As a native of the District, I have seen my fair share of changes in the area. One change or lack thereof has been the fashion and personal style of the area. There are many fashion forward and stylish trendsetters in DC, I know quite a few of them, but there are more than their share of dreadful fashion blunders in the area. One of those being the Prada shoes that everyone seems to continue to wear, you know the ones from circa’98, please give them up already; Prada does make other trainers and footwear. Another one is the suits these men wear, which tend to look more like potato sacks then business attire. DC has come along in fashion, some of the most prestigious fashion department stores such as Neiman Marcus and Barneys Co-op are in the DC area. In addition a lot of smaller boutiques are flocking to DC because there is a market for fashion forward individuals who are thirsty for new innovative designers and clothing; but DC has a long way to go before it can be taken seriously in the fashion world.

I recently had a chance to chop it up with one of my influences in the fashion world Nick Wooster at the Neiman Marcus Men’s Fashion Show at Mazza Galleria. For those who do not know Nick Wooster, he’s the head director of men’s fashion at Neiman Marcus and also Bergdorf Goodman. He is one of the most fashion forward men you would every meet, he has appeared in countless street style blogs from all over the world including mine.

Back to my take on the show, I was in the presence of trendsetters and fashion forward gents from the DC area. The show setup was a Q&A so after each model walked, the audience could ask Nick questions about the look. I was expecting the latest Spring/Summer 2011 looks but what I got was a microcosm of the DC area. Five minutes into the show, one model came out in cargo shorts; you could see the faces and hear the groans of the gents in attendance. With no fault of Nick the show had a lot to be desired. When I asked Nick why DC seems to always get what I would call “the safe picks” he responded that it’s the market here.

After the show, we discussed the challenges the DC male consumer has when it comes to expression of personal style and having outlets to express their personal style. One of the issues that I brought up was the lack of options here. Whenever I ask my friends or people on the street where they got those cool shoes or shirt their answer is always the same, I got them in NY, in Paris, in Tokyo, or online which is disheartening. Yes the Net has made the world a lot smaller and has definitely equaled the fashion playing field with designers but to get the full experience of clothing, I believe the best way is to touch, feel and try on the garments which cannot be done virtually.

Now with a click of a button, I can buy the latest chambray shirt from Beams in Japan therefore I would expect fashion retailers would definitely want to put a major emphasis on providing the most avant-garde fashion forward designers and clothing that they can get in their stores to not only introduce new clientele but maintain their loyal ones. From my experience in DC, when it comes to fashion much of the blame is on the stores that are catering to a particular clientele, the conservative type who have disposal income but lacks style and fashion forwardness. These types determine how store managers and buyers make their decisions and in DC, it all comes down to what is moving off the racks instead of it coming down to style and fashion. Which can Both can coexist.

Amir Browder