By Chinwe Obinwanne



“Fashion is an art. You express who you are through what you are wearing”.



The above quote holds true for many of us. We dress in certain ways because we want people to perceive us in that way. More than how people perceive us, when we dress well we know it and it boosts our self-confidence a wee bit. This boost in confidence carries us through the day and helps us sometimes unconsciously attack a situation more confidently than we would have if we didn’t feel how we felt about our choice of clothing on that particular day.

When a boy who is used to being seen “sagging” his jeans and wearing T-shirts everyday of every week is suddenly seen putting on a well-tailored piece of native attire, one quickly thinks “hey, this fella is looking all grown up and different”. When he eventually makes it a habit of dressing that way and only ditching it once or twice for casual jeans and Tee shirts, he is no longer said to be “looking” grown-up but to be “grown-up”.

Our sense of style plays a significant role in how we are seen, received and addressed by others.

Till recently, fashion has always been seen as women “thing” and men were viewed as people who just dress because they’ve to cover up their bodies. They were viewed as the gender that have other things on their minds and have no time for fashion.

Anthony Burgess captures this picture with this quote: “Women thrive on novelty and are easy meat for the commerce of fashion. Men prefer old pipes and torn jackets.”

Today, we see a huge shift from this rather boring perception of male fashion and style. Men are standing up and redefining men’s fashion as we once knew it.

Let’s talk Nigerian men. Just like other men, our Nigerian men had other things that occupied their thoughts and so were okay going with clothing introduced to us by the western world. Yes, we did like our natives but it wasn’t part and parcel of our day to day wears like it is today.

Enter male fashion designers

Now, we have a growing list of talented male fashion designers; some who cater solely for the male gender. These male fashion designers have taken the use of our African fabrics to a whole new level. Talk about formal, casual, classy, and sophisticated clothing; they deliver them all and then some.



Read more here http://www.dozzycouture.com/mens-blossoming-love-for-fashion/