Men in NY
Recently, a series of articles was published, all saying that the new dominant male type is the so-called lumbersexual. It takes one look at this new type of man to say that he in fact lives up to his name: he generally looks like a slightly upscale lumberjack. Being lumbersexual entails wearing a beard, a checkered flannel shirt and sport attire, closer to trekking than jogging. Do I like it…? I dunno. I don’t see this trend as new at all. I see those guys every time I enter the L train (the one taking you to Williamsburg) and it’s not like they just appeared. I definitely don’t see them as the predominant group in NY (in Williamsburg, maybe) and I can bring up several others right off the bat. Let me introduce you to at least a couple of competing styles.
Black guys wearing sports attire (always with a hoodie), jeans and baseball hats, relaxed or extremely relaxed (with their belts dangling around their knees and their asses basically bare). Both teenagers and guys my age. They’re everywhere in NY.
Fit, clean shaven, trimmed, with carefully assembled outfits, fashionable glasses and fitted, puffy jackets – these are the gay guys from Manhattan, usually living in Chelsea. Sometimes you will see them wearing a hoodie underneath the jacket, but in their case the hoodie usually looks expensive. Always impeccable; if you haven’t seen them yet, just go down to Chelsea for a Saturday brunch.
Amazing sense of style, perfectly fitted accessories and hats. All elements of the outfit work together – you suddenly find yourself checking the guy out from head to toes, wondering just how on earth did he assemble the entire set. These are the black guys in their 30s and older, living mostly in Brooklyn. I’m always very impressed by their attire – every single detail seems to be thought out and when I look at them, I usually end up looking at myself and thinking I better go home and change ASAP.
Hispanic guys (mostly Mexican), wearing jeans and hoodies. There are lots of them here and 90% of them wear this combo. You see them every day on the subway, at every time of day, but especially at extremely late or early hours, since they usually work in restaurants and have to be at work at dawn – or dawn is the time they finish work.
And now my favorite type – leather jacket with hoodie underneath, a pair of jeans and sunglasses (usually by a good designer). Fashionable, just a tad nonchalant – slightly pretending they have just rolled out of bed and put on the first thing they found on the floor by pure coincidence. Even if that had indeed been the case, their style is very well thought-out and nothing is accidental. They’re usually seen in Lower Manhattan, in Lower East Side or West Village. Which is where you will find me, also… by pure coincidence, of course.
