Photo cred: Caroline Wood
By guest blogger, Courtney
Hey Qwearlings! I got back from London after spending January there for a Theatre course (liberal arts, y’all). London street fashion seems like the origination of certain hipster styles in the US. Going into most London stores, I found myself drooling over almost every item of hipster-tastic duds, and found myself back in America at the end of the month with a significantly heavier suitcase and significantly lighter wallet.
I asked a few of my friends who came on my trip to represent some of the awesome fashion we saw there.
Photo cred: Caroline Wood
For starters: TOP-BUTTON SWAG. Literally everywhere. You’ll notice that we are all apparently wearing the same shirt. This is because we are, in fact, wearing the same shirt. We found an amazing store called Primark, which is apparently something like the British Walmart meets Forever 21. There were so many of these short sleeve printed beauties that we, plus two more of our friends, each own two, and none of them are the same. Printed shirts seem to be pretty big, but less plaid (like in the US) and more different prints like the fleur de lis, dots, and birds.
Photo cred: Caroline Wood
Becca (Left)
Shirt: Primark
Pants: H&M
Belt: Urban Outfitters*
Socks: Target
Shoes: Marshall’s
Courtney (Middle)
Shirt: Primark
Pants: Primark
Sweater: H&M
Blazer: Zara
Pocket Square: The Tie Bar
Belt: Lee River
Boots: Aldo
Andy (Right)
Shirt: Primark
Pants: Primark
Belt: H&M
Boots: All Saints
Something else the British seem to love is colored trousers. Andy and I are both wearing pants from— wait for it— Primark! And in the store there were stacks on stacks of colored pants in various fabrics and fits. Most pants on the street, however, are very much slim fit. In fact, I would say most of the London street style I observed was slim fit.
Other things I saw: crew neck sweaters and sweatshirts, beanies, black boots (like mine and Andy’s), black jeans. And blazers. Going to a club in London, I asked my English friend what guys usually wore when going out. The reply was, “Suits.” And it was true. Tons of slim cut slim lapelled suits, or blazers over tanks with slim cotton pants. Swoon! Check out Topman for more examples of this sort of style.
Courtney is our petite menswear consultant. If you have any questions for her about menswear fit, style in general, or being a rockin badass, send your qwearies here.
*Urban Outfitters donates money to anti-gay campaigns. Learn more about their actions here. Buffalo Exchange and Ragstock are great hipster alternatives
In case you want cutie Andy as a friend on Facebook
