Hailes Hearts Fashion.: s/s 15 menswear style guide

It's seems to be rare to find people discussing men's fashion online and when they do, it seems to focus more on high-end fashion as opposed to high-street. Where are all the high-street fashion blogs for men? Anyway, I've been desperate to discuss menswear ever since I started my blog in 2010 so I decided I'd start by creating my first spring/summer style guide. I've done lots of style guides for women's fashion over the years but I've decided to try my hand at men's fashion and, luckily, I managed to rope my brother into helping me create a mini lookbook. His outfit was inspired by the upcoming trends for spring and summer, focusing on the French Riviera vibe that seems to be in at the moment.

Sourced from Google (Left: Christopher Kane, Right: Cavalera)

Trend one: accessories

The great thing about accessories is that they enable outfits to be more versatile and, I always think, have the ability to make a plain outfit a bit more fashionable

Think:

Pocket squares, summer scarves, braces and sunglasses. All seeming to have a retro vibe to them, particularly the 70s which is on trend right across the board at the moment. There seems to be a lot of quirky and garish prints being styled up with tonal or quite simple outfits (see the accessories used in the images above).

Sourced from Google (Kate Eary)

Trend two: the seventies

I briefly touched upon this in the trend above but 70s fashion is everywhere at the moment. In the last few years, 90s fashion made a huge come back but as it's very inspired by 70s, it was only logical for the 70s to get the spotlight.

Think:

Large open collared shirts, vivid hallucinatory patterns, large patterned silk scarves and over-sized garments for a laid-back hippy style.

Sourced from Google

Trend three: sporty vibe

The sports vibe for s/ is to menswear, what floral prints and pastel colours are to women's. It's a standard trend for that season and although it isn't ground breaking but this trend will have always been, somewhat, reinvented. The term 'sporty vibe' is inclusive of almost every sport from sailing to polo to skating so this trend is extremely versatile. The skater look we saw in Bobby Abley's collection for s/s works well with the 70s trend, whereas the polo look is more suited to a preppy vibe and could fit in well with the accessories trend and the stripes. I decided to use this trend (combining the polo and sailing look for a French Riviera look - scroll down to see more) for my lookbook.

Think:

Anything from rolled up chinos, deck shoes, skater shoes to board shorts.

Sourced from Google (L: Craig Green, R: E.Tautz)

Trend four: outerwear

Whether it's men's fashion or women's, the spring/summer coat is going to be very popular this season. More so for the spring because it's unlikely many people will take a coat with them on their beach getaway. There is an abundance of lightweight jackets and coats on the high-street at the moment that are perfect for chucking over a pair of shorts and a shirt to keep you warm as well as in style. From a practical viewpoint, the s/s coat will also be a fantastic transition piece from Summer into Autumn so don't be worried that you'll only get one seasons worth out of it!

Think:

Over-sized, drapey, long, tonal.

Sourced from Google (L: J Crew, R: E.Tautz)

Trend five: stripes

Stripes are a big trend for the upcoming season and I'm not just talking about Breton tops. The great thing about this trend is that it's versatile so everyone should be able to find a way to make it work for them.

Think:

Pinstripes, colourful stripes, wide/thin stripes, striped suits, tops, trousers, jackets and pretty much whatever else you can think of that has stripes.

Mini Lookbook

As mentioned at the start of this post, I got my brother to create a mini lookbook with me and we chose to go with a French Riviera theme. This included some of the trends that are mentioned above (turned up chinos, sporty/sailing vibe with the deck shoes, striped shirt).

As you'll notice in the pictures, the outfit wasn't shot on the most beautiful French Rivera-esque day. Instead it was chilly, overcast and the sea was rough (so just a normal British day in March really!) but strangely I think the weather added something to photos. However, I'd advise that until the weather picks upm you should probably think about wearing a coat if you venture out on a day like this, Maybe a nice navy duffle coat would have complimented this outfit well!