Kiwi men dress badly so that people don't think they're gay, a leading design and fashion commentator has told The Listener magazine. In an article in the latest edition called 'A guy thing - or a gay thing?' Douglas Lloyd Jenkins says that while New Zealand menswear designers are getting worldwide attention, true-blue Kiwi men are still taking no pride in their appearance because of "their great fear of 'looking like a poof'." "Clothes are a gay thing and Kiwi men know it," Lloyd Jenkins laments. "Any woman who has ever tried to get any but the most liberal, self-confident Kiwi man into a floral shirt knows this is how they think. "Being well-dressed, giving in to style, pattern or colour, co-ordinating a wardrobe, picking his clothes up off the floor or even polishing his shoes opens a man to the risk of being mistaken as gay - or worse, attracting the attention of gay men." Irrational fears over homosexuality have led Kiwi men into a state of "clothing panic," causing shabby dressing and low self-confidence, the writer concludes.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 15th September 2009 - 3:06pm