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Go Westwood young man
by Rachel Broady10/ 3/2005
KILTS are for weddings, stag nights and for men who can trace
their family tree back to some remote village in the Highlands,
aren't they? Absolutely not.
This summer kilts are the wardrobe essential for men who like to
look their best and want to prove that they know what's hot - even
when they're feeling the cold.
We asked James Draper, an associate lecturer at Manchester
Metropolitan University, to test the fashions at Vivienne
Westwood's city centre store to see if your average bloke in the
street could carry off her unusual styles.
First on was the kilt made of heavy fabric and to the traditional
style, with leather buckles and pleated back.
"It's like being in your dressing gown," James said,
self-consciously pulling at the hem.
James was ushered into the street to gauge people's reactions to a
man in a skirt. A Scottish man shouted, "put some clothes on", a
woman walked into a lamppost as she looked at our model and a group
of businessmen wanted to know if James was cold.
"The reaction was incredible," James said. "I would definitely wear
a kilt but I don't know where.
"I feel unusually comfortable, more so than I expected. It's made
of such thick material that's it's warm. I also feel confident and
these boots make me feel like He-Man!
"I've got terrible legs for a man but having been in that outfit,
I've no shame.
"But, having said that, I'd probably get away with it in Cruz, or
on Canal Street, or somewhere very posh and trendy, but if you
think about it seriously, it is a bit of a novelty item and you are
asking for attention if you put one on. I couldn't sit on the 86
bus in it."
The kilt costs £510, the V-neck sweater £120, the white shirt £110
and the pirate boots £230.
Vivienne's designs are known for the eccentricity. She began
designing in 1971 with clothing for rockers with zips and chains.
But her first complete menswear collection didn't arrive until
1990.
And the kilt isn't the only must-have fashion piece in the Vivienne
Westwood collection for men. A pin-stripe suit, modelled by Marilyn
Manson for the spring/summer collection, costs £890. This was
teamed with snake print shoes costing £190, and tie at £45.
James said it would possibly fit his lifestyle a little better,
ensuring he is both smart and fashionable as he rushes between his
post at MMU and his job at Manchester University.
"It feels incredibly glamorous," he said. "It makes my old things
from Burton's feel like potato sacks.
"As I'm quite tall and thin, I usually struggle to find clothes
that fit properly. I often have to get great big baggy things that
drown me in order to get the right length but this felt
perfect.
"My mother would love me in this suit!"
The more casual wear proved a little more bizarre to our model.
James wore a Bondage zip top (£215) and bondage zip trousers (£285)
with trainers £180.
"To me it felt like I was only half covered up with a shredded
piece of ill-fitting cloth," he said. "And as if there was a very
tight elastic band strangling my shoulders. But that's
fashion."
James then tried Alien jeans (£150) with the Westwood key It's Now
Or Never T-shirt (£85) and squiggle shoes (£200).
"I felt like a clown in the jeans," he said. "Or like I was dressed
up as a Genie in an Aladdin panto. I can't see these catching on
but each to their own."
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