Column | Imitatio: For pop stars and the common man
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This week I heard about the existence of Benson Boone: a pop star from 2002 with a black mustache, a mat and a glittering acrobat suit. He is a copy of Freddie Mercury, but then at his disposal with prep and tick. The parable is so great that Queen guitarist Brian May crawled next to him last month on stage during the Coachella music festival at influencers. On social media, Boone expressed his frustration about the few applause that May received from the audience, which until then thought that ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ is a cocktail.
In the line of male pop stars, Boone is the direct successor to Harry Styles, who has been compared to Mick Jagger countless times. The same dark hair, the same wide mouth, not dirty from a little eye pencil. The only one who does not agree with the comparison, Is Sir Mick. « I mean, I always wore much more makeup than he is. Come on, I was a lot of androgyner.« Fighting for those who look the most androgynous: they remain alfamans. Styles’ wardrobe is anyway identical to that of Jagger and contains trousers with wide legs, jackets with wide lapels, boas and tight gymnastics suits for the podium. What’s Next? A red -haired gene with a turquoise outfit and a lightning bolt diagonally over his face?
The reason that so many male idols dress androgynous is to distinguish themselves from ordinary men, many of whom have a color palette from light gray to dark blue. Bordeaux red is the craziest thing that can happen. We are surrounded by polos, jeans, happy socks, flip flops and t-shirts under jackets. In this world you can squeeze all your hands if your friend puts on a few sambas.
Most Dutch boys and men of course have no debt. Their fathers made purchases at V&D or C&A. They grew up with shopping streets where it was choosing between We or Jack & Jones. There is no help anywhere.
The only one who speaks out about what men should wear is style pastor Arno Kantelberg, and they just insist that pants are not allowed to be too long and not too short. Most are not that far yet! First explain quietly what is wrong with V-Hals and ankle socks.
When I recently saw a pack of young adult men in puffer jackets at Heerhugowaard station, I was reminded of a video. My Boyfriend was a 6 When I with his but I Turned Him Into A 9was the title. The girlfriend had replaced his hoodie with a white shirt and his skinny jeans through beige linen pants with a thin black belt, as if he had run out like that La Chimera or Call me by your name. That is again cute by men, that most of them like such a restyling.
Since the Bob Dylan-Biopic, most men seem to need no help at all. They walk around in suede jackets and dark blue jeans – Only the guitar and nose prosthesis that Timothée Chalamet wore in the film are missing. Levi’s even brought ‘a small capsule collection’ on the market, consisting of a reproduction of Dylans Jack and Jeans including ‘inserts with bootcut panels, inspired by the inserts that his girlfriend then sewed in it’. Honor who deserves honor.
Nothing wrong with a little imitatio, the outcome for both rising pop stars and the common man. The four -part biopic over The Beatles will be released soon. As long as the styling for Sgt. Pepper’s is not taken into account, there are also opportunities for the street scene.
Tessa Sparreboom is Neerlandicus and former editor of Propria Cures.
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