Menswear

Let’s consider the world of real mens’ wardrobes as a guide to dressing guy dolls

How best to dress the guys? Our male dolls are often used as foils for the glamorous girls, but why not make them fashionistos in their own right. It’s worth taking some tips from the way real men dress. There are a few basic rules to getting the look right. Generally it’s better to aim for style, a less loaded concept than fashion. But what exactly is style? You can learn it, but you can’t buy it. Thankfully, there are rules that you can break, but only once they’ve been understood.

The suit is the mens’ sartorial equivalent of the dress, put it on and you’re done. With a well-fitting suit it’s relatively easy to get it right. Just add a shirt and tie, and suitable shoes, and off you go. For a more casual look, dress a suit down with a t-shirt, ideally plain, and never with a comedy slogan.

The challenge for guy dolls, as it is for real live men is how to look great, even groovy, but never ridiculous. How to be admired from across a crowded room but not pointed at in the street. How to be stylish but never overdoing it. Admittedly the dolls have a huge advantage in that they are blessed with great physiques and movie star looks. Get the outfit wrong, however, and even the most handsome doll can go to the top of the worst-dressed list.

Think of any stylish man, James Bond will do, and you’ll notice that his color palette tends to be restricted. Blues, shades of grey from almost black to quite pale, and browns predominate. Hot pink, bright orange, minty green, zesty lemon, and palest lilac are all colors best left as accents. The go-to color for safety is navy blue. Put together a capsule wardrobe of navy staples. With a framework based on a suit, a sport coat, an overcoat, a waxed jacket for country pursuits, all in basic navy – you won’t go far wrong. Add a navy flight jacket if you must, as one of this season’s current trends. For formal occasions it’s always black or white, perhaps midnight blue for the more adventurous.

Similarly shirts should follow the tested formula of white, pale blue, maybe pale pink. With leather shoes stick to black or brown. You can add some color with accessories: red socks, yellow tie, patterned scarf. How about a red jacket, yellow shirt, loud patterned trousers? Your handsome doll can probably pull it off – but not if you’re aiming for effortless style.

Before you start to think that it’s all monotonous drab… for vacation and holiday wear all bets are off. With knitwear, polo shirts, and swimming shorts it’s your doll’s chance to go wild with color. Life would be exceptionally boring without pattern – but it needs skill to get it right. Broadly, please don’t clash. For example, if the jacket is plaid, team it up with a solid color shirt and vice versa. It’s much better (and safer) to mix pattern with texture. For example, team up a patterned shirt with a plain knitted silk tie.

Business suits shouldn’t be attention-seeking, that’s the point of socks and ties for frissons of color and personality in otherwise conservative outfits. Double‑breasted jackets are back, after a long respite in the fashion hinterlands. This time the cut is a little more relaxed, with a less-sharp shoulder, the jacket slightly longer, and trousers not cut quite so close – a little more relaxed. The 60s-inspired suits of Mad Men are giving way to a softer look.

Don’t be fooled by the apparent ease of denim. Despite their ubiquity, it’s so easy to get jeans wrong. Look for a medium-rise waist, with absolutely no glimpse of underwear, with a straight, not excessively narrow, leg. Do try to avoid flashy details, branding, and torn areas.

So in essence, keep it simple. Stick to a limited range of colors, don’t go wild with pattern (or glitter – unless you’re aiming for a high camp look) and your boy dolls will look effortlessly chic.

This story first appeared in Fashion Doll Quarterly magazine, 2014.