80s fashion redux, part 5: Male Order

Whether it is with a necktie, a brogue, a crisp big white shirt or a full-blown tuxedo, a recurring idea in fashion is borrowing from the boys. I don't think we are quite at the 80s level of boy-girl dressing, but the theme is alive and well, and in some of the same designers' hands.

Originally posted April 21, 2006:

A woman borrowing from a man's closet was certainly not a new theme in the 80s, but it reached an apex in this decade, and just as distinctly feminine clothing was often highly romanticized, so was the masculine dress (for women) counterpart.

MALE dress borrowed from a theoretical closet, dating from all eras of masculine sartorial splendor. Every woman wore a tie at least once in the 80s, and there were distinctly man/woman tuxes, tailcoats, suits, overcoats and accessories.

Gaultier, the master of the theme

Yamamoto suit, Brooks Brothers shirt, Gene Meyer tie

John Galliano

Gaultier again

and Galliano again, with antique brocade

Elle MacPherson in masculine layers

Updated August 3, 2009:

I can't get enough of this theme, and apparently neither can Gaultier. For Hermès Fall 2009 he has strutted the aviatrix, and I love every second of her old school high-flying style:

Alexander Wang explores the classic boyfriend shirt

and Dolce & Gabbana is finding chic new directions for the tux