Clutch if you can
Ranveer Singh did it again! Holding a clutch, he looked uber cool and proved once again that some gender rules in fashion are asking to be broken.
He’s done it, yet again. Busting a fashion stereotype, actor Ranveer Singh was recently spotted with a new arm candy - a striped box clutch with ‘Marshall’ embossed on it. The actor with a quirky sense of style often makes headlines for breaking gender norms in fashion, and he pulls it off with his signature madcap panache.
Handbags have been considered a feminine fashion accessory for ages. When pockets were adopted from European fashion in India, they were considered too masculine for women, so purses and handbags answered the utility of pockets and became a part of feminine fashion.
But Ranveer Singh has peeled off the feminine label from this bracket of bags. However, how comfortable will all men be in breaking such norms? Celebrity stylist Rishi Raj thinks it is all about having confidence. “I think it is wonderful that Ranveer, whose whole image is projected as this heterosexual, macho, alpha, player, chooses to do gender-bender sartorial takes. It sends out a message to all men that being alpha doesn't mean you can’t experiment with fashion. A skirt is a skirt; it doesn't define someone's gender. A colour is a colour. People are too scared to do it, as it threatens their masculinity. It is wonderful that Ranveer has taken this responsibility to send across more than just a style-based message,” he says.
But is it just Ranveer’s confidence and his personal quirky taste that allows such a radical deviation from the sartorial norm? Model Saud Khan says, “It doesn’t matter anymore if a man is carrying a clutch. More people are following unisex trends as well. The environment is changing, people are ready to experiment but one needs to have a personality to pull it off. Of course, people in India are upgrading their fashion sense, so it is not just Ranveer who is being quirky.”
Some men who are more open to experimenting with style question the very basic categorising of clothes in the his and hers categories. American actor and rapper, Jaden Smith said in an interview with British GQ Style, “I feel like people are kind of confused about gender norms… I don’t see man clothes and woman clothes, I just see scared people and comfortable people.”
However, model Rouhallah Gazi feels not everyone can follow this trend. “Everyone has their own style and on top of that, one needs to have confidence to carry it off. Ranveer carries off all these things as he has that confidence. But one can't sport such things just because one wants to copy others. It has to fit the bill and look fine. People say 'wow' when Ranveer wears it but not all men will get such reactions,” he says, adding, “But people are slowly understanding fashion and probably in future more people will be able to carry off such things. But that will take time.”
Designer Amit Talwar believes that androgynous fashion will be a normal trend eventually. He says, “Everyone today wants to be fashionable. Be it an actor or a common man. Male fashion domain is becoming bold. Plus, everyone has the freedom to carry what he or she wants. If you have a bold nature and you can carry it well, why not? People will accept it. I remember wearing a long transparent kurta wasn’t welcome but now it is a fashion statement. Similarly, this clutch is a fashion statement. It comes like a shocker the first time, but by the tenth time it becomes a trend.”