STYLE: THERE IS A fine line between too smart and too casual, and that line has been tread – at least on wedding and formal-occasion invites – by the term "smart-casual". .
Not as offensive as the entirely falsified words “jeggings” and “mandals”, the term “smart casual” has found itself often being applied to casual items that have one crucial thing in common: expense. Expensive jeans, expensive T-shirts, expensive trainers – items that should be somewhat affordable (although we will allow some variation for innovations in fit and stretch and neat designs by independent artists).
This trio of Irish men have managed to tread the smart casual line with aplomb. In common, each are wearing trainers of a sort. These are not your common-or-garden Nike Air Max, but the kind of trainers that couldn’t be mistaken for runners – even by the native Irishman with a love of parochial slang
Mathew Grealis, from Stillorgan, Dublin, is working a slightly rockier look, suitable,perhaps, for the wedding of a friend who is in a band. Black jeans and a red T-shirt say one thing on paper – Girls Aloud groupie or Japanese Manga fan – but, in reality, this look works because nothing is making a statement. The graphic on the T-shirt is hidden; his leather jacket is softened with the addition of a hoodie. The flat cap, which could have been dandyish with a more buttoned-up ensemble, is the perfect finishing touch.
Andrew McDonaldfrom Cork has dressed up his trainers with what one's grandfather might call slacks but what Zara calls slim-fit chinos, and mixed things up with a hint of Breton stripe in his collarless T-shirt and a soft caramel cardigan. Taken individually, these items might just strike fear into the hearts of Irish men; assembled, his outfit is no more "out there" than his classic framed sunglasses. Props, also, for tucking his trousers into his trainers without resembling a member of One Direction.
Brendan Dempseyfrom Cork is using a certain format of dressed-down chic – jeans that would perhaps be more casual than smart are livened up with the addition of a tailored jacket and a light shirt, while the bag slung across his chest is the very definition of insouciance. And, lest you find yourself beginning to wonder, there is no man alive whose visage is not improved with the addition of a pair of classic aviator or Ray-Ban sunglasses.
Give three-piece a chance
Last week saw protests in London about the opening of an Abercrombie & Fitch store at 3 Savile Row; guys and gals came out in their droves, and in their three-piece outfits, to protest what they saw as the dumbing-down of Savile Row with this insurgence of the American lifestyle brand, famous on our shores for dressing the well-heeled of Dublin 4.
We will experience the unconfined joy of an Abercrombie &Fitch arrival in September, when the Americans land and pump their particular brand of fragrance through the air vents of the former Habitat building on Suffolk Street. That is not, to be clear, a euphemism; among Abercrombie & Fitch’s more colourful standards is the pumping of its signature fragrance, Fierce, through each nook and cranny of each wood-panelled store.
But, regardless of its motivations, these Savile Row protesters bring up an important point – fashion has made a definite move towards the tailoring of yore and away from the relaxed, laid-back middle-American track pants aesthetic that A&F would have us all embrace.
I find a handy trick to help in times of sartorial need is to ask oneself, what would your Parisian self do? You know, that version of yourself that lives in a Renaissance-era apartment near the Champs-Élysées, drinks espresso for breakfast and makes croissants from scratch. What would he do? In the question of tracksuit versus three-piece, there is but one answer.
Brand focus: Counter Propaganda
Bio: Counter Propaganda began in 2004 as an artists' endeavour – Fergal Swan and Richard Doody began selling hand-cut stencilled and handprinted T-shirts and hoodies in Cows' Lane market in Dublin and at music festivals. It was soon stocked in BT2 and Arnotts. In 2009, Counter Propaganda opened a store in the Stephen's Green Shopping Centre; a Liffey Street store followed, in 2011. Today, as well as selling its own line, Counter Propaganda stocks items from labels such as Duck Cover and Bench.
Aesthetic:As you may have guessed from its name, Counter Propaganda is not entirely apolitical – but its ethos is somewhere between left- and right-wing, where, says the brand, "life actually happens". It's urban streetwear with a mainstream edge – think hoodies, statement tees and long-wearing, very cool jackets.
Stockists: In its two Dublin shops as well as online at counterpropaganda.ie.
Price tag:T-shirts start at €30, jackets at €69. Expect to pay less than €100 for your Counter Propaganda duds, but up to €200 for items from labels such as DC.
