Hot & Not: Boy Fashion by Ian Grant

Tasked with weighing in on the fashion trends of “Boy Summer,” I first had to answer a question for myself—fashion trends to whom?

In the past, it was easier to detect what was on trend, what was behind it, and what was coming next. Designers and brands worked hand in glove with celebrities and media gatekeepers to push certain styles to a pliant, passive customer base. These trends evolved gradually and predictably, making the task of dressing well (or at least well enough) a relatively simple one.

Today, the men’s fashion landscape is mediated, subdivided, and atomized. There are seemingly endless styles and subcultures, each with their own unique online avatar.

There is Derek Guy, better known as the Menswear Guy, who typically endorses a supposedly “timeless” approach to men’s fashion centered around mid-20th century staples: sport coats, full-cut trousers, and well-tailored suits.

There is Jonah Weiner, author of Blackbird Spyplane, who applies a methodical, holistic approach to men’s fashion, examining questions of political economy, environmental stewardship, and spirituality as part of his advocacy for the so-called “slow clothes” movement.

There is freelance Substacker Jake Woolf, who can typically be found waxing rhapsodic over vintage Ralph Lauren and OCBDs in between sponsored brand collabs on Instagram.

There is Sam Hine, former GQ contributor andcurrent Senior Men’s Style Editor at New York Magazine, who is seated front row at nearly every major runway show and styles himself as such—sunglasses, faded denim, casual suits.

There is R.F. Kenmore, an anonymous MAGA-coded industry insider who spends his days soying out about J. Crew, Lululemon, and Buck Mason on X.com.

There are the Throwing Fits guys, who wear whatever the hell they want.

There are all these men, and many more besides. What is en vogue to one may be avant-garde to another and utterly passé to a third.This makes a definitive, objective accounting of what is “hot” and what is “not” an impossibility. What it really comes down to is how you, dear reader, feel: whether you are aligned with or opposed to the sensibilities of a given author and their associated subculture. 

You’ll need to decide for yourself whether I am “hot” or “not”—peep my IG, I post plenty of pictures of myself. Once you do, you’ll know how seriously to take any of the following verdicts.