Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Your Fearless Blogger's Photo Featured on Toronto Life

I was flattered to discover that Karen Liu used my photo on an article in The Goods section of Toronto Life yesterday. In fact, the article was not focused on men's hosiery, but just happened to use it in the featured photo. The article was entitled, "Michelle Obama doesn't wear pantyhose, so neither should anyone else

The article focused on a tongue-in-cheek review of the First World's ever-growing crisis, spawned by the First Lady's pre-inauguration comments that she never wears pantyhose. (BTW, one of the commentors pointed out that Ms. Obama has begun wearing them since moving into the White House). This was juxtaposed against a recent Charlotte Observer article questioning whether pantyhose were on their last legs?  Maybe the subliminal message is that while women's pantyhose may be on their last legs--the men's lines still continue to pick up steam. 

To be sure, there was a parenthetical reference to mantyhose in the article. So, we can be sure that writers out there have definitely become aware of its presence as a real trend. As for the photo, it looks like one that we did sometime last year while having a little fun with those de-motivators posters--a website where people can create their own satires of those smarmy motivational posters we've all seen in offices around the world.

-Ciao for now...

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Saturday, April 24, 2010

"Plus, the chicks go crazy for guys in tights..."

John Hart, the creator of the Wizard of Id comic strip, apparently knows something we at The Nylon Gene have been advocating for quite awhile:

April 22, 2010 - Wizaard of Id
Wizard of Id

...and there's more below:

... here's an interesting one from several years back. Not a widely distributed comic (I've not seen it before in Columbus), but obviously of interest to Nylon Gene readers: (Obviously, Teddy is a 'fashion-forward' Nylon Gene reader, isn't he?)

Nov. 10, 2004 - Big Nate
Big Nate

Nove. 11, 2004 - Big Nate
Big Nate

And, a couple of funny Frank & Ernest strips, of uncertain age:


Finally, this Monty comic strip represents the undercover tights-wearer in many of the guys out there:

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Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Get Ready to Kiss Cargo Shorts Bye-bye

The Star-Telegram (Dallas-Ft. Worth) published an article today titled, "Get Ready to Kiss Cargo Shorts Bye" today. I for one consider this welcome news. For nearly a decade, guys have been doomed to wear the most ridiculously over-sized monstrosities, nominally named 'shorts'--but in reality just very short flood pants. Now, it seems, we'll be able to opt for some cleaner lines in warm weather wear...


From a men's legwear perspective, there's little question it looks much better when paired with shorts that fit the wearer's body style, and size, appropriately. As many readers will certainly attest, it can be very difficult to find shorts that do this, when most of them are tailored more akin to clown pants.   While I, myself, do in fact wear cargo shorts (as can be seen in the photo at right), I always go for those that fit well, and aren't excessive in the number of pockets, zippers, etc.  I will probably wear them less often once these cleaner styles start becoming more available in stores. 

For what it's worth, I posted the following comment on the article's webpage: 
I'm sure I'm not alone in welcoming the demise of the ridiculously oversized, so-called 'shorts' that have been the scourge of menswear for nearly a decade or more. I'm about 5'-7" and have always had the hardest time finding shorts that look halfway decent on me, since they look huge even on larger guys.

The cleaner lines will be a huge improvement on the clothes we can wear in warm weather, now. They'll also be accentuated by another emerging trend that's slowly gaining some sway on the edges of men's fashion. That is, men's legwear. I've been a publicist for a company that's been selling sheer and opaque tights for men (aka, mantyhose) for more than 10 years.

Sometimes misconceptions get in the way of understanding, but the guys who are wearing them are basically regular guys who wear them for leg support and like the way they improve their look. Not so much about the wild patterns that often get featured in news articles, this trend is more about subtle shades that closely match skintone and will also add to the smooth lines referred to in the foregoing article.
I'd like to hear from you readers out there.  How do you feel about the slimmer style shorts discussed in the article.  What about the big, baggy style?  Anybody going to be pining for them once they disappear?  Also, one thing I noticed about the photos accompanying the article were that the guy pictured had very hairy legs.  Of course, that's not going to work well with sheer hosiery--so it'll be necessary to at least closely trim leg hair if you're among those with lots of dark hair.  In my mind, this would probably be a good idea even if the wearer weren't going to wear legwear.  What do you think? 

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