PUBLISHED September 8th, 2012 06:19 pm | UPDATED July 22nd, 2024 03:28 pm
The fashion of personalising a gentleman’s wardrobe was once the preserve of the aristocracy and captains of the industry. Flamboyant chaps in bygone era’s would discreetly monogram as a mark of distinction, but fast forward a century and the desire to individualise is ever present and catching on with younger gents.
Stylish young men are happily exchanging T-shirts and baggy jeans for bespoke Oxford shirts and slim-fitting slacks from modern tailors inspired by London’s Savile Row. But this generation is not embracing the discreet detailing in the manner of the ‘old guard’, but instead, creating their own bolder logo, a form of tattooing, but on poplin rather than skin and therefore much less painful. A modern day gentleman wants to embody the smart, sleek silhouette of gentleman’s past, but inject the colour and vitality of gentlemen present.
Cue WanderWonder, who has just opened their first menswear boutique on Haji Lane. Their self-appointed ethos is that of the ‘flâneur’- a literary type from nineteenth-century France, essential to any depiction of the streets of Paris. It carries a set of rich associations: the man of leisure, the idler, the urban explorer, the connoisseur of the street. WanderWonder embodies this well-dressed, urban explorer, an emblematic figure of urban, modern experience if you will, and they are here to show you how to dress like a gentleman!
Behind WanderWonder is a group of young dynamic Singaporeans who want to make the menfolk of this small isle dress a little more sharply. With their well-placed brand sitting comfortably in between ‘luxury’ and ‘highstreet’ they are accessible, aspirational and likely to encourage quite a few to step up their game!
Dressy but never formal, WanderWonder is the go-to for quality shirts, suiting and footwear, particularly their oxford shirts that never stray into ‘too serious’ territory by encompassing playful, daring details. With bold, patterned inserts and block colour panels, the humble shirt is lifted from drab to dapper in an instant. The WanderWonder man is a bespectacled creative type; boys who have graduated from streetwear and men who decide to dabble in a world away from run-of-the-mill fashion.
Alongside their own creations, WanderWonder stock brands such as Tanner Goods, Viberg Boot, Tellason Jeans and Bexar Goods Co., to produce highly limited runs of products that are representative of the WanderWonder spirit. All expertly crafted goods for the man about town.
So chaps…take a look at yourselves…and if you are looking a little scruffy and raggedy round the edges, then may I suggest that you head down to WanderWonder and refine your gentlemanly swagger.
Written by Heh Zee