Urban Style Challenge: Dublin vs Chicago
Today, our challenge is all about the boys. Our contributors Marcel and Sean wrote about men’s style in their cities, Dublin and Chicago. Sit back and enjoy.
| Dublin | Chicago | |
| Hair | Anything goes. We have our fair share of Berlinesque hipster-haircuts, but also the good old mullet and fully shave head of the youngster from the suburbs’ | Nothing particular for professionals, but for the hipsters and coll kids: faux-hawks, close-crop, shaved head. Some dreds. High-top fades, and other 80′s styles have started to come back for African Americans. |
| Fashion trends | What goes in mainland Europe also goes in Dublin, though we share more trends with London than Milan. All a bit on the colourful side. | Light leather jackets (spring), Ugly sunglasses (hopefully this will end in 2011), jeans that fit, and men’s hats are all back. Accessories seem to be coming back into vogue: tie pins, pocket kerchiefs. |
| Colour | Depends on the occasion – business attire comes with more sober colours, while in the evenings bright colours and flashy outfits prevail. | Winter: Black. Chicago is infamous for conservative-styled black on black. In the spring and summer: Pastels and other light colors crop up, as do white shoes and hats. Lots of earth tones in the fall, to match the leaves on the trees. |
| Footwear | For men, anything between sneakers and brogues goes. Many ladies do however wear Ugg-boots on as many occasions as possible. | Vintage leather shoes (black, brown, white), and slip-ins have become more popular. AF1s for “street style”. Basic dress shoes, vs. a pattern or wing-tip are more popular. “5 Fingers” shoes for fitness, |
| Evening gear | As Dublin offers a variety of evening activities (and clubs), evening gear and wear varies accordingly. The majority of men however opt for the standard (and bouncer-approved) combination of ironed shirt, jeans and brogues when going out. | A sport coat or blazer is a must, unless it’s too hot, in which case a button down and tie will do. Many clubs won’t let you in with pants that are too baggy, even if they’re dress pants. Darker colors, but no blue button-downs, those are for engineers and factory managers, not for a night on the town. |
| Weekend outfits | Has to be the tracksuit, whether you do sports on the weekend or not. | It depends heavily on your activities. For some, it’s polo shirts and shorts w/sandals for sailing, or a white button down and slacks for brunch. Blue jeans and T-shirts for many, the more ironic the T-shirt, the better. |
| After-work activities | This being the capital of Ireland, the preferred after-work activity of Dublin males is the pub. | Most Chicagoans don’t live by their work, so as a consequence, any after-work activity tends to be in work clothes. Occasionally, one might stop at home to throw on a blazer and a pair of more casual, usually brown, shoes. |
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