Gingersnap
12-07-2009, 12:49 PM
PAGE ONE DECEMBER 4, 2009
More Men Have Something They Want to Get Off Their Chests -- Their Shirts
Unbuttoned or Plunging, 'Heavage' Is Back; No '70s Hair Carpets, Please, Wisps Only
By RAY A. SMITH
Man cleavage -- plunging necklines slit open to reveal chest hair, pectoral muscles, maybe more -- is back.
Until recently, male décolletage was an androgynous fashion affectation limited mainly to sporadic appearances on European runways. But the look, including deep V-necks and scoop-neck tops, hit the U.S. in full force at New York's September Fashion Week, turning up at shows by Duckie Brown, Michael Bastian and Yigal Azrouël.
If the fall runway shows were any indication, men's necklines are taking a plunge. WSJ's Ray Smith lets you know how far to go, and weighs in on the issue of chest hair.
This time around, the styles were more blatantly sexual and the models had a more studly swagger. New York designer Mr. Bastian said his show's vibe was inspired in part by "Latin guys" he noticed wearing their shirts unbuttoned, as well as the unabashed machismo of Latin American men in general. "We wanted to go back to a more natural body, a more '70s body with the models, getting away from the super skinny," says Mr. Bastian.
On HBO's hit series "True Blood," 29-year-old ex-model Mehcad Brooks rarely went an episode without removing his shirt. Mr. Brooks also frequently displays his perfect pecs off-screen, wearing rib-hugging T's with deep V-necks or shirts with the top buttons suggestively undone.
"Even if people were making fun of me, calling me 'Miami Vice' like they used to in college, I would still wear it," says the 6-foot-4, 215-pound actor. "It feels comfortable and I like the way it looks. If you can pull off three buttons undone, then do it."
Other fans of the look include actors Jude Law and Ed Westwick, who've been snapped showing off their man cleavage -- or "heavage," as one style writer dubbed it.
"Harper's Bazaar's Stephen Gan is working the new male cleavage in a low-cut T-shirt; it's called 'heavage,'" tweeted Hilary Alexander, fashion director of Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper, in early October while at a runway show in Paris.
Mr. Gan, who, aptly enough, is also the editor of a magazine called "V," says, "I think I'm allowed to dress this way."
Guys, I'm telling you this with love: keep your shirt on and your buttons done up. If a guy just happens to be mowing the lawn in July or participating in a dramatic water rescue and he's shirtless, he has the potential to be hot. If a guy is just wandering around with chest hairs in view for no particular reason, he will look gay to most women and to all other men.
WSJ (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125980303001573939.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us)
More Men Have Something They Want to Get Off Their Chests -- Their Shirts
Unbuttoned or Plunging, 'Heavage' Is Back; No '70s Hair Carpets, Please, Wisps Only
By RAY A. SMITH
Man cleavage -- plunging necklines slit open to reveal chest hair, pectoral muscles, maybe more -- is back.
Until recently, male décolletage was an androgynous fashion affectation limited mainly to sporadic appearances on European runways. But the look, including deep V-necks and scoop-neck tops, hit the U.S. in full force at New York's September Fashion Week, turning up at shows by Duckie Brown, Michael Bastian and Yigal Azrouël.
If the fall runway shows were any indication, men's necklines are taking a plunge. WSJ's Ray Smith lets you know how far to go, and weighs in on the issue of chest hair.
This time around, the styles were more blatantly sexual and the models had a more studly swagger. New York designer Mr. Bastian said his show's vibe was inspired in part by "Latin guys" he noticed wearing their shirts unbuttoned, as well as the unabashed machismo of Latin American men in general. "We wanted to go back to a more natural body, a more '70s body with the models, getting away from the super skinny," says Mr. Bastian.
On HBO's hit series "True Blood," 29-year-old ex-model Mehcad Brooks rarely went an episode without removing his shirt. Mr. Brooks also frequently displays his perfect pecs off-screen, wearing rib-hugging T's with deep V-necks or shirts with the top buttons suggestively undone.
"Even if people were making fun of me, calling me 'Miami Vice' like they used to in college, I would still wear it," says the 6-foot-4, 215-pound actor. "It feels comfortable and I like the way it looks. If you can pull off three buttons undone, then do it."
Other fans of the look include actors Jude Law and Ed Westwick, who've been snapped showing off their man cleavage -- or "heavage," as one style writer dubbed it.
"Harper's Bazaar's Stephen Gan is working the new male cleavage in a low-cut T-shirt; it's called 'heavage,'" tweeted Hilary Alexander, fashion director of Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper, in early October while at a runway show in Paris.
Mr. Gan, who, aptly enough, is also the editor of a magazine called "V," says, "I think I'm allowed to dress this way."
Guys, I'm telling you this with love: keep your shirt on and your buttons done up. If a guy just happens to be mowing the lawn in July or participating in a dramatic water rescue and he's shirtless, he has the potential to be hot. If a guy is just wandering around with chest hairs in view for no particular reason, he will look gay to most women and to all other men.
WSJ (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125980303001573939.html?mod=rss_whats_news_us)