February 05, 2021

Evolution of Menswear

Let's indulge ourselves in some interesting history. Shall we?
In order to look your best, it is always better to know a bit about the past and get inspired.

Men's fashion has seen a plethora of changes over the years but obviously we won't bore you with a lot of history, instead, we will take a look at what really matters starting from the eighties uptil now.

Formal menswear, more commonly known as 'suits' have a rather interesting history which started off as something that defines 'power and authority ' but has recently become a definition of comfort and style, especially curated for your needs. When we talk about the 80s, one word that could define the style of that time would be a 'power suit', popularised by Miami Vice on the television, Wall Street in the cinemas and Giorgio Armani on the runway. Wider lapels, pinstripes and double breasted style were the defining characteristics of the eighties.

Giorgio Armani in 1980s

Gordon Gekko, Wall Street

Baggy look of the 90's

Thom Browne in 2000s

Welcome to the 90s, the era of the so-called 'ugly suit.' Imagine wrong proportions, oddly placed buttons, baggy and unstructured trousers - a real disaster for sight. These suits basically took the worst aspects of the eighties, pronounced it and voila, made it even worse.

Around the same time, Indian traditional wear was being washed off with a lot of exposure from the western market. The silhouettes remained rather flowy and an amalgamation of western and indian styles resulted in a wide variety of options in the market. This continued for nearly two decades - 80s and the 90s.

Thank God for the new millennium - the 2000s. The birth of a whole new style language took place, contrasting to those of the earlier decades. The return of the slim fit suit and a minimalistic style caught the attention of everyone, for good. The suits got slimmer and shorter, monochromatic looks appealed to the majority - black stealing the show and lastly, pants were hemmed shorter whereas the lapels became narrower. Thom Browne and Tom Ford were the players of this decade.

Bollywood changed the entire scenario in the 2000s for the Indian market. Vibrant colours, heavy embroidery and a maximalist approach towards the Indian traditional wear was a new and an exciting invention. Men were inspired from the Bollywood actors and wanted to replicate not only their style but also their personality. Entering into the 2010s, the society became casual and the internet technology took the world by surprise. The image of suit changed from a 'necessity ' to a 'want' because the person was drawn more towards the look and comfort of it rather than it being a symbol of authority. Slim suits are still popular in general but made-to-measure and bespoke services enabled people to wear what they want to and customise any and every piece that they wish online as well as offline.

2010s - A decade of self expression and customised suits

The future looks good and the 2020s holds endless possibilities. A suit is a reflection of yourself, an emotion and a prized possession rather than a mere commodity or a piece of clothing.

If we talk about the Indian market, one prominent characteristic of evolution was the transition from 'flowy ' garments toward a more 'structured' silhouette. From the 70s and 80s, Indian traditional wear has seen a lot of western influence in terms of colours as well as style.

But cut to the 2000s and 2010s, the Indian designers have been embracing the real traditional aesthetic when it comes to designs in terms of motifs, silhouettes in terms of sherwanis, jodhpuris, bandhgalas and colours in terms of rich earthy shades, tints andvibrant hues. This doesn't mean that fusion wear has completely gone out of fashion but instead the designers are open to both, the pure Indian aesthetics as well as the ever changing western influence.

We hope you liked this little fun ride across history and will remember the journey of your suit when you next wear it. Cheers !