Men’s Fashion at Mary Washington

By SARAH KELLY

There’s nothing like a well-dressed man. Charm and intelligence are valuable traits, but would Ryan Gosling be even half as dreamy if his suits weren’t always so well-cut?

Women tend to take center stage in the fashion world due to the variety of trends seen on runways, but men’s fashion is a much more subtle art.

Here are the three essential rules to being a stylish man on campus.

First, pay attention to fit. Most clothing sizes just don’t fit well enough, and with jacket sizes this is essential. Having a few items of clothing tailored is an investment that will be returned many times over.

The second rule: no sweatpants under any circumstances. Write that one down.
Lastly, keep accessories simple. A well-chosen pair of shoes, for instance, is a simple way to say a lot about what kind of person you are without saying a word.

When it comes to men’s fashion, studio art major Mattson Fields gets it just right: expressing his personal style by choosing classic pieces based on quality and design.

He describes his own look by saying it’s “Like what people wear when they think they’re better than other people. I don’t think that I’m better than other people, but sometimes I just look like I do.”

Fields, a junior originally from Arlington, Virginia, wears a T-shirt with the aperture symbol from a camera on the front from the online store “Threadless,” a site specializing in community designed T-shirts.

“My look is sort of art student circa 1999, circa 2000.” His beige sneakers are from oddball.com.

“I love sneakers that look kind of classic, like canvas sneakers, although I’ve never had any converse.” Fields wears a gray hoodie from H&M.

“I buy a lot of stuff from H&M because it’s cheap and always really fashionable.” The hoodie has a quirky design feature that allows the zipper to go up all the way to the top of the hood, covering one’s head completely.

“It doesn’t really make practical sense,” he said of the sweater. His outfit is complemented by a classic swatch watch.

“I only buy swatches, because I really like Swatch. I think watches are one of the few things that guys can like legitimately wear. I just like watches because they’re functional, I think they look good, and there’s a lot of cool designs for them that people don’t really know about.”

Mattson’s style influences are quite eclectic, ranging from the cast of the British TV show “Skins” to Harajuku street fashion in Japan. As an art student, Fields has a hard time being both someone who values what they wear, while also keeping in mind that his clothes “always end up getting paint on them.” As he points out, fashion has a direct link to the art world.

“You’ll see a lot cooler fashions on the creative majors, English and Creative Writing and Studio art kids. It’s something about being an individual. It’s just about expressing yourself, telling people you care about aesthetics.”

Mattson’s style is the perfect example of how to put a personal spin on classic, well-structured pieces.

Image courtesy of Sarah Kelly/The Bullet