Carin Wester's lace for men

It was only in 2008 that I seriously started collecting magazines, since it was also the year I started this blog. Part of that batch was Pop's iconoclastic covers depicting nuns in Prada lace. Then Yohji Yamamoto and Givenchy used lace for their Spring 2009 men's collections. Before you know it, Dolce & Gabbana re-issued its own take on the fabric for Spring 2010, but of course modernized and taking into account a different audience. That is as far as my fashion memory goes. Before that there was only my grandmother, frilly doilies, veils, and table tops.




Then comes Carin Wester with a simplified and rather innocent lace pattern for her men's Spring 2011 collection. Sorry to magnify the pictures, but this may be the only way for you to see the lace properly.

This blue robe/coat is worn with shorts and a tangle of found objects joined into jewelry, perhaps to suggest that lace can be worn when you have been shipwrecked, or who knows, when you have been captured by old-world pirates. But then again, I don't find it hard to imagine this piece buttoned-up, with nothing underneath, and worn with slim pants for a summer evening.




Even as a sash belt, the lace works. Like a bandana or a scarf with inviolable history, instead of mere frippery. How can it not make you think of breezes and the beach — even without the help of feathers.




Well, maybe not this, since it's too literal. Could be worn over an elongated shirt.




Lace thickly embroidered and not so flowery can look masculine.




The sash belt looks even better with modern fabrics.




It is as nonchalant as this floor-length scarf.




And looks just as soft.






With shirts without buttons, you can see that the sash belt is feasible. Just make sure you get the colors right.




But just in case you decide that lace, in no matter what form, will never suit you, there is this suit-shorts combo perfect for a summer romp.