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Well according to a Japanese newspaper, Sunday Mainich, it’s the latest subject of debate amongst young Japanese women, or as the paper puts it ‘Many women take an interest in men’s nipples …through their linen shirts or polo shirts.’
Apparently, one unnamed female journalist says she likes men with larger nipples because ‘… a guy with little nipples is also a little man in other ways’. Perhaps it’s just me being cynical, but I can’t help wondering if that the ‘unnamed female journalist’ also writes for the newspaper that published the article,
Anyway a cosmetic surgeon, Tatsuro Kamakura, says that he has performed a number of nipple reduction operations in the past couple of years and that men want smaller nipples because they get embarrassed when their children say that Daddy’s boobs are as big as Mummy’s. Another topic discussed in the article is men bras.
So if you are concerned to show your nipples to the ladies, how is it best achieved?
Choose a white shirt, or a white or pale blue T-shirt to give a hint of nipple without being too brazen.
And if you prefer to conceal your manly attractions?
Consider wearing a vest under your T-shirt to provide a level of concealment, or ensure that your casual clothing is dark enough to be completely opaque around the chest area: dark stripes will do the job, as will a layered T-shirt that offers some extra protection for your masculine charms.
Beijing artist Li Xiaofeng makes ‘porcelain clothing’ by sewing together shards of pottery recovered from China’s thousands of archaeological digs and fixing them onto leather garments. The fragments date from the song, ming, yuan and qing dynasties and are stored in dustbins in the artist’s studio. Li had his first exhibition outside China in 2009 and has become one of the many Chinese artists working with major fashion designers on ‘artfusion’ or ‘artketing’ – a blend of art and marketing.
Li has been working with Lacoste, where he constructed a porcelain polo shirt with the classic Lacoste logo, and went on to design a limited edition polo shirt with a signature image of blue and white porcelain pieces scattered on the garment.
Li is not the only Chinese artist to get into the casual clothing world: Comme des Garçons invited Ai Weiwei, to design a special-edition T shirt to commemorate their new store in Hong Kong – the T-shirt couldn’t be sold in China because Ai Weiwei is so controversial there.
If you want to get into the Chinese fashion vibe, but can’t afford the small fortune required for one of the limited edition pieces, focus on the colours blue, white and terracotta for your casual clothing and combine casual polo-shirts or T-shirts with jade medallions worn on a leather thong: a very traditional Beijing look!
The ‘back to school’ aisles of the supermarkets are bulging already – in fact the very day that schools break up, the shops seem to put up posters reminding their parents that the next term is less than two months away! With cuts being made in school budgets, it’s likely that parents are going to be asked to find more money and that probably means buying more school kit and equipment, more funds for school trips and events, and less free services. Save money by using the opportunities on offer now to buy well in advance. Students can also save big money by focusing their attention on what’s available now.
Buying school uniform can be expensive, and ensuring your child is always properly dressed can be stressful but you can improve your chances of making school days easier by investing in some ‘substitute clothing’ such as plain polo shirts or cotton shirts in the same colour as the ones with the school logo so that if none are put out to wash, you can shove the delinquent into a similar enough piece of clothing to probably get away with it for one day.
Sportswear isn’t just a tick box on a list. Getting enough T-shirts, polos, vests, shorts and track trousers can really make the difference between children taking part in healthy activity and sitting on the sidelines. Whatever the suggested amount of sports clothing, buy double, that means there’s never any ‘my PE kit is in the wash’ excuse for your kids! It may seem harsh, but getting the exercise habit may be one of the best investments you can make for your children.
If your child is entering university, treat them to a formal shirt and jacket for open days and careers fairs. We’re told that there are fewer jobs for graduates and that there will be ever more competition for them, so giving your student offspring a chance to dress their best for the days that they might meet and impress a potential employer could save you many years of having them lounging around at home on Job Seekers Allowance!
The recent burst of telecommuting is damaging fashion sense, according to a number of fashion pundits. They blame the ability to work from home for the way that both men and women have been letting their clothing standards drop.
Some supermarkets have taken to banning customers in pyjamas from shopping because it can offend. They claim that it’s because customers have got used to shopping online in their pjs and now expect to be able to do the same in person.
It’s just one sign that business-casual is devolving into ‘anything goes’ but for those who hope to travel up the career ladder it’s a dangerous path. Companies have taken complex dress codes and turned them into ‘use your best judgement’ but for savvy employees, owning a good pair of trousers or a skirt, a smart shirt and a decent pair of shoes is still the minimum requirement. If your CEO suddenly turns up in your home town and the company want you to drop off some papers or take him or her a memory stick, then you need to look right. And for those who work in ‘back offices’ it may be tempting to wear shorts, flip-flops and casual teeshirts but if you tend to look sloppy and unprofessional, you may fail to win promotion.
Find a middle path by wearing polo-shirts instead of T-shirts, lightweight casual trousers instead of shorts and simple pumps or even this year’s fashion winner, high-top trainers, instead of flip-flops.
Oddly enough, women tend to spend a lot more on clothes than men, but paradoxically, they actually have more ways to change the appearance of their clothing than men do, so strictly speaking, they should need to buy less items!
For summer clothing, women can change the appearance of a T-shirt or polo-shirt by using a scarf, either round the neck as a contrasting colour, or twisted to make a casual belt around the waist, or tied in the hair as a floaty pony tail accessory that harmonises with the colour of your top. Women can can also wear waistcoats over T-shirts, especially long sleeve T-shirts, to ring the changes on their wardrobes.
