It's the #1 city in the country to visit, a cultural tourist
destination with historical tours, cruise ships and now plenty of fanny packs. Peel
back the commercial pomp and circumstance, and you'll find a passionate local
community and yes, fashion. Charleston's Southern charm is well documented, as
well as its perception of southern style, even with a thriving yearly fashion
week, the men's style in the Holy City portrayed in magazines, blogs and TV is
fairly fabricated. It's hard to swallow, but the fact is, bow-ties and long ties
are still mostly only seen at weddings and other special occasions. The
southern man has a "newer" long standing uniform that needs to go - Khakis,
polo shirts, Costa del Mar's on croakies, sandals or the ugly version of
Sperry's, visors if their super douchey, North Face fleece if cold - done.
Don't think this means you need to rush and call 911 for a fashion
emergency, the men's fashion in the low country has taken a shift for the better
in the past couple years which means there's still hope. Retail plays a
big part in what men wear, in Charleston, newer downtown additions like Billy
Read and Indigo & Cotton have brought in new collections of clothing that weren't
options before. These shops with modern fitted more dapper menswear have a new
class of fashion forward gentlemen dressing the part. New comer Desmond Kinlaw
isn't playing games, voted one of Charleston's most stylish early 2012, he's
since launched his personal style Chinos and Cheesecake and is taking on the men's
style front full force. He's banded together a few fellow Charleston based dandies
for the most dapper of afternoon meals followed by cocktails captured by non-other than the King of
Southern Streets Style, Me! I'm certainly no
stranger to sharp dressing, but happily made myself at home behind the camera
while Kinlaw and his crew took the spot light and showed off some ankle.
It might be a short commencement this year, but often the
first group of graduates are in small numbers. It's only a matter of time till
more Low Country men will become alum of the new wave of men's fashion elite.
Without further ado, here's to Charleston's New Class of
gentlemen, class of 2012.
No comments:
Post a Comment