Modern Men's Style: Fashion Victims

When compared side by side with its female counterpart, men's fashion is a much less complicated place. You could throw on chinos and a polo shirt, and you'd still be within the bounds of good style. On the other hand, the fashion victim, a condition that has become common with men of late, insists on pushing the boundaries of propriety and taste. Here are some of the easier to spot symptoms of this bondage to bad taste.

Branded Boys
Labels and brands are a big thing in men's fashion, where quality is typically paramount. Yet there's also a thin line that exists between buying straightforward quality and going for a brand for the sake of that brand alone. The "brand whore" phenomenon, previously thought to be limited in the female fashion world, has also become a male epidemic, and is one of the easiest to spot signs that a man has become a fashion victim.

Observe yourself as you dress up in the morning. Do you build entire outfits from pieces of just one brand or label? Unless there's a practical reason behind it, brands like H&M and Old Navy, after all, can give you a full outfit for less than $80, chances are good that you have entered fashion victim territory. A more concrete warning sign is when your clothes tend to have noticeably big brands or logos emblazoned on them.

Good style is never bound to labels and brands. Buying clothes just because they are of a particular brand can severely limit the range of your style. Even showbiz's foremost male fashion mavens like Justin Timberlake like to wear pieces with unknown, esoteric brands, or even those without any brand at all. It's time to set your closet free from the label.

Fad Fiends
Trends are an inevitable part of mainstream fashion. Every season, some designer will send some piece down his or her runway that everyone else on the globe will suddenly scramble to get. But Miuccia Prada sending out clavicle-baring tops, or any icon with any fad, for that matter, is never a go-ahead for you to get on the bandwagon.

One of the worst offenses that a fashion victim could do is to follow a trend that doesn't suit him. Whether it's Fall Out Boy-thin skinny jeans on thunder thighs or ankle-showing Thom Browne pants on the vertically challenged, some trends simply will not work on certain people. A fashion victim is someone who ignores the warning signs and follows the trend, even if the all-white Dolce & Gabbana suit looks hideous with his skin tone.

Regardless of what all the men's fashion magazines are saying, wear only the styles that suit you, your physique and your personality. Even if lace-up leather boots are the hottest things right now, they will be awkward if your style is more Chuck Taylor than Ferragamo.

Don't Be a Victim!
Avoiding fashion victim-hood is a fairly easy thing to do in men's fashion. You merely have to stick to the beaten path, assemble a classics-heavy wardrobe and be conservative with the way you put things together. It can get a tad boring, yes, but it's sufficient and, more importantly, safe for any guy who doesn't have ambitions of landing on Page Six.

If you simply must be more daring with your clothing choices, then by all means employ some balance in your outfits. The best strategy is to create an ensemble made entirely of classic pieces, and then sub in just one eye-catching piece. Whether that piece is a neon-color necktie or high-cut patent sneakers is up to you. Whenever you don a superstar style statement piece, see to it that the rest of your outfit is ready as a supporting cast.

Fashion victims are scorned and pitied for their utter ignorance of the mores of modern men's fashion. They rarely look good, even when they wear the latest clothes or priciest labels. That you should aim to never belong with them already goes without saying.