Both men and women can wear a summer vest T-shirt over a long sleeve T-shirt, or use a contrasting vest under a hoodie to make a colour contrast that can make a familiar piece of clothing look totally different.
Men may like to try wearing more formal clothing with shorts, and less formal with trousers: often they tend to stick to vests with shorts, lightweight polo-shirts with trousers but swapping those over you can develop a whole new look with the same clothes.
Apparently, men are more body conscious than they were a decade ago. The evidence is in the mannequin: Homme Nouveau have a shop window dummy that’s just 33 inches round the chest, and Burberry’s new window man is similarly spindly. All this in a time when the average Brit man has a 39 inch waist – yes, waist, not chest!
So how do you manage to look like the slender chaps whom fashion is designed for? It’s the same problem that has beset women for decades: clothes are not designed for average sizes and are modelled by genetic rarities who are taller and slimmer than 90% of the population.
1. Skinny jeans work for almost all men, even the extremely chunky, but you need to make sure that if you are less than slim, you cover up the waist, which can look porky, with a loose fitting V necked T-shirt which slims the body even further
2. Hoodies with a zip rather than a front pocket are slimming and elongating – pick navy blue, grey or black if you’re not the slimmest chap, but go for red, white or beige if you are skinny and proud of it.
But if you are proud of being a big chap, don’t despair. It seems that a ‘robust’ body shape is more popular in times political uncertainty or economic stress – because culturally we are more likely to value men who look as if they can take care of themselves and of others too. Play up your beefy status with bright polo shirts and round necked T-shirts with stripes or ringer details to show off your bulky beauty.
A large part of the global economic recovery may depend on a small group of dedicated shoppers according to the latest Acxiom Retail Consumer Dynamics survey.
These fashion-savvy clothes-buyers are called fashion-forward shoppers in the retail clothing world and they tend to be top spenders on clothes and fashion. Understanding what drives them to buy might help the garment trade which is digesting the fact that retail clothing sales in the USA dropped in May for the first time in eight months.
Fashion forwards are people who say they focus on fashion and style, rather than comfort or cost, and over two-thirds of them have indicated that they plan to spend the same, or more than usual, on summer clothing in the next three months. This is a contrast to the value-driven clothing buyer, who spends only around a third as much as the fashion forward, and who intends to try and spend less than usual on clothing between now and the autumn.
To be a fashion forward, you need to have a good eye for fashion, even in casual clothing – this winter’s top tip, for example is shades of cream and ivory, and savvy fashion forwards will already be overhauling their autumn wardrobes to include white or cream winter jackets and light coloured trousers and boots.
In Mansfield Ohio, a new detailed dress code has been drafted for court staff – it’s meant to ‘inspire confidence and respect from the public, create a professional image and install a sense of pride in city government’.
So municipal employees will be denied lip piercings and excessive tattoos. Jeans and T-shirts will be limited to Friday only in office areas.
In the USA any rules about dress codes must be careful not to infringe on First Amendment rights and religious freedoms and Casual Friday has become a contentious issue, because it’s a test of what is acceptable or not – can you wear a shirt, tie and smart jacket on Dress Down Friday if you’re Mormon or is that seen as a non-team choice? Can you turn up in a T-shirt with an overtly religious or controversial sporting message or is that somehow also against the spirit of teamwork?
This is why many companies prefer to impose casual uniforms which are usually a soft-collared top such as a polo-shirt, worn with the employee’s choice of skirt, trousers or jeans. This allows issues of gender, age and cultural equality to be balanced with health and safety issues.
Summer’s favourite colours are usually white and ice-cream shades of pink and blue, and this year is no exception. There may be more ‘rainbow shades’ in the uniforms at the World Cup but at Wimbledon it’s white all the way, and white can be a difficult colour to wear successfully.
For women, white can cause difficulties against a tan, or the lack of one because it can also make a fake tan look well … fake. The answer here is to take a leaf out of Audrey Hepburn’s book and separate the white from your skin with a border of black and white. Either black with white polka dots for the cute type or zebra stripes for the more dramatic look will break down the visual barrier between flesh tones and white, and create a ‘disturbed impression’ ie stop it looking like you’re a plastic Barbie in a tennis outfit.
Men’s problems are different to women’s – white expands the waist and neck and can make you look like you swallowed the ball! Things to avoid:
• white under white unless you are Andy Murray thin – a navy vest or a black T-shirt under a white hoodie will slim you down
• round-necked tops white if you are still winter-pale – a V neck or polo shirt will stop your skin and the white clothing blending together into a ‘lump’
• white against black – unless you’re slim, a white top with black trousers can make you look very top-heavy. Instead try grey or camel coloured trousers or shirts, or faded jeans which will balance the lightness of a white summer shirt.
There’s still time to order a polo shirt for your Dad! But which one to pick? If you want to choose something your father will love and wear often, put a little time into thinking about his life and preferences and you’ll get the perfect gift for him.
If your father is sporty, make sure you choose a well cut shirt that gives him a chance to move and flex his body, so nothing too tight, especially around the upper arms. On the other hand, if your father is one of those men who has a real interest in fashion, he may be more in favour of one of this year’s more lightweight polo-shirts in the summer’s hot colours of orange, sky-blue or yellow.
Patriotic dads, especially with the World Cup going on, will love red, white and blue shirts, but if he’s not a football fan, why not get your dad a polo-shirt that matches his eyes? It sounds like a cliché but women are always advised to wear clothes that pick up their eye colour: men rarely are, but it’s just as flattering for them too.
And if Dad spends a lot of time outdoors, why not go for a Father’s Day hoodie? They are the most practical item of clothing and work just as well for fishing, gardening, watching football or going shopping …
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