Tom Matlack is a “murse” guy, and he’s proud of it. But how much jewelry is too much?
Okay I’m a murse guy from way, way back. About 1996 to be exactly. I loved onto badass rings and various bracelets. But the thing that has stuck is the necklace. And it’s nowhere in this front page NYT story about manhood. Mine is a sword with a snake in silver. It works out because if you are super religious you assume that I am wearing a cross. I don’t correct those impressions. But I know its a dagger.
“Where before wearing a leather jacket and jeans was a way to rebel,” he said, “now you see guys on the fringe, edgier characters, wearing suits and pocket squares and tie bars.”He added, “Men are feeling more confident to experiment and realizing that they do have more options, and it’s showing in the numbers — it’s showing in sales.”
The bracelet is perhaps the most striking example of the accessory craze.
It is hard to imagine the archetypal businessmen of recent decades — the power-suited broker of the 1980s, the khakis-and-blue-oxford-shirt-wearer of the ’90s, or the hoodie-clad tech titans of the 2000s — selecting a piece of jewelry each morning as they dressed for work. But now, fashion executives say, sales of men’s bracelets, especially thin versions in leather or metal, are increasing at a rapid pace.
“Bracelets are on fire right now,” said Tim Bess, who analyzes men’s fashions for the Doneger Group, a trend forecaster. “I’d say it’s the No. 1 look for the young man.”
The return of the male shopper could have broad consequences for the economy. Retail sales plummeted during the recession, with men’s apparel sales dropping almost twice as fast as women’s in 2009, according to an I.B.M. Global Business Services analysis of retail data.
Guys, what are you wearing these days? Is it really the age of the bracelet? Is that some sign that we have all gotten more sensitive? Or does it mean that the real men have left the country?
And just by the way, NYT, I am just begging you to let a guy write a story about men. Just once. Please?
Hippies, punks, goths, hipsters, frat boys, and every college student who spent a semester on a non-European study abroad have been wearing bracelets and other jewelry for decades. I think any trend in the mainstream retail sector says more about commercialism in pop culture than about masculine identity.
I wear my wedding ring and I wear a watch.
Those are the only articles of jewelry a man is allowed to wear. They say “I’m willing to commit and I know what time it is.”
Wearing jewelry isn’t conducive to getting real work done. If you don’t take it off every time it just gets damaged. Even watches get broken. I don’t find jewelry practical. I’ve never really considered the aesthetics.