May 28, 2009, - 3:08 pm
Men–The New Women–Alert: Don’t Call it “Pink”; It’s “Man-genta”
By Debbie Schlussel
I’ve written before about how gay fashion designers (oops, I repeat myself) are trying to make men into women by dressing them in pink and other feminine details.
But since dumbed down pop culture can’t force men to wear pink or display pink decor, they’ve come up with a new euphemism for pink, “mangenta.”
As the founder and chief executive of Joie de Vivre hotels, Chip Conley is known for quirky, cutting-edge decors. But some of his investors balked when he planned a hotel interior and a financial-district restaurant that featured hot pink.
So he and his designers picked a new name for the color in their scheme: “mangenta.”
Is pink the new black?
No longer relegated to the garish masses, the saturated pink shades known as fuchsia and magenta are suddenly haute. They are cropping up in all sorts of unexpected places, including building exteriors, sofas, shoes and iPhones. British designer Clive Christian, who accepts only clients who know better than to ask the cost of their “couture” kitchens, has created a concept design for the “Alpha Kitchen” that’s aglow with hot pink LED lighting.
Hint: If your kitchen is pink, er . . . “mangenta,” there ain’t nothin’ “Alpha” about it. Even Al Gore doesn’t need wardrobe consultant/feminist Naomi Wolf to tell him that.
Fuchsia is a leading color for fall in both womenswear and menswear. Hot pink ties drip from the racks of the upscale new Neapolitan Men store in Winnetka, Ill. . . .
“This is a somewhat unusual color trend,” says Dean White, executive vice president of merchandising at Paul Fredrick, where sales of hot pink ties have doubled to 6% of sales from 3% in the past year. “In the ’80s, sales in pink neckwear were very good, but that was in a more traditional shade of light pink.” . . .
“Pink represents a certain playfulness and confidence, particularly in men,” says Simon Maloney, head of buying and production for shirtmaker Thomas Pink, where pink is selling well and will be marketed as a key color for fall.
Nothing wrong with a light pink oxford shirt. My dad had a very pale pink Ralph Lauren oxford-cloth button-down that looked sharp with a conservative navy suit and tie. That’s one thing.
But this mangenta thing–hot pink–on a guy is entirely another. Just ridiculous.
This isn’t just some joke about quiche. If you wear mangenta, you are not a man.
If a guy walked into my office looking like this picture, I know I would bust out laughing. I would be in a no win situation, either I would beat up a pansy, or I would get beat up by a pansy. You can’t win either way.
Rocky on May 28, 2009 at 4:09 pm