At the risk of sounding redundant to those of you who have been following my Manzie Reports for quite some time, I wanted to take this moment to review, remind, and introduce to the new readers, “What is a Manzie?” (Pronounced man – zee) and why are we reporting on it?
After reviewing the recent European Men’s shows, the overarching trend was something that I hadn’t seen in quite some time, actually ever. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, until I came up with the term Manzie, therefore declaring Spring ‘10 the “Season of the Manzie.” To clarify, a Manzie is not a Dandy, nor is he a Pansy, hence the revised spelling. A Pansy doesn’t necessarily need to dress effeminately in order to be called a Pansy by a bunch of blokes. They just need to have a sisssing “S” in their speech, run with their arms flailing, or become cheerleaders. A Dandy, on the other hand, (like my friend Patrick MacDonald) is someone who combines and maintains a look that embraces high-fashion and the avant garde, which transcends the current styling trend of the “quirky man,” often spotted in the “quirky man-hat.” In essence, a Manzie can be a straight man trying too hard to be stylish or a “straight-acting gay guy” (the horrendous reverse closet syndrome) who thinks by acting butch, it will compensate for the bad “quirky man-hat” and other Manzie fashion choices. Comprende? See the images above for classic cases of Manzies.
To read more from Abe Gurko, head to his site imeanwhat.com. Full Manzie report awaits.
