Spring's sprung for menswear

by Rog Hagwood for the Sun-Sentinel

Fashion flows a bit slower for men than it does women.

So maybe by the time the dude duds shown earlier this month at the designer menswear shows in Milan and Paris hit store shelves, our eyes will have adjusted. After all, the guy garb shown is intended for spring/summer 2006. Most men -- even those who don't change wardrobes annually -- are still firmly wearing 2005, thank you very much.

Luckily there is a conservative English collegiate vibe out there that even Grandpa will recognize. At Givenchy, designer Ozwald Boateng did staples like polo shirts and dinner jackets, but the polo was sheer and the jacket was mint green. At Hermés, designer Véronique Nichanian showed gray trousers with a pink satin stripe down the leg as well as cardigans ... made of velvet. (above)

But it never hurts to be a little ahead of the game. After all, when that young buck in the office makes fun of your retro South Beach-print Versace shirts, you can look at him with a withering glance and icily retort, "Don't you know that Donatella did a retro homage to her brother Gianni's South Beach collection from 1993? Giorgio Armani did Miami Vice. If you don't know that, what else don't you know?"

Here are some more trends from the menswear shows for next year for you to use as a hip weapon:

Classic preppy looks are back ... think '50s Americana (Jil Sander, Burberry Prorsum, Rocco Barocco, Paul Smith, Hermés).

Cool colors include gray, sand, blue, green and all-white ensembles (Calvin Klein, Gucci).

'60s rock/'70s glam/'80s vice ... think skinny ties and stove-pipe pants, animal-print swim and loungewear, shrunken jackets, swirling geometric- and abstract-print shirts, one- and two-button jackets with sleeves pushed up (left, Prada), tank tops worn with wide-legged trousers (Prada, Etro, Comme des Garçons, Yves Saint Laurent, Dries Van Noten, Hermés).

Short-shorts or Dude Daisy Dukes (Byblos, Valentino, Antonio Marras, Jasper Conran, Burberry Prorsum).

My added note:

Lots of motifs, especially flowers on shorts and shirts