let us loiter together and know one another
In beginning my frivolous look at Fall 2009 menswear, can I get an amen for the life-sized fashion models?
There was a rumor going around after John Bartlett’s presentation that he had trouble finding models with enough junk in their trunks to do justice to his pants. True or not, it was an easy rumor to believe. In another of Bartlett’s paeans to masculinity, he said he was celebrating “men of the road.” That nugget, plus the period flavor of the clothes, brought to mind the working stiffs who headed west during the Great Depression. High-waisted V-backed trousers, some with suspenders, wouldn’t have been amiss on Henry Fonda’s Tom Joad - if he gained 40 or 50 pounds. (The Grapes of Ass? No, don't even go there.)
- Tim Blanks, men.style.com
I’m not sure myself of what John Bartlett was trying to say with this collection - I suspect Harry Partch cruising for hitchhiker man-sex in Barstow may have been a factor, though that might be pushing the Grapes of Wrath time frame a bit - but hey, as long as he keeps hiring Brad Fisher to walk for him, I promise to keep looking at his clothes.
And hey, if Bartlett is going to design clothes for guys with enough junk in the trunk, he can damn well give me a call. I have enough ass for all nineteen of his looks combined. Besides, even with the 28-inch waist I had at the time, I was rocking high-waisted v-back slacks with braces like you wouldn't believe back in 1987.