Mens Fashion 2010

Men's Fashion Trends to Watch in 2010

Few people besides the fashion designers and men's boutique buyers themselves can tell in advance what the upcoming trends in style will be. Whether it's bow ties or shorts with cuffs that will be all the rage next season is almost entirely up to them. But with enough observation of the magazines and what the celebrities are wearing, you're bound to get an idea of what will most likely survive in the spotlight until the next season's deliveries.

Bright Colors
You've probably got at least one friend or co-worker who likes wearing bright and eye-catching clothes when going out; it's hardly a new fashion statement. But the way things are shaping up, it looks like it'll cross the boundary between personal statement and public trend in the next couple of seasons.

Fortunately, there are several ways for you to adopt this trend, depending on how much you're willing to commit and how confident you are in your personal style. After all, not every man can wear bright colors well, or at least do so right away. Some will need more practice than others, while others prefer to limit themselves to a particular degree.

Starting with the smallest items means starting with details like a patterned pocket square, or a bold colored plastic watch (yes, they're for adults now should be paired with casual wear rather than the suit & tie look). The next level involves more visible items like your necktie, while the next up involves your shirt or even the sports coat jacket. At its most daring, the trend requires something that's visually big like a sweater or a parka that tops off your whole outfit.

Whichever way you decide to do it, there's one thing you have to keep in mind. Only one bright color should be present in your outfit, and even then be limited to three pieces at most. Too many bright shades can be overwhelming.

Brown Leather
Clichés are plentiful in men's fashion, and black leather is one of the most often worn. Everywhere you look, whether it's at bags or shoes or watches, everyone's wearing black leather or some variant of it. In short, it has become ubiquitous to the point of boredom.

Enter brown leather. True, on paper it sounds like something your dad might have owned in the fifties or sixties, but that's part and parcel of its appeal. Brown leather has always felt like the more traditional choice, the gentleman's leather that stayed constant as all the masses and yuppies bought black. It's a color that made a major comeback in 2009, and it looks like it'll continue riding its wave of popularity all the way to 2010.

So far, a pair of brown shoes has been the must-have item on most people's lists. If you're looking for an alternative purchase, however, try a belt or a bag in soft, supple brown leather. A watch strap in brown also strikes a very traditional stance, especially when matched with gold hardware.

Color-on-Color
Men's style guides always placed emphasis on contrast. The colors you wore had to vary, and that wearing multiple pieces of the same or similar colors was nigh fashion suicide. The tastemakers of today, however, are proving that color-on-color does work, and it does wonders at creating some very forward-looking outfits.

Black on black was one of the earlier trends from 2009, and it's a useful one to master. It takes a full outfit of black pieces made from differently textured materials so that each one is distinct, even when they're all the same color. You can apply the same technique to just about any other color out there. Just see to it that you're picking pieces that are only slightly off from each other, and your look will come together in the end.

Another way to do this is to pick two or three bright colors from the same color family. Do it with layers, such as a v-neck sweater over a shirt and necktie, so that the effect you create is easier on the eyes. Choosing from the same family of colors keeps your clothes from clashing as much as you'd expect, making for one very, very bright and bold outfit.

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