Q. I watched an episode of Saturday Night Live and could not believe my eyes – Taylor Swift’s football player boyfriend was hosting. His suit baffled me. I did not even see such at the Oscars. In the front, hanging down was a piece of matching fabric. It hung about 6″ below the jacket and was about 6” wide. I thought it looked disgusting, like a cover-up for a broken zipper. It was very noticeable and distracting! Is this a new fashion, or his faux pas?
A. I checked out photos of Travis Kelce dressed in his Dior suit, and I have to agree with you. I have never seen a suit design that was quite as goofy/strange as this one with what appeared to be, not one piece of fabric, but an extra pair of sleeves hanging down in front, extending from underneath the suit’s double-breasted jacket. Each “sleeve” actually had four small sleeve buttons near the “cuff.”
To answer your specific question, “Is this a new fashion, or his faux pas,” it’s neither. This is definitely not a new trend. Also, Travis is known for pushing the envelope on fashion. Since he chose this style on purpose, it would not be his faux pas (a mistake), but an expression of his personal taste.
I cannot imagine any typical man wearing such a get-up, but I guess if you are a well-known football star, Super Bowl Champion, hosting a comedy show, you certainly don’t need to worry about what others think of your offbeat (if not outrageous) clothing choices. You can wear whatever you want. But my question is, “Why would he want to wear anything that makes so little sense?”
As my readers can guess, I strongly believe that the clothes we choose not only represent us to the rest of the world, but can also add so much enjoyment to our lives that there seems to be no good reason to purposely choose to wear something that makes us look foolish. The fashion industry exists for many reasons, and one of them is to help people make a personal statement about their individualism. By wearing that strange suit designed by Dior, Kelce was saying he was confident enough not to care what others think of him. My question is, “Is that a good enough reason?”
When you are looking for ideas about what clothes look good together and what items we might want to wear, it is wise to check out photos of tasteful combinations that you see in newspaper fashion supplements, from long-established fashion authorities, and on others who are well-dressed. However, athletes and celebrities often wear outlandish outfits that don’t seem to follow traditional rules for dressing well and that they appear to have chosen for shock value. We are a month away from the annual NFL Draft when college athletes are chosen by teams and often wear outrageous suits to stand out, and perhaps as their last act of childish behavior before turning pro . . . of course, Kelce shows that some continue to flaunt tradition, particularly those with enough fame to get away with it. I suggest that you not look to these people as your clothing role models, because they can get away with such strangeness when you can’t.
Please send your men’s dress and grooming questions and comments to MALE CALL: Lois.Fenton@prodigy.net
