What is rock style for men?
The term "rock" has been so overused in recent years that we don't believe we can give it a clear definition.
If you sit down and put your head in your hands, trying to think clearly about what rock is, and the style that goes with it, what comes to mind?
Surely a bunch of completely disparate images, at least stylistically:
The fitted suits of the Beatles from the pre-hippie period.
The Ramones' beat-up perfectos and ripped jeans.
Peter Gabriel's electric blue tights.
Wedge boots and makeup from KISS.
Without forgetting James Dean's banana and super-classic chinos...
And again, we didn't talk about everything...
All of this, ultimately, makes up a broad spectrum where we can more or less find our sartorial happiness, but we are not necessarily more advanced.
More than a rock style, an attitude
The only thing in common between all these styles is the spirit of rebellion , the desire to burn everything or almost everything, to wipe out the achievements of the previous generation.
Ultimately, every major band started out like this: even the Beatles, whose bob cuts and sharp suits can seem as old-fashioned as they are conventional to us today.
However, the Mod rage of England in the sixties comes from a wholesale rejection of the previous decade: goodbye to corded temples and carefully slicked locks, loose high-waisted pants, long skirt, flat heels , and “cheesy” music like the twist.
Films set in the 60's often give a good idea of the looks of the time, here the mods with Brighton Rock .
In Britain, even the lower middle class has sartorialism in its genes, as much as five o'clock tea and an island mentality.
In the United States, it was a different story, with a much more marked “workwear” heritage.
This is how the same generation, in two different countries, driven by the same spirit of change, was able to see on one side of the Atlantic fans of Lakers teddys, black jackets on motorcycles and, on the other hand, other, dildos in fitted suits or guys with shaved heads with suspenders and shirts with rolled up sleeves .
Stay consistent with your clothes
A bad boy style, the style of someone who goes all out to live his passion, the style that every man dreams of, but which will remain empty if you don't have the attitude that goes with it.
We repeat it often, but style is not necessarily someone who is well dressed – okay, being well dressed helps, obviously – but it is above all an attitude.
The most striking example we have around us is Régis Dajczman, the creator of Dajczman (ex-When I Was Seventeen) .
When a whole guy like that composes his own songs and sets fire to a room, no one thinks it's weird when he tries on a black shirt... or walks around the office in leather pants on Monday morning (it actually looks really good finally)...
Rick Owens often likes to repeat that the mind is the first garment of the body , and the body is the first garment of man. This is especially true when you adopt a “rebellious” style, which will go against most of what you have been taught and fed up with.
The typical example of the “rebel” look without spontaneity, boy band type. Fortunately, we don't talk to you about that.
For exemple :
- Want to dress like an English academic? Round Persol glasses, tweed suit and big cardigan , especially start reading Yeats .
- Do you like drapes, raw materials, the asymmetry of goth-ninja designers? Take up a combat sport, become interested in Japanese architects and Shinto philosophy.
A piece of clothing always has connotations, it carries a heritage that is well anchored in people's minds, and if you do not embody this heritage, there will always be a gap in the perception that others will have of you.
Like that :
Is rock style right for me?
After this supra-theoretical paragraph, let's come back to Earth a little. Not everyone is Lemmy Kilmister , and you probably still want to have that famous rock and rebel style – we're not going to hide it, girls love it anyway.
Lemmy Kilmister is probably the only person in the world who can wear these boots. Hence the interest in finding YOUR style. (RIP Lemmy)
Good news, it's relatively easy to get. But it's going to take the attitude that goes with it.
Everyone is “rock” today – any twink with a second-hand biker jacket who knows how to play Creep on guitar thinks he's the next Nick Cave.
Be creative, have an extraordinary passion, the rest will come by itself.
The main trends in rock style for men
Rock style black jacket
The style of American legends from the 50s and 60s, which is almost similar to workwear in its roughness and simplicity.
- T-shirt: white, simple, no frills. Or a tank top with a gun. Hanger.
T-shirt brands: H&M, Muji, American Apparel. On the more high end, Maisons Standards and Benjamin Jezequel make very good, ultra basic ones.
- Jean: raw, semi-slim, with a cuff.
Jeans brands: the usual classics: APC's Petit and New Standard, Naked & Famous, Unbranded Brand, Edwin.
- Boots: simple, raw, with zip or buckles. The important thing is that they look like they have seen the country.
Boot brands: we cannot recommend second-hand clothes enough at this level. Less expensive, and quite worn out! More classic, NDC Made by Hand makes perfect ones, in suede.
- Accessories: none, except a large brown leather belt, cowboy belt type (minus the engraved buckles) with a traditional buckle. Sober, functional. Possibly a large silver ring, and a patterned “gypsy” scarf.
Men's accessories brands: Losco, in the Marais, fits exactly into this niche.
- Cut: Long hair on the head, relatively short on the temples, slicked back. Like Wolverine, who is also an aficionado of the style.
Leather, jeans and muscles.
- Strong piece: a large round-neck knit, a harrington or a (big and heavy) black jacket (no lambswool or too pronounced bending, so it's a biker jacket, not a show piece).
Brands: Fripes. Sweaters: MELINDA GLOSS, Filippa K, SNS Herning, and in general all the Scandinavian brands specializing in large raw knits.
- Jackets: Temple of Jawnz (only available second hand, the brand no longer exists) or Blackscissors online have excellent value for money. Unfortunately, truly beautiful jackets for this type of look can only be found in thrift stores (Killiwatch, despite its reputation, still has an extremely well-stocked jacket section from this point of view).
The Mod's rock style
Mods appeared around the same time in England, fans of jukeboxes, African-American music, Italian magazines and French arthouse films. With the Beatles, they swept away everything in their path.
While the black jackets love Pento, motorcycles and rockabilly, they are passionate about tailor-made suits, scooters and ska (music of Jamaican origin, editor's note) .
If this style has revolutionized the fashion landscape, it is because, unlike the previous one, it is not part of a very American tradition of rebellion, but is inspired by very British customs, even in their music.
The Beatles were perfectly aware that they were playing black music, and refused in 1965 during their tour in Florida to play in front of segregationist audiences.
- Suit : fitted, light gray, navy blue, brown, or even more fanciful colors like rust or azure blue. Three buttons. Narrow lapels.
Brands: all the suit brands that we usually recommend (Ly Adams, Emile Lafaurie, TM Lewin)
- Shirt : white or liberty, fitted, with small collar or buttoned collar, without pockets.
Brands: Ben Sherman, MelindaGloss, Three Animals.
- Accessories : slim tie, pocket square for the more classic ones, Fedora and silver jewelry for the Babyshambles fans.
Brands: Simmonnot-Godard for clutches, Zara, or the eponymous brand for fedoras, Gudule for jewelry. Cuisse de Grenouille, Balibaris or De Bonne Facture make very beautiful ties.
- Boots : “Beatle boots” (knee-high ankle boots with a high heel), Chelsea boots (ankle boots with elastic on the side) Richelieu, desert boots with English toe, black or coffee (it all depends on the color of the suit).
Brands: Finsbury, Seventh Width , Edward Green, Clarks.
Punk rock/biker style
Inherited from the black jackets of the 1950s, the figure of the musician in dilapidated leather evolved with the appearance of punk in the following decades, where politics (notably the Viet-Nam War) led to the appearance of a generation disillusioned and ready to fight it out.
Rebelling is no longer enough. You must destroy, mock, insult and leave only rubble behind.
The 70s saw this spirit grow little by little, in music with the Sex Pistols, the Stooges, Billy Idol and in fashion with Vivienne Westwood and Malcom McLaren, the impresario of the Pistols, who began to sell t-shirts with upside-down crosses and ostentatious references to Nazism or Satan in his London store.
Body modifications are also gaining ground, this is the time when tattoos are becoming more popular, piercings and spreaders, formerly reserved for sailors, are being sported by dozens of adolescents, etc.
It's quite simple: the more you look like you just got out of bed or from a drunk, the more your clothes will have that unique, patched look of pieces lugged from a platform to a stage, the better.
- T-shirt: rather loose, gray or white. With registration or not, a group t-shirt, it doesn't matter anyway.
Brands: Eleven Paris, Sixpack, American Apparel, second-hand clothes.
- Jean: gray, black, or a faded earth color. Torn. Semi-slim or slim.
Brands: April 77, All Saints, Balmain Biker, Naked & Famous.
- Leather: the essential perfecto, brown or black. You can afford to take finer leathers than for a biker style, the important thing is that they look like they have lived, really lived. With stains, differences in reflection, everything that makes beautiful leather.
Authentic punk leather...
Brands: Difficult to find elsewhere than in second-hand stores, but mid-range brands like Serge Pariente or Korintage offer well-cut ones at a fair price. On the net, Blackscissors or TempleofJawnz. Some creators like Boris Bidjian Saberi or Isaac Sellam Experience also make interesting variations.
- Boots: what could be better and richer than Doc Martens? Or their finer variations, lace-up ankle boots worn by time and bad weather.
Brands: Doc Martens (on sale, online), Wolverine (1000 Mile line), Guidi on the highest end.
- Accessories: leather bracelets, silver rings. Optional piercings and tattoos are strongly recommended.
Brands: Bracelets: H&M, Etsy, handmade.
- Rings : Gudule, or any other store offering affordable Tuareg/Yemeni rings. Goti, Julius, Corpus Christi, Tobias Wistisen, Manuel Bozzi, Werkstätt-München.
- Cut: short, long hair, beard of one or three weeks.
The “hybrid” style
Loose suit with wide lapels, shirt wide open on a chest without a tie, trouser bottoms rolled up over Oxfords without socks , this sort of hybrid style is inherited from hippies and Mod's alike.
It is represented by figures as diverse as Serge Gainsbourg or Pete Doherty, has its roots in the 70s, and carries within it a carefully studied relaxation at the same time as a love for sartorialism.
It is the attempt to combine two opposite things: the razor cut of Italian suits and the kind of typically southern carelessness that accompanies it. These stylistic “gimmicks” break the somewhat stiff solemnity of the costume.
Typically, Gianni Agnelli, the main shareholder of Fiat, always wore, with impeccable Valentino suits, his watch on his shirt cuff. Farm.
Pete Doherty is a specialist in assembling necklaces from all sources on his suit , or charms on a pocket watch chain, Gainsbourg stood out more for his eternal Repetto worn barefoot in summer and winter.
- Shirt: it all depends on taste. Gainsbourg tended to wear loose linen shirts, Pete Doherty preferred them more classic.
Brands: MelindaGloss, Three Animals, Turnbull & Asser, Toxan;
- Suit: Italian, wide lapels and natural shoulders (spella camica). Navy blue, charcoal gray, striped.
Brands: Danyberd, Ugo Baldini, EmileLafaurie. On the more high end, Husbands, Brioni, Cifonelli, Michael Ohnona.
- Shoes: Low brogues or “Chelsea Boots” (with an elastic on the side, see the paragraph dedicated to Mod's).
Brands: Seventh Width, Finsbury, Edward Green;
- Accessories: necklaces, scarves, bracelets, rings, hats, second-hand clothes.
The secret to mastering the men's rock style?
No real secrets.
It's a sober style, bordering on austerity , two or three pieces maximum, not counting any jewelry.
Nick Cave
On the other hand, it is a complete range. Most rock style pieces are either worn and beat up like their owner, or so strong that they simply can't be integrated into another look. Better people than us have broken their teeth there.
What makes a rock'n'roll style is above all the look that goes with it, giving character to any room. You have to see Johnny Rotten wearing his striped angora sweaters with astonishing naturalness to really understand it).
Be comfortable in your rock clothing for men
Start by choosing one of the clothing styles presented above, the one that makes you most comfortable. If you like Dio and Ozzy Osbourne, you're going to feel stuck in a mod costume, and that's perfectly normal.
We have undoubtedly seen more comfortable outfits.
Make yourself comfortable in your rooms, look like you grabbed them from the foot of the bed when you woke up from a very short night and vaguely took a shower. No more, because you have more interesting things to do.
Beware of strong pieces
Do NOT start by purchasing the strongest piece. In 95% of cases, you will regret your purchase in the months that follow, or you will have better control of your image and it will then be a wasted investment. This also applies to accessories. As usual, we start with the basic pieces.
In terms of colors, limit yourself to grays (anthracite, mouse, concrete), whites (normal, off-white) and earth colors (the whole range which remains relatively neutral: rust, taupe, brown, brown, khaki, etc.).
April77 is a denim brand that plays a lot on the rock universe, the model seeming to come out of a hectic rehearsal.
Also avoid fancy brandenburg jackets , not everyone is John Lennon. This is not an accepted style, you will just look like a weird guy, or a twink. And this is not the goal you are pursuing by trying to dress this way.
Do you have tattoos? So much the better ! The rolled up sleeves of your perfecto will highlight them.
Male rock style: for which body type(s)?
Physically, it's a fact, it's a style that suits tall and thin people better. But everything generally looks better on tall, thin people. The important thing is to have the presence that goes with it.
Prince is 1.54m, James Dean and Jamie Cullum stand at 1.65m with their arms raised, Axl Rose, Kurt Cobain, Joe Strummer, Frank Sinatra, Trent Reznor and Kevin Jonas are all in the 1.70m mark, and they radiate their presence on the scene. Well, OK, not Kevin Jonas ...
Elton John wears tinted glasses and could do plus-size campaigns for H&M. Still, it's Elton John.
