shops about these days that concentrate on purely recirculating vintage clothing, a few to consider:

A few examples from Urban Outfitters:

ASOS Vintage:

Examples of Vintage inspired clothing at Topman

Vintage Footwear available at Size?

Below are a few vintage styles from the people of lookbook.nu

Summer Fashion – Guide to Blazers

Bungle — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 18:29:36 +0000

Summer gives you the opportunity to move away from those dull grey suits, dark blazers and heavy jackets and freshen your look up a bit, with warmer colours and lighter materials. It’s all about a relaxed look in the summer and it’s likely your blazer’s going to be un-done so if your buying a new jacket you’re best off going for single breasted with only one or two buttons, this way as long as it’s tailored correctly, it should fall nicely giving that relaxed summer look.

A navy coloured blazer is a safe pick for a summer jacket, making a prefect companion for a pair of light coloured chinos or shorts. You’ve also got an excuse in the summer to experiment with lighter and warmer colours.

Although you can only see a fraction of them, pocket squares can really make a difference to an outfit, try and get the contrast right, match the pocket square with the colour of the shirt or T, another thing to think about is pattern, subtle patterns bring a bit of life to a flat coloured blazer. If your going for a casual, relaxed look, theres no need to fold, shove it in the pocket and let it flair out.

Below are a few inspirational image from the fashionable people on Lookbook.nu

New York Style – Williamsburg Trend

Bungle — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 20:16:23 +0000

New York’s always a good place to start when looking out for fresh fashion trends, this casual style named after the fashionable neighbourhood of Williamsburg in Brooklyn can give you that relaxed, street style college look. It’s a fashion trend you don’t have to put too much effort into, combining a Varsity Jacket or sweater , drop crotch / relaxed jeans, high tops, chukkas or Vans and the look should fall together.

A Few Examples from Urban Outfitters

Some more affordable options from Topman

Barbour Down Wax Gilet

Bungle — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 13:45:04 +0000

The Gilet / body warmer nicely fills that gap between jumper and coat while at the same time bringing with it some style . There are a few different kinds of shapes and styles to look out for when purchasing a Gilet, theres the down-filled puffa, lightly quilted hunting tweed and the multi-pocketed fisherman cut. I feel this Barbour Gilet is a mix of all those and will make a great little addition to the winter wardrobe.

This particular Barbour Gilet retails at £179.00 available at John Lewis

Men’s Fashion Trend – Tweed

Bungle — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 16:48:28 +0000

When it comes to Autumn and Winter fashion, you can never go wrong with a bit of tweed. This year especially, with popular fashion trends involving that British heritage look. Tweed will add a slightly sophisticated look to any outfit, it is also a quality fabric that will last more than one season and not to forget it will keep you warm as the days get colder. There is a lot of potential in tweed based mens clothes to generate some stylish looks.

A tweed blazer or jacket really brings out the full potential of the material and then you can top it off with a few winter accessories such as flat caps and scarves. It has been popular this season with many designers so there is a big selection of tweed based clothing items for you to pick from to suit your individual style and taste. Tweed goes well with all types of bottoms including chinos, jeans and trousers, I have listed a few of my favorites tweed clothing items below and put together a couple of looks that you can pull off using tweed clothing.

Below is a select few of this seasons Tweed Jackets

Free & Fashionable | Denim Shorts

Bungle — Wed, 26 May 2010 22:00:57 +0000

When you get a bit of time, grab some of your old jeans and a pair of scissors and have a go at cutting yourself some denim shorts. Denim shorts are always fashionable in the summer if they are worn properly and with the right gear, they can also be cheap if you make your own by recycling some of your out dated jeans.

With a big trend being short shorts this summer, thats exactly what you want to go for when making your own pair of denim shorts, remember to leave some room for a couple of turn ups though. Even if your old jeans you dig out seem a bit loose round the legs and crotch thats OK because with a minimal bit of sewing skill you can pinch in the seems at the bottom of the shorts and sew the edges together, giving you that carrot fit style.

Don’t worry too much about the colours of the jeans as you will probably find a use for any colour of denim shorts. Denim shorts work well with graphic t’s and vests, striped t’s, baggy t’s with rolled up sleeves, cardigans, espadrilles, boat shoes, tasseled shoes, canvas trainers, the list goes on. Have a look at a couple of looks I gathered below.

Urban Outfitters offer a range of renewed Denim shorts

Examples from Lookbook.nu

Men’s Fashion – Stripes

Bungle — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 09:22:02 +0000

Not exactly a new trend in Men’s Fashion but stripes can bring something to a range of different looks. Although striped t-shirts seem to grow in popularity in the summer striped tops can be worn all year round. In this post I just wanted to have a look at a couple of possible outfits you can put together that include stripes, some aimed at the summer months and some you can put to use whilst it’s still cold out and you need to layer up. Depending on what sort of look you are going for you might want to think about stripe colours and t-shirt style. stripes always seem to work well with scoop neck t-shirts, polos and vests, popular colours combos include navy and white, black and white, black and red, grey and white. The images below show striped t-shirts mixing well with the denim trend, both denim jackets and denim shirts. Maybe a bit much for the summer but whilst the spring lasts this could be a good look.