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The question
While in the U.K. recently, I saw a lot of stylish guys in red jeans. What do you think: hip or hippie?
The answer
Indeed, my favourite website at the moment is the British sartorial-humour blog called "Look at my [obscenity]red trousers!" It's a collection of candid pictures of guys on the streets of London rocking red pants. Actually, most of them are a sort of rust colour, very narrow jeans, cords or canvas pants, with the odd pink pair thrown in at summer events. Pale blue shirts, blue blazers and – unusually – blue suede loafers seem common match-ups.
Interestingly, these trendy guys are mostly rowing, cricketing public-school types who work in banking – an association we would never have made with Bay Street here. The captions mock, alternately, privilege and pretentiousness, as if the red-trousered male is both upper-class and overly fashionable (again, a connection that is rarely made among old-money males in Canada, a resolutely anti-fashion bunch). I have to admit: They all look terrific to me. Anything that erases the lines among toff, hipster and eccentric would be welcome in this grey place.
Russell Smith's latest novel is Girl Crazy . Have a fashion question? E-mail style@globeandmail.com.