Utilitarian Fashion: What Is It And How Do You Wear It?
If you’re familiar with the streetwear fashion scene, you’ll be very familiar with utilitarian style – it’s a trend that’s taken the world by storm and has had a huge impact on the industry. With this look still in full flow, there’s still time to get into the style, so we’ve put together a guide to utility-wear and how to wear it in 2020 – check out the below tips to find out the best way to rock the utilitarian trend!
Tough Materials
The utilitarian trend is born out of functionality and injected with high-end fashion to create the ultimate hybrid trend between image and purpose. Rugged denim and thermal borg materials are incredibly prominent throughout this style, with their durable and practical build making them ideal for adding functional fashion into any wardrobe. Ideal for layering, fleeces are one of the big hitters in the utility-look trend, so look at how you can incorporate these into your fits during the current cooler climate.
Alternatively, cargo pants are a great choice for keeping warm with a combative twist – the bulky pants have had somewhat of a makeover that’s taken them from drab workwear to runway-ready fashion as of late and it’s a look that we’re enjoying. Coming in the traditional camo prints as well as some bolder block colours, cargo pants are the perfect way to take your men’s streetwear game to the next level.
Practical Designs
The thing that stands out most about items designed as part of this utility trend is their practicality. For so long, fashion seemed to be so focused on looking great and fitting an aesthetic it seemed to have completely forgotten about function – think of those miniature handbags, restrictively tight trousers, and those awful shutter shades that were all the rage last decade. However, now we look to be on a course that’s prioritising comfort and practicality as opposed to image, which is a great step that helps us all to love the clothes in our wardrobe a little bit more.
Pockets have been a massive feature throughout this trend, with supersized storage space being added to trousers such as cargo pants. We’ve also seen this taken to another level with the introduction of fisherman’s vests, which give a unique layering to any outfit. These vests also help you to maintain a comfortable and warming effect that’s great to have in the winter months.
Making Your Mark
As with any menswear trend, you want to avoid going too on-the-nose with how you wear your garms – if you style them the exact same way that you’ve seen them worn by others, you run the risk of looking too generic, a bit like a store mannequin. Instead, look to style your outfits in a way that’s unique to you; if you’ve got your own style, you’re more likely to feel comfortable, stylish, and on-trend in a way that’s better suited to you.
The menswear game is more creative than ever these days, with fresh new looks surfacing all the time. With that in mind, keeping up to date with the latest trends is so important, but what’s even more important than that is being able to spot the trends that are here for the long haul, then curating a wardrobe that’s based upon these principles. Whilst it’s great to be up to date with the latest trends, it’s equally important that you remain unique to yourself. You can do this by combining pieces that you’ve never seen together before or by styling your items in new ways – however you choose to wear your streetwear garms, make sure it’s a style that suits you.
