Photo Pest: Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear

If the curators at the Victoria and Albert Museum accomplished anything besides a cheekily entertaining exhibit of men's clothing, it's proving that non-binary existed long before there was a box to check. I really, really covet this witty fig leaf bathing suit.

Vivienne Westwood (2015)

Who knew Tom of Finland had illustrated a highly conceptual safe sex poster?

Male fashion used to begin with a tailor. This man can measure my inseams any time!

"The Tailor" by Giovanni Battista Moroni (1565-70)

Lace and curls aren't just for girls. Bernini displays his mastery in chiseling the intricate patterns.

Thomas Baker by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1638)

I thought for a minute this was an actual period piece. It made me want to fire up my time machine which is probably cheaper than paying retail nowadays.

Versace (1992)

This outfit helped Billy Porter earn his glamorous red-carpet reputation.

Randi Rahm (2018)

Think pink in the 21st century

Ensemble by Harris Reed, Thom Browne and Yushan Li to & Jun Zhou

. . . like they did in the eighteenth!

Charles Coote, First Earl of Bellamont by Joshua Reynolds (1773-74)

Kehinde Wiley got a shout-out in this colorful gallery.

Prints don't get busier than this one, used by Martine Rose.

A French royal fashion plate inspired this ridiculous outfit by Nicolas Ghesquiere.

It's often hard to tell what inspires the crazily talented Alessandro Michele. Gucci sponsored the exhibit.

Bill Brandt took this picture of Cecil Beaton. I'd never seen him as a young man.

Apparently, he designed more than the hats in the My Fair Lady Ascot scene.

Here's the infamous would-be king who refused to give up what Winston Churchill called his "cutie," posing with another beyotch. Riposted Noel Coward: "But the people don't want a Queen Cutie!"

This amusing clip brings to mind "Keep Young and Beautiful" by Annie Lennox. "It's the peacock you look at." Indeed!

It always surprises me how important a head of hair can be to men. Maybe because I've always taken the bouffant look for granted.

"Portrait of a Man" (1805-20)

I bought a Pierre Cardin wool, windowpane suit at Bloomingdale's in the late 70s. It had flared trousers, wide lapels and it itched like crazy! Cardin was old news by then, but few menswear designers have been as future-facing as he.

1967

The curators of the exhibit assert that suits are "dissolving" as a result of men prioritizing comfort and caring less about looking "masc," a term that invokes the shrill wrath of sanctimonious internet trolls who never had to pass to survive the pervasive homophobia that characterized my youth.

Timothee Chalamet, who personifies the trend, wore this to the premiere of Dune.

Haider Ackermann (2021)

But I think everyone can agree that black leather will NEVER go out of style.

Ensembles by Hedi Slimane, Donatella Versace & John Galliano

Then again, you never know. Harry Styles wore this dress on the cover of Vogue, telling the interviewer "When you take away 'There's clothes for men and there's clothes for women,' once you remove any barriers, obviously you open up the arena in which you can play . . . There's so much joy to be had in playing with clothes!" Whatever you say, Harry.