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More than checks & stripes
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No longer limited to checks and stripes, the shirt is witnessing a fashion makeover. VIJAY GEORGE scouts around for the latest on them.
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`Shirts with U-cut bottoms are the most popular now, with short sleeves': Sherin P. S, a shop owner.
IT'S THE same story everywhere in the world. Men of all sizes, shapes, colour or build, wear it or some variation of the clothing to adorn "the upper half" of their physique, and look different. You guessed right. Shirts
Gone are the days when only women believed in being "stylish", coordinating their dress, jewellery and make up to look that `extra special'. Now men have become smarter on that count too, and they seem to need no one to lecture on "why they should look good."
As well known fashion designer Hari Anand, retailing out of his designer boutique `Glada', puts it, "The patterns of the dress you wear are just like your handwriting. It creates an instant impression on others. Moreover, it reflects your personality in a great way."
As if such a notion is in everyone's mind, newer designs, patterns, materials of all ranges are available in the market. The liking for branded shirts has been there for quite some time now. And our fellow countrymen are all aware about it too. These days, they have a wide number of options to choose from. Every known brand has a store in the metro to `design the way you look'.
Like, for instance, just leave half of the shirt out while you tuck it in and have that casual look which has been made almost legendary by Shah Rukh Khan. Want to look tough like Jackie `Jaggu dada' Shroff? Try denim. And if you want to show the rich rewards of your toil in the gym to the world, go for the body hugging ones with short sleeves. Or, just leave some of the buttons as such. The hitch: remember, the number of those open buttons will decide your nature obviously.
Now, to formals. In our times when virtually everyone is so conscious about their careers, give your boss a certain sense of satisfaction for selecting you for the job by going the formal way - with long sleeves and some impressive colours. "The likeness for stripes started with the corporate fashion. These days stripes tend to be thicker," is the expert analysis on Corporate wears.
"Linen is the zing thing now. I like Chinese collars": Kunchacko Boban
"Fashion is essentially being different from the rest. And you get more respect if you dress well," says business man Deepak Aswani, who is the managing partner of the Raymond store in Kochi.
"Stripes are more in demand these days," feels Geejy Rajhen, model co-ordinator and wife of ace fashion photographer Rajhen Paul.
"With the youth more conscious about their physique, shirts with shorter sleeves and the tight fits too have a lot of takers," she says. "Now the men are more careful about having separate wardrobes with attires of different designs . The youth don't mind using flashy colours. Western trends and Hindi films do have a significant influence on their concept of dressing," believes Geejy.
According to Aswani, the checked shirts, the stripes and their tilted versions are seen more these days. "Embroideries on shirts are also accepted in a big way ," he adds.
Almost everyone agrees to Hari Anand's suggestion that "linen has replaced cotton as the top favourite."
"Linen gives that regal look," says Aswani. "Once you get used to it, you will never want to go back to other stuff."
But he cautions, "As pure linen is really expensive, now there is lesser quality linen available in the market, which is a clone of the original in appearance and often the customers get cheated."
According to Prasanth of Levis Stores in Esplanade in the city, the youth generally prefer casual designs and printed shirts. "People now go for some colours which were never perceived as chic earlier," adds Prasanth.
"Linen is the zing thing now," states film star Kunchacko Boban, who is hogging the headlines since his marriage announcement recently. He prefers shorter version of shirts and the ones with Chinese collars. "And strictly half sleeves," he adds. `Chackochan', as he is known, likes to "get my shirts stitched rather than go for the ready made ones, always."
He feels that Kochi is the "really happening" metro in the State as far as fashion and new trends are concerned. "The concept of corporate wears and party wears are almost limited to this metro as of now."
His colleague, actor Indrajeet too agrees to this suggestion. "But the major change that we see these days in the mindset of the people over here, is the insistence on quality. Now almost everyone agrees to this theory that quality costs more but is more reliable."
Indrajeet, just back after working out in a gym, believes that "some of the branded wears cost here more than it does in cities like Bangalore, for instance," he says.
The software professional "who was all set to fly to New York, where his company is based when the offers in films came" says that the concept of corporate dressing is not much known in our part of the globe. "These days people are more fashion conscious and the results are quite evident," analyses Indrajeet.
The younger age group is into the `kurtis' too, a fusion of shirts and kurtas, which according to many, is an Indian discovery.
"Shirts with U-cut bottoms are the most popular now, with short sleeves," says Sherin P S, a shop owner in the city. Linen ones, very popular, all come in single colours, he added.
"Transparent shirts have also a lot of fans nowadays," states Hari Anand. He feels that the patterns keep on changing very often and almost everyone here "has this tendency to go for the conservative designs while selecting their shirts."
If you wonder what this fuss is all about, wake up gentlemen; and look around. The world has moved ahead.
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