Mens Fashion Through The Ages

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Mens fashion has seen some wild fluctuations, with mainstay trends coupled with fleeting crazes that define the generation they were worn in. From the old-fashioned Edwardian gentleman to the coffee-sipping hipster chic, men's fashion has had its ups and downs.

1910 - 1920

Let's start way back at the beginning; when men looked cleaner cut and dressed sharply for every occasion. In the 1910s, those who could afford it wore tunic shirts and frock coats, as well as dashing high waist striped trousers and pointed shoes. You couldn't toss a rock without knocking off someones top hat before it hit the ground. The roaring '20s saw fewer top hats, but kept the same detachable collar shirts and high waist trousers. Men would often wear lounge coats and Oxford shoes too to complete the look.

1930 - 1950

The clean suave look continued into the '30s and '40s, with men typically donning a hat like a boater or a fedora - a hat which has seen an unexpected re-emergence in recent years. The '30s had men typically wearing waistcoats with linen jackets and a soft collar shirt, and during the post-war '40s, trench coats became a mainstay on every man's coat rack. The '50s saw rebellion from young men with the emergence of rock and roll. From this, the greaser look became popular very briefly. You know the look: classic leather jacket, jeans, boots and maybe even a pocket comb sticking out for emergency pompadour grooming.

1960 - 1970

The carefree '60s gave birth to one of the UKs fiercest sub-culture rivalries: the Mods and the Rockers. Your typical mod would be seen in a dashing tailored suit, complemented with a skinny tie all covered with a military parka. The moped was part of the look too. Rockers rode choppers and wore a typical biker get-up similar to that of the greasers, including a leather jacket and jeans. But this short-lived feud was soon overshadowed by disco. A unique and brief period in men's fashion, it was common place to find men in dance halls wearing a ruffled shirt, flares and platform shoes. Afros became unusually popular too.

1980 - 2000

The eighties brought Yuppies, who rolled up the sleeves of their blazers and combined it with a pastel t-shirt and a pair of loafers. The more expensive, the better. Rave culture set in around the nineties, which meant bucket hats all around! Men dressed quite scruffy around this time - with obnoxiously baggy jeans and shell suit jackets. Then the noughties gave Converse a newfound popularity - combined with a set of combat trousers, an Arab scarf and a hoodie to complete the look, undoubtedly all tied together with a t-shirt sporting a forgettable band's logo.

2010 - Present Day

Now we come to present day, where we have high quality, durable men's combat and cargo shorts for summer wear and the flannel shirt for pretty much any night out - rowdy or civilised. 2010 onwards also saw the emergence of the 'hipster look' - sporting skinny jeans, deep neck shirts and military boots. This look is often accented with a low-hanging scarf and a pair of superfluous glasses which, more often than not, don't have any actual lenses in them. It's fascinating how radically fashion can change in just a few years, and yet still retain some of the more eccentric and charming items of yesteryear. There's no telling what the next trend will be, but here's hoping those cheesy '80s films' depictions of a stereotypically 'futuristic' style is wrong.