This appeared on GQIndia.com this week.
While on a business trip to Europe last week, in addition to the usual breathing in the foreign air, soaking in the marvelous architecture and coming to terms with bizarre menu options, I couldn’t help but notice the sartorial segregation of men at work. From the airport to the hotel and from coffee shops to restaurants, three major circles of businessmen were evident: Europeans, Indians and Americans. Spotting Indians is rarely challenging but even for the remaining two categories, one didn’t even have to be in the vicinity to overhear the accent. You could tell them apart by the way they dressed.
It’s incredible how trends vary so much by continent. The European look was the most hard-hitting of them all. It was the skinny look all the way - slim fit shirts with buttons that looked like they’d pop if anybody dare inhale, even slimmer pants paired with funky cardigans, edgy belts and intriguing scarves. Eyewear was reminiscent of Mad Men, shoes were elongated with tapered toes and there wasn’t a dull colour in sight. If there's anyone who can pull of a baby pink or a snazzy purple shirt with steel silver pants in an office environment and still impress the crowd with a presentation on emerging trends on mobile apps, it's those from Western Europe. They even rocked colored sweaters and man bags.
Americans, although sharply dressed, majorly lost points on the edgy quotient. They stuck to conventions – dark, plain or striped suits with shirts in expected colors paired with power ties and aviators. The very adventurous one’s had on a sports coat. Score! When they walked alongside their European counterparts, it was hard to not notice the yards and yards of additional fabric that was used to construct their pants. The ones with pleats gave the illusion of being bubble pants. Skinny who?
Indian businessmen weren't too far behind the Americans. Some stuck to standard boring suits, the rest showed up in neutral coloured shirts and pants that didn't seem to get along with those shirts one bit. Black shoes, black socks, black laptop bag - you get the drift. Formula driven isn't so bad in theory but oh so lackluster and blah when it is across the board.
Dear Indian businessmen, I don’t mean to be harsh and I know you probably have gotten thumbs up on your dressing style by your colleagues and your mom thinks you look like a rock star but look at it through my unforgiving eyes and you might just cringe. I have one word for you – GQ. Flip through those pages with half as much dedication as you flip the financial magazines, take those tips seriously, infuse some pizzazz and you might just like what you see in the mirror. A touch of style never harmed a man.
While on a business trip to Europe last week, in addition to the usual breathing in the foreign air, soaking in the marvelous architecture and coming to terms with bizarre menu options, I couldn’t help but notice the sartorial segregation of men at work. From the airport to the hotel and from coffee shops to restaurants, three major circles of businessmen were evident: Europeans, Indians and Americans. Spotting Indians is rarely challenging but even for the remaining two categories, one didn’t even have to be in the vicinity to overhear the accent. You could tell them apart by the way they dressed.
It’s incredible how trends vary so much by continent. The European look was the most hard-hitting of them all. It was the skinny look all the way - slim fit shirts with buttons that looked like they’d pop if anybody dare inhale, even slimmer pants paired with funky cardigans, edgy belts and intriguing scarves. Eyewear was reminiscent of Mad Men, shoes were elongated with tapered toes and there wasn’t a dull colour in sight. If there's anyone who can pull of a baby pink or a snazzy purple shirt with steel silver pants in an office environment and still impress the crowd with a presentation on emerging trends on mobile apps, it's those from Western Europe. They even rocked colored sweaters and man bags.
Americans, although sharply dressed, majorly lost points on the edgy quotient. They stuck to conventions – dark, plain or striped suits with shirts in expected colors paired with power ties and aviators. The very adventurous one’s had on a sports coat. Score! When they walked alongside their European counterparts, it was hard to not notice the yards and yards of additional fabric that was used to construct their pants. The ones with pleats gave the illusion of being bubble pants. Skinny who?
Indian businessmen weren't too far behind the Americans. Some stuck to standard boring suits, the rest showed up in neutral coloured shirts and pants that didn't seem to get along with those shirts one bit. Black shoes, black socks, black laptop bag - you get the drift. Formula driven isn't so bad in theory but oh so lackluster and blah when it is across the board.
Dear Indian businessmen, I don’t mean to be harsh and I know you probably have gotten thumbs up on your dressing style by your colleagues and your mom thinks you look like a rock star but look at it through my unforgiving eyes and you might just cringe. I have one word for you – GQ. Flip through those pages with half as much dedication as you flip the financial magazines, take those tips seriously, infuse some pizzazz and you might just like what you see in the mirror. A touch of style never harmed a man.
