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Tafadzwa Zimoyo
A week before Valentine’s Day, love birds are busy stressing on how to please each other.
The good thing is — its leap year, meaning to say ladies ought to spoil the gentlemen.
Well, simply put let’s just say — “It is a guy thing”. February is dedicated to guys.
That then reminds me, last weekend I witnessed the inaugural flash mob hosted by local fashion blogger and stylist Anesu Mhembere in the CBD.
It is now confirmed that men’s fashion has been evolving rapidly in the last few years.
Gone are the days when men’s fashion was restricted to a dull pallet with muted shades and subtle designs.
Male apparels have now the same amount of bling.
I am sure we all agreeing to that.
Mhembere, affectionately known as “Minister of White Linen” in the fashion circles, also called for proper grooming and deportment lessons for men so that they will fully understand and embrace the culture of fashion.
He made the remarks during the launch of the inaugural fashion fiesta dubbed “The Dandy Gentlemen” conducted in a flash mob way, where fashion bloggers, photographers, models, musician and celebrities, among others, thronged for the event.
The participants who were clad in polychromatic (colourful suits) caused a scene in the CBD, gathered near Meikles Hotel before walking to Joina City and Angwa Chop Chop Restaurant for photo shoots, networking and cocktails.
The event, which lasted three hours was meant to celebrate men in fashion and coincided with other countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia and Malawi who recently hosted the same event.
“I am happy Zimbabwean men are embracing the culture of fashion,” narrated Mhembere.
“We are following suit and I know this is our first project hence we faced a lot of challenges, but am proud that we managed to achieve our goal of uniting some of the men in the fashion industry and we exchanged notes. We also took pictures and managed to walk in the CBD creating a scene as the concept implies,” he said.
The Minister of White Linen added that men should be engaged in the fashion conversation as it is a business tool that can promote our local tourism sector.
“It is a fact that empowerment is a process. A gradual process of visibility, conversations, dialogues, resources, and recognition.
“With the rise of the men’s fashion, grooming industries, image and style are becoming key indicators of masculinity. It has become so important now to appreciate fashion,” added Mhembere.
Although the event had a low turnout compared to other countries, it saw renowned models such as reigning Mr Zimbabwe Bernard “BenChest” Ndlovu, contemporary musician Tembalami Tagwireyi and popular master of ceremony Nathan Gutu, among others gracing the occasion.
The event was, however, an eye opener, which I can safely rate as a success.
One thing for real is that with fashion, everyone has his or own style, but as the demand in questioning is high, I decided to share.
What I wore to the recently held Zimbabwe Music Awards (ZIMA) is totally different from what I wear at cocktails or going about town.
I have discovered after years of experiment that there is certainly a good starting place. You need to know your history like what one philosopher once mentioned.
This is an important rule for anyone who wants to really understand his clothes as opposed to just trusting experts to tell him what to wear.
You need to have a little understanding of and respect for where modern styles came from.
That is both a philosophical and a practical consideration.
If you just try to memorise “do and do not” rules, it gets overwhelming.
There is too much to handle.
You could, for example, memorise the “rules” that trouser cuffs are informal, and that business suits should always be hemmed without a cuff.
You should also not be afraid to lead.
I wore a colourful suit on Friday as my casual day and this got everyone commenting — “you’re looking good”.
Reason being they are not used to that. The following week, I noticed colourful blazers being brought to work by some colleagues.
I always inform my readers that they should not be intimidated by a best-dressed guy in the room.
When you take the time to care about your appearance, it is going to happen.
Another lesson I learnt is — you should know your “why”.
Just like fashion, know your history and why.
Fashion does not have a lot of fixed yes-or-no rules.
And the few rules can be broken stylishly. But you need to know what you’re doing, and why. Otherwise you just end up looking silly.
Every guy should understand how his clothes fit.
This is my first rule for buying clothes and I have said it many times: how your clothes fit is the most important thing.
According to fashionguide.com, “Not everyone wants to hear that. It’s not the most glamorous aspect of fashion.
There are lots of numbers and measurement, and it can seem kind of boring”.
But trust me on this one, the most expensive suit in the world is not going to look good on you unless it fits your body right.
If you do not have the right fit, everything else is wasted effort. Plain and simple.
A good fit should flatter your body.
It will draw attention to the parts of you that you want to highlight (usually the face, chest, and shoulders), and it can also minimise aspects you are not as fond of.
Until next week, happy fashion weekend.
Online Reporter