Menswear sales buck the bad economy; dress up more to do your part

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Menswear outpaced women's fashion in overall sales during the past year, reports AP. According to research company NPD Group Inc., menswear sales rose 0.8 percent in the last year (ending in May), while womenswear sales fell 3.5 percent. And since May, womenswear sales dropped 3 percent, while menswear sales rose 2.3 percent.

Fashion analysts explain menswear's new lead on the recent influx of slimmer, tailored looks, like those offered by Out 100 honoree Thom Browne (above) in recent years, and a more casual work environment that allows for increased options and in turn means more opportunities to purchase and wear a wider variety of looks. And menswear companies like Nautica and Levi Strauss and Co.'s Dockers, once unthinkably inappropriate for the office, "have reworked their fits -- pants, for example, have less material in the seat and thigh and have no pleats; suit jackets have higher armholes with narrower and shorter sleeves," which offer cleaner, more modern silhouettes.

Ironically, other analysts believe that with our pokey to the point of groan-inducing economy, many men are actually paying more attention to what they wear to the office, or at least spending bigger bucks in hopes of being taken more seriously at work. "I am dressing up a bit more," Steve Hale, a 37-year-old fashion consultant, told AP. "If you are keeping up with fashion, people notice and it gives them more confidence [that the financial industry is going to turn around]." Hale says he spends $500 a month on clothes, more than twice as much as he spent previously.

Never an industry to idly sit on its hands when a new market begins to present itself, the big boys of fashion are already courting eager male shoppers. Ferragamo and J.Crew are opening men's only boutiques. Bloomingdales has created special areas in its men's department that feature tailored clothing and flashy accessory items like ice buckets, GPS systems and luxe shaving kits. Macy's is adding more exclusive lines, including the already insanely popular Emporio Armani underwear.

So, you know what this means: With the stores full up with fall fashions (and some great end of summer sales on last season still in progress) -- and in order for all of us to keep our jobs, keep the floundering economy from completely going under, and keep our co-workers, partners, and the boys on the dance floor duly impressed and begging for more -- get out those wallets and start shopping!

On The Runway: Nautica Fall/Winter 2008

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Aspen will never be chic-er than next fall. Nautica's fall/winter 2008 ski-inspired sportswear was something that every snow bunny must have. Bright colors carried over from this spring will heat up the slopes. A sure way of catching someones eye so you can heat up the sheets. —Seth Howard

More photos after the jump!

Gays and Gay Rumors Collide at Fashion Week!

 

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Fashion Week always brings out the homos—and homo rumors—to the front rows of the shows. So who was pitching a tent at the Bryant Park tents?

Lance Bass was seen at the Nautica show. Since his big exit from the closet, he can openly drool over the scantily clad models without having to overcompensate by attending a show featuring womenswear like his fellow 'N-Sync-er, J.C. Chasez who is the only confirmed male celebrity for the Badgley Mischka show. I'm just sayin'!

Also, at the Nautica show, hockey player Brendan Shanahan (he's a left wing for the New York Rangers, boys), sat front row at his first show with fellow wing man Sean Avery (pictured, left). But according to Avery's quote to Women's Wear Daily, Brendan got a little flustered during the parade of man flesh that strutted down the runway. Avery told WWD, "Maybe his first show should have been one with female models." Avery, is considered a Fashion Week regular, so is there more than meets the eye to their relationship? I'm just sayin'!

More gossip and pictures after the jump!