Leopard: Keith Richards Wore It, But Would You?
Leopard: Keith Richards Wore It, But Would You?
Although “leopard print” brings to mind Jackie O. or your Aunt Mildred in Boca Raton, feline fabrics have a rich history of being worn well by men. From 19th-century Zulu leader King Cetshwayo, who cloaked himself in actual leopard hides, to the Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious, who created havoc in a rebellious speckled cardigan, men have been confidently wearing leopard for centuries. In 1971, when Rod Stewart slunk across the stage in a leopard suit, he channeled the charisma of an actual jungle cat and looked, dare we say, sexy. Today, Super Bowl-winning former wide receiver Victor Cruz has worn a black leopard-printed oxford over a white T-shirt for a pulled-together look.
Yet leopard freaks many men out. “There’s been a tendency to associate it with women’s clothing,” said Robert Lim, 45, who works in cybersecurity in Orange, Conn., and moonlights as a men’s style writer. This gender skew endures: J. Lo wears flashy leopard dresses while A-Rod rocks drab gray sweaters. But should this outdated perception stop all men from wearing leopard? No: It should inspire them.
“Since most people associate it with being feminine, it takes confidence in your masculinity to wear it,” explained Andrew Lindsay-Diaz, 24, a software engineer in Chicago who recently went for a leopard over-shirt from Los Angeles label RTH. The same way pink has trickled into the male wardrobe over the past few years as a subversion of stale gender-role conventions, intrepid (yes, often young) men are choosing leopard. John Melgar, 25, a student in San Francisco, once rejected animal prints as womanly. But today he regularly tosses on a leopard printed ball cap. “It’s kind of punk, it’s a little counter-culturish,” he reasoned.
Today’s animal-print clothing for men often exhibits more subtlety than Rod Stewart’s full-on leopard suit. Japanese label Wacko Maria makes a woodsy, green-tinted leopard button-up while Swedish brand Our Legacy’s murky leopard cardigan is one incognito cat. Mr. Lim, the cybersecurity worker, sports a military-style field jacket in a leopard print that’s been abstracted to resemble camouflage. For some, a touch of tabby is all it takes. Sandy Liang, a New York-based designer, added a chest pocket in leopard to a blue unisex fleece this year. “I love using it as a pop, like a fun update,” said Ms. Liang. “It’s more playful than a solid patch pocket.” And after all, why should women have all the fun?
Photo:
Sean McCabe
No
Some argue that leopard, the pattern of choice for flashy rock ’n’ roll frontmen throughout history, belongs nowhere in the closet of men who trudge obediently to a cubicle. “For the average guy to walk around in one of those leopard shirts, people might be shaking their head at it like, ‘What’s that all about?’” said Paul French, 55, a commercial real-estate broker in Radnor, Pa. It’s not that Mr. French can’t see the appeal of animal print (“If a celebrity walks by in that, I’d think, ‘Oh that’s cool’”), it’s just that he is realistic about who can wear animal print successfully. “I’m all for style, but that’s a little too far out for me.”
Kanye West can get away with wearing a lively, leopard-printed slim-fit bomber as he did to a fashion show in Paris, but on non-Grammy recipients, a spotted garment often looks as appropriate as Fred Flintstone’s leopard dress would (yes, it really was a dress; see illustration above).
Although scientists posit that spots allow leopards in the wild to blend in with their environs, the same spots tend to do the opposite on humans who don’t frequent jungles. And unlike tried-and-true menswear patterns like stripes and plaid, animal prints visually roar in a way attention-averse men rarely welcome. Any break from menswear’s safe traditions can attract unwanted notice. Even Mr. Lindsay-Diaz, the software engineer and leopard-print fan, found that when he wore his animal over-shirt to work a colleague shouted “Hey look, it’s Fred Flintstone.”
“I was trying to...imagine a guy wearing leopard print that would not look really out of place, and I could not think of anything,” said Jonathon McKitrick, 46, a software engineer in Atlanta. Though hardly a style simpleton, Mr. McKitrick prefers solids over feline speckles, which he associates with either women or “hair bands from the ‘80s.”
Men who want to venture beyond navy blue without being mistaken for a cartoon character or a punk-rock poseur can avoid censure in camouflage, a similarly splotchy pattern that is the country cousin of animal print. Even less provoking: plaid, a favorite of Mr. French’s, which adds contrast to a look without the rock-star associations. “You always gotta remember who your audience is,” he said. For most of us, that audience is not 10,000 screaming fans, so if your agenda is to blend in, leave the leopard alone.
MILD CATS / Spotted Gear That Won’t Get You Spotted From a Mile Away
From left: Jacket, $625, kenzo.com; Wacko Maria Shirt, $435, mrporter.com; Cardigan, $340, ourlegacy.se
Write to Jacob Gallagher at Jacob.Gallagher@wsj.com
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