There has been no end to the surprising response produced by the women’s movement. What first started as a fight for women’s rights to be on par with men–both in the workplace and at home–has resulted in what appears to be a whole lot of side issues we never saw coming. Whether they’re good, worthwhile and meaningful or not isn’t really what it’s about, either, as they simply ARE. Like it or leave, as they say. A major segment of the changes to come from within this fem-movement has been the acknowledgment of just how pristine and fashion conscious practically all men turned out to be. While it’s taken a little while to build adequate steam–AKA design differentiation and shopping options equaling those enjoyed by women for all time preceding–look around now. Men’s hair and wardrobing choices have succeeded in rising to the status of the former level only supplied for their female counterparts. So what’s new for men, in the current season and up ahead?

Men’s Hair–the Current Default Cut
With a good number of cutting and styling options for men’s hair, there seems to be one that has become the absolute standard, and if you have an opportunity to place yourself somewhere public that receives a wealth of foot traffic, look around. You should be able to describe the “It” haircut for men within a minute or less. While the cut is going to appear significantly different on a variety of men, this has to do with their individual hair’s texture, color and volume–oh, and the “volume” of products that went into the way they styled it. Now, within this new “standard,” there is a lot of room for play, manifesting in a wide number of styling distinctions that could also make identifying the cut a bit difficult right at first, but there is a basic fundamental at work here to be recognized. The currently trending men’s haircut is referred to as “the fade,” and with tons of options for combing, brushing, parting, not parting and more–what all of these styles share in common is the short sides and how they are cut. The fade removes almost all volume from the sides of the head and places it all at the top. You’ll see it prevalently once you know the deal. At the neck and facial hairlines, the hair is short-short, almost a five o’clock shadow, and as it proceeds upward, there is a gradual length-gaining that is noticeable. If the cut is done right, it’s impossible to pinpoint where the clipper blades were changed out, as the progression from short to long is ultra smooth. Now, once you get to the top section of hair, that can reveal a demarcation that is impossible to not recognize–as that hair can be super long. in contrasting the sides.

More Men’s Hair Options
The Man-Bun is in–surely you’ve seen it. It’s typically arranged in a half-up production, and men’s beards are always trending in one form or another, but there have been a few changes along the way. Where men previously unanimously made beard trimming a component of their facial hair, there is a lot less of that now. this refers to how the beard growth would be contained both above and below, giving the beard more of a standardized shape that is less prevalent now, as beards are left to do more of their own thing. There is a sort-of trend occurring with the “free bird,” er, uh, “free beard.” Now, there seems to be a growing population of men who find something wonderful about the long, unkempt beard. For all its apparent glory, let’s just hope these guys are able to find a corresponding number of women who appreciate the look.

Neckwear News
Ties and tie bars remain as the standard form of finishing off a dress or work shirt, though the bow tie is still on its journey to rank neck in neck with the non-bow knot and two left-long ends. You’ll see more men dressed up for evenings and somewhat formal occasions “sans” tie, being content to stop just short of buttoning that top shirt button and tossing on a jacket before departing from home. Add a nice, dark-colored long scarf or two to your outerwear ensemble.

Feet
Gotta take a look at all of the designs for casual choice sneakers. As the ideal go-to with jeans, you’ll find a lot of slip-on styles that rock–in both canvas and leather–and with some cool suede detailing. They’re all uber-lightweight, and comfortable. Look with a mind for checking out the latest Paul Smith, Adidas, Chuck Taylor and Gucci styles. And colors make the scene in a big way, for leather Converse high and low tops. Some sleek, minimalist styling is coming to mountain boots for men, and these are definitely a needed component for any well-dressed man’s 2016 wardrobe. Your shoes are one place you just can not do well on by compromising quality to save money. Add some trendy well-made Oxfords to your shoe wardrobe. And while you might be able to expand your shoe collection with different slip-ons, brogues, lace-ups and wingtips, this doesn’t mean you should. Better to have one good pair in each category than a large array of unfitting choices. You can do really well with a number of top rate, more affordable designers this year. Aldo is the main deal source, so look there first. Be sure to check out others, like Hugo Boss, Charles Tyrwhitt, Cole Haan, Florsheim. For some more distinctive choices, go to H by Hudson first, then Markher, Donald J Pliner and Gordon Rush. Kenneth Cole and J Crew are featuring some new slick designs for casual dress.

Outsider
Men are beginning to recognize the value of arriving in sharp attire, to a great larger number of destinations outside the office in 2016. There is a lot of fur coming to men’s outerwear, with amazing relief from the winter worst, but at the same time, they rock the business and formal dress looks. Keeping mostly to the conservative side with a lot of grey, rich chestnut browns, sienna browns, creamy rich butterscotch and the standard of time–black, they’ll integrate with any style of dress and look just right. On dress and work suit jackets the collars are larger and more angular than before. Speaking of suits–lighter than lightweight plaids are going to rule when winter begins to subside, with a montage of distinctive color integrations for all occasions.