Embracing Your Dad Style: Why Dressing Like Your Father is the New Badass Thing to Do

When you think fashion couldn’t get any weirder, Balenciaga, the edgy Italian design house that made headlines for thousand-dollar Ikea bags and three-inch platform crocs, come up with a sneaker so ugly, it can only remind you of the old ones your dad would keep in the back of his closet.

Balenciaga's Triple S Sneaker -Retail: approx. $850. Fashion gone too far or a long overdue celebration? (Source: Highsnobiety)

You’d be surprised to learn that was exactly the point.

Here's why "Dad Style", once the epitome of bad fashion, is now in vogue...

Function Comes First

At the very least, all clothes are meant to protect our bodies from the elements.

So it makes sense that fashion in general is often preceded by clothing that has a specific functional purpose. For example, before they were a fashion staple, trench coats and bomber jackets were specifically designed for the battlefield.

But how does that apply to fatherly wardrobes that are totally unfit for WWI trenches or B-52 cockpits?

The answer is that a father’s outfit is functional in its own way; not for the battlefields of the Rhineland but for the battlefields of parenthood.

Dad style denotes a mind that is far more occupied with dropping the kids off at school than keeping up with the latest Yeezys. A dad’s outfit must be durable enough to withstand ketchup and oil stains, comfortable enough for endless couch surfing, and versatile enough for the park, office, and dinner table; not for the see-and-be-seen venues of Coachella and Miami Beach.

As a result, dad style hints to a character that is masculine yet gentle, dominant but relaxed – traits that all good fathers seem to share.

Balenciaga's runway show during Paris Fashion Week 2018 (Source: InStyle). Come on! A kid? Seriously?!

It’s the Lifestyle We’re Celebrating Here

Things don’t come into style because of their aesthetic appeal as much as they reflect a certain lifestyle. Lifestyles that we deem cool for whatever reason.

As a result, otherwise functional clothes are often adopted out of context for the sake of fashion.

For example, although Nike's Air Jordans were specifically designed for the court, I guarantee that most people wearing them haven’t touched a basketball in years. They became popular because Michael Jordan, the sports hero of millions, wore and promoted them aggressively. Manufacturers knew that the shoe’s popularity would come from the lifestyle he represented during his 90s basketball reign, not so much for how they perform on the court. It’s a lifestyle that projected glory, glamour, success, and inspiration. Adding a few colors made the shoe mainstream; seeing Mariah Carey wearing them made your mom want a pair too.

The same can be said about trench coats, which were long considered an iconic Hollywood fashion piece. Trench coats were originally designed for British soldiers during WWI and included features meant to keep soldiers warm and dry on the battlefield. After Humphrey Bogart wore one in the 1942 movie Casablanca, everyone in America wanted one too.

Legendary Hollywood dad Humphrey Bogart sports iconic trench coat (Source: Wikimedia)

Dad Clothes and Dad Bods

Little about your dad’s weekend outfit represent Hollywood glamour or athletic prowess. However, there are other reasons why the dad lifestyle has come into focus in a way it never has.

Although it’s hard to pinpoint what caused the dad craze, one factor was definitely the Dad Bod essay. Written by then college student Mackenzie Pearson in 2015, the essay argues that the dad bod, which