THE JOURNAL
Left: Machine Gun Kelly in New York, 28 June 2022. Photograph by Mr Raymond Hall/Getty Images. Middle: Mr Brad Pitt at the premiere of “Bullet Train“, Los Angeles, 1 August 2022. Photograph by Backgrid. Right: Lil Uzi Vert in Manhattan, 5 July 2022. Photograph by Mr Robert Kamau/Getty Images
Over the past few weeks, men’s trousers seem to have taken on a life of their own. Which may sound like the plot of a much loved, Oscar-winning British animation short – “It’s the wrong trousers, Gromit! And they’ve gone wrong!” – but is more a gauge of the sartorial temperature at present. In years to come, 2022 might well be noted for its #HotPantsSummer. Not that these garments are short or revealing. Far from it. Rather, they have become the focal point of the outfit.
Take Mr Brad Pitt. Ostensibly touring the world to promote his action comedy caper Bullet Train, the actor perhaps did more to further the cause of generously cut tailoring. Usually trussed up in something darker and sharper from Giorgio Armani or Brioni, Pitt was spotted in Paris on the red (well, magenta) carpet sporting a jaunty green suit by Haans Nicholas Mott, the designer behind the skirt he recently wore in London. And while Pitt looked characteristically unflappable, his ample drawstring trousers caught the breeze, as well as the trend of the moment.
Elsewhere, rapper Lil Uzi Vert was seen in New York City in a pair of trousers the exact shade of yellow favoured by your local fire service. And not just that. There was an abundance of fabric that could be held out to save a cat falling out of a tree.
Colour co-ordination is clearly a touchpoint, even if the clothes themselves flutter freely. Also swaggering about New York this summer, Machine Gun Kelly caught the eye wearing voluminous britches that matched his pink hair. Meanwhile, Mr Justin Bieber was spotted wearing expansive orange cargo pants and a similarly hued hoodie.
Men’s more adventurous approach to colour this side of the pandemic is part of the story. Dopamine dressing has allowed us to wear what we feel, assuming what we feel is on the warmer, fuzzier end of the emotional spectrum. But there’s more to this. Who in a household wears the trousers has long felt like an irrelevance. The more pressing question is how many members of your household could comfortably fit in those trousers.
The Skyscraper Effect is an economic indicator, which suggests that when construction begins on the world’s next biggest building, recession is imminent. But can you also use bell-bottoms as a bellwether for fluctuations in the financial system? From the flairs of the 1970s to the low-riders of the 1990s, let’s hope this model of boom and bust does not apply to our wardrobes. Right now, what you wear below your waist should be hard to miss. And we hope that this trend has legs.