Men's Second Style

Although I certainly have my steampunk, goth and grunge leanings, contemporary casual menswear is still a staple in my wardrobe.  Designer Scherina Montgomery is doing some fairly impressive design work in this arena.  These items, recently released at Sc Design, are today’s case in point.  For me, one of the fun things about designs like this is that they’re often non-specific enough, stylistically speaking, to mix it up successfully with other, more obviously “genre” gear.  Today I’ve thrown together a kind of bad-boy emo-neko grunge-kitty look that I think kind of works.  Come on, it’s fun, try it!  You know you want to. 

Scherina’s “Steve” shirts have the look and lines of a classic polo, and I know what you’re thinking–everybody’s got polos, they’re a dime a dozen.  Look closely, though, and you’ll see that the front buttons run full length, not just two or three at the collar.  The pattern of horizontal stripes is an eye-grabber, and eight different color combos are available.  I was apparently feeling the monochromatic thing and ultimately restricted myself to shades of grey, but you can also choose from some brighter colors.  These shirts are priced at L$99 for singles, which includes tucked and untucked versions on various clothing layers.  Two different packs of shirts in four color combos are also available for L$299 each.  The “Billy” shorts (available in Grey and Blue Washed) are just L$59 each.  Note the “accidentally” undone top button.

Jeans too are “commodity” items that aren’t exactly few and far between.  This just means you have to do a little work to compete.  Scherina’s Denim Line jeans are well detailed, with a wide leather belt, good folds and wrinkles, and excellent fading at the knees.  They’re available in Black and Used for L$129 a pair.  Both jeans and shorts are full height, not low-rise, so they work with shirt-layer shirts that don’t come with an underwear-layer extension.

For me, the real prize in these new releases is the Mirco shirts.  (It’s surprisingly difficult to type “Mirco” when your fingers want to type “Micro”.)  Each comes in a set that includes one open, untucked shirt on the jacket layer plus two contrasting tees on the shirt layer.  The tees are simple, but there’s not only some real texture to the fabric but a little transparency as well, so you get some definition from the underlying skin.  The outer shirts, though, are gorgeously textured with different abstract patterns.  Here I’m wearing my personal favorite, Black Cosmos, but five other styles are available (take a look at Corn Field)–L$99 each, or L$445 for the pack of all six.

Available at the Sc Design main store (Sc Design 129, 211, 24).  If you don’t feel like navigating the big store, you can also find these at the Sc Design shop at Second Guy Mall (Sweetgrass 86, 104,  262).