The fashion of the metromen

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“Metromen” is a term describing men who have strong concerns about the aesthetics of their image, and spent considerable amount of time and finances to maintain their appearance and lifestyle. The term, however, has evolves and changed its basic meaning, namely “a heterosexual man who looks or behaves like a homosexual or bisexual”. Today metromen means rather a man, who takes extraordinary care of your body – hair, manicure and pedicure, haircut complex, and sometimes even a makeup. The modern metroman uses clothing and accessories, which until recently were also full benefit of the ladies. If we go deeply into the psychological manifestations of the concept, we can get to the conclusion that the phenomenon metromen concerns not only the aesthetic sector and lifestyle, but the attempt of men to understood women better and in detail via using products, specific to the ladies’ lifestyle.

 

The first appearance of the term “metromen” can be found in “Here's the man with the mirror” by Mark Simpson, which deals with new urban image of man. The material was published in The Independent, the most influential British newspaper, on November 15, 1994. Mark Simpson returned to the topic in 2002, when he published online the article “Meetings with the metrosexual man”.

 

In June 2003 New York Times confronted the U.S. audience with the metromen phenomenon. "Metromen attack!" was the headline of the material. Some sources determine his author, Marion Salzmann, to be a creator of the term, but Salzmann recognized Simpson to be the first one who used this word. The media tried to explain the term "metromen" or "metrosexual man" using a specific image. Simpson did exactly the same when he pointed David Beckham as the vivid example of what “metromen” is. Simpson gave to Beckham the name of a “metrosexual icon” and added to his personality names like Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. No longer new names appeared as examples of metromen: Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Donald Rumsfeld. But for the large audience the question remains: are all these charming men typical representatives of the phenomenon metromen?

 

Metrosexual men fall into a uniform group with representatives of two other subcultures - yuppies and ubersexuals:

·         Yuppies, or young urban professionals are well known phenomenon. They are 30-35 years old, they work in several places and earn a lot, even at the expense of total exhaustion. Their efforts are towards fast and successful career, as well as ownership of brands BMW, Volvo, Rolex, Burberry, Rive Gauche… Luxury and high quality fashion go together with the financial advance of the yuppie.

·         Ubersexuals (from German) can be considered as metromen, but in their mature period. The ubersexual man is a combination of an excellent appearance with intelligence. in one. This is type of the famous "machismo" in its new fashion envelope. Elegance and charm exist as well but it does not go to absurdity, special hair care, skin and body care. The ubersexual men strive for perfection, without being a slave of fashion trends and cosmetic advantages of women.