A man in full
What you wear may not always show who you are, but most often it comes damn close. It's an interesting rule of thumb to judge how suave or not people are, but try to evaluate the Indian man using this, and the assumption falls apart. And this brings us to that perennial question-Where has the Indian man's style gone?
If you were to look at any of the traditional clothes that Indian men have worn for centuries, you wouldn't doubt their sense of style. After all, you can't argue with the elegance of a classic Bengali malkocha dhoti or the ubiquitous north Indian sherwani, or even a humble kurtapyjama ensemble. But as soon as Indians had to contend with trousers and, horror of horrors, suits, all conventional wisdom went out the window. When shirts and trousers started to get used to separate personal tradition from a professional imperative, adoption of a "western" style of dressing started to pose Indians plenty of problems.
In fact, the conservatism that has always burrowed at the heart of Indians made sure that whatever was considered sensible became the rule. Thus, you got chunky shoes, roomy trousers, massive double-breasted suits worn unbuttoned and all sorts of other style disasters. According to acclaimed menswear designer Arjun Khanna, it's a matter of being informed. "I believe the root cause of this slow progression is due to a lack of understanding and education," he says. Khanna is of the opinion that it's only the trend conscious new Indian who makes a concentrated effort to care for his appearance. The rest just don't bother. Which is very unfortunate, he adds.
It is, indeed, when you consider that our basics are so strong-from great fabrics to a rich history of tailoring. When Ravi Bajaj, one of India's menswear stalwarts, came out with his new collection Dandy March at the just concluded Men's Fashion Week, he went back to tradition to create his elegantly-wasted collection. Ask him about the fabrics that he uses, and he says: "I work with natural fibres as much as possible. In a country with a tropical climate, it's the only way to go." And that underscores a very important point.
Though the same styles can be a rage in both Mumbai and Buenos Aires, it pays to play to your strength; to place fashion in the context of your body type and the climate.
As long as you build a wardrobe that will help you sail through any occasion for successive seasons, that is way preferable than being a slave to fashion.
Khanna figures that when it comes to juggling sober dressing with smart dressing, the key is balance. "It depends on the environment," he says. "An investment banker will obviously dress differently from an adman or an actor." To designer Narendra Kumar Ahmed, whose work on "Art of the Suit" is like a parallel exposition on both the suit and travel, variety is it. "Don't just wear a blue or a white shirt (to work). Checkered and striped shirts are in. Experiment with collars, cuff sizes. Dress for work, knowing that you should be able to wear that same shirt to an after-work dinner and drinks."
Bajaj quotes Baudelaire in the introduction to Dandy March, "But a dandy can never be a vulgar man." His line celebrates virility and masculinity allied to a feline aesthetic of flexibility and movement. While many "serious" men would view this flamboyance as an inappropriate demand on their time, what many rarely understand is that dressing imaginatively is the stylistic flip to dressing well; according to the shape of our bodies, and befitting the occasion. As Ahmed puts it: "It's not about being "macho", but masculine. Men should look for jackets and shirts that fit well." That's a fairly straightforward bit of advice, but you follow it and reap instant benefits, looking great being the biggest. Bajaj, true to his maverick self, figures that the time for coyness is past. "Menswear design will get more and more flamboyant, and better quality will be sought," he says.
Khanna, meanwhile, sees the future as Bespoke. "Bespoke is now the epitome of luxury. However, bespoke tailoring doesn't begin and end with shirts and suits. It is also extended to accessories like ties, belts or pocket squares." The designers have good reason to be optimistic. Greater exposure to different kinds of dressing and a constantly renewing set of international visual cues have already transformed the lives of many. The number of well-dressed Indians is on the rise. Bajaj enthuses about the Indian male: "He is getting extremely conscious of the way he appears. Be it dressing or grooming, everything has to be right!" Ahmed says that the male silhouette is changing as men become more conscious of how they look. "Close fits are in and will remain so," he says. "Men's fashion is about sharp cuts, jackets that run along the curve of the back, and shirts that fit the shoulder just right." Khanna reinforces the point when he says: "The silhouette is becoming slimmer, more fitted and generally sharper. Tailored garments that fit perfectly are defining the male silhouette today." Bajaj adds, with a twinkle in his eyes: "Let's just say that a person who should wear a 'large' size, now wants to fit into a 'medium'."
And so the reinvention continues. A sense of style is no longer a frivolous thing "serious" men do not indulge in. Rather, it is an important, and visible, facet of a rounded personality. A man in full, as it were.
Additional reporting by Anamika Butalia
