I’m still in the process of defining what kind of tomboy I am…
I feel absolutely comfortable wearing menswear. I drool over their accessories. And there’s the part where I love to play video games, and I’ve been known to share my PSN account name instead of my phone number at bars. At the same time, I’m probably the girliest girl you will ever meet. My bedroom is a mix of pink, flowers and Britney Spears. And speaking of Britney, I have all of her albums… Kelly Clarkson’s too!
Anyway…
I guess you can say my fashion style is UNDECIDED. When it comes to shooting men’s street style, you’ve probably heard me babble on about my obsession here and here. Oh and here! I’ve always been a huge fan of men’s style more so that it’s beginning to fight for the winning spot as my preferred subject to shoot. Interestingly, I’ve also found that I’m slightly more critical of men’s fashion than I am of women’s. With women’s fashion, I have five criteria : “Yes”, “maybe”, “hmm”, “you get points for______” and “doing too much/nope!” With men, there are just two: “Yes” and “No.” : A weird and unforgiving stance for something I love so much. Maybe it’s because I’ve found men’s fashion more to the point, much that when it’s off, it’s off! In any case, I was nothing but thrilled to hear that New York was hosting its first ever Men’s Fashion Week this year, especially after complaining (read: whining) to no end about not seeing enough men’s style at fashion week.
New York Fashion Week: Men’s was pretty different from Women’s.
For one thing, there were not nearly as many in attendance. Sometimes, I’d arrive thinking I was too late or too early. I am certainly not complaining; if you’ve seen or had to work through the crowds that gather during Women’s Fashion Week, you’d consider this a blessing. It was pretty chill, and really, so was the fashion. The street style seemed a lot more genuine and wearable like everyday fashion, yet without losing its touch of authenticity. The same applied for the female attendees who definitely brought a fair share of androgynous looks which still didn’t feel over the top. There was also a lot more direct eye contact with the camera and less pretending to read messages on a phone*. Frankly, I don’t mind either, it was just worth noting that the photographer-to-subject relationship felt more intimate and perhaps friendlier which I’m sure had a lot to do with the relatively low number of photographers in attendance. I imagine the early days of street style photography at fashion week was a lot like this… and that this might change over the years. Years? Give it next year!
Despite the differences here and there between the two fashion shows, one thing was obvious, the gentlemen in attendance cared just as much about fashion as the women did.
P.S I have never seen so many man buns in my entire life! Ever!
*The classic Fashion Week pose: pretending to be completely unaware that your photo is being taken by playing on your phone.