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NY Fashion Week: Michael Wesetly
by PJ Gach
EDGE Style Contributor
Sunday Feb 5, 2006
| Philadelphia native Michael Wesetly had his second show at Fashion Week, this
past Friday…and he should have stayed at home.
While the designer has showed his line since 2003 in Europe, Asia
and South America, looking at his fall 2006 collection you’d be hard pressed to think that he’s a fashion veteran.
It
appears as if he’s channeling early Sean Jean and Ralph Lauren. There’s so much an hommąge you wonder if he has
his own voice. He seems to also look to Oxford for inspiration; but it’s an acid trip tinged Oxford.
To whit,
what man would wear a khaki wool blazer with an elastic back, matched with a rep tie and jeans? From the front it appeared
that the model was wearing a corset. His tomato red corduroy blazer, I think meant to be professorial, wasn’t. One outfit
sported a beige cap, yellow turtleneck, navy blazer with a huge crest, and white flannels. Where’s the yacht? A navy
suit sported red, white and black pinstripes. Pant legs puddled to floor. Some blazers had puckered center seams. Yes, everyone’s
in a rush for the show, but if the other designers can pull it together, then everyone should be able to do it.
Glen
plaids and rep ties abounded. So did oversized leather bombers, driving caps and beanies. Yes, I can see it now. Mr. Mid level
HSBC Broker is going to show up at work in a tailored suit and beanie. It’s the new corporate look. Many of the men’s
blazers were so big, that they seemed to list to one side as the model moved in the other direction. Anyone here remember
David Byrne’s (from The Talking Heads) big white suit? Anyone? Another horror of a jacket was a brown and tan checkerboard
blazer- where were the backgammon pieces? What mind creates a velvet tuxedo with leather patches? Speaking of leather patches,
they showed up on almost every blazer.
There were three pluses to this show. Wesetly showed three blazers that were
not only different from what’s been seen, but were really nicely done. One was a brown with light cinnamon embroidery;
the second was a deep chambray blue with sand embroidery. The third was a khaki blazer with brown embroidery. They were beautifullytailored,
well thought out and nicely detailed. The third plus was that he had the male cast members of Broadway’s The Colored
Purple walk at the end. These gentlemen wore excellently tailored business suits in deep charcoal, black or grey with the
ubiquitous rep tie. It was wonderful to see the cast members stalk the catwalk.
If you like ‘em loud, oversized
and an interesting combination of classic meets... I’m not sure, this is for you. The clothing looked more like bad
cartoons than modern menswear.
Fuckability Factor: Only in extreme cases. Think double beer goggles. Mustard shiny
suit? Loud floral shirt with business suit. Be appropriately blotto.
Goodie Bag: Only for the first one or two rows.
One small bottle of Tanquery, two drinking glasses, pen, pad and mints. All stamped with Tanquery on them. Tacky.
PJ Gach is a Contributing Writer for the Style Section of the EDGE group of publications. She’s
a Manhattanite, a proud dog owner, gal about town and freelance writer. Some of the publications her pieces have appeared
in are The New York Post, Rolling Stone (web & mag), Ingenue Magazine and Drill magazine. In her spare time, she rescues
orphaned shoes.
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Northeast/New England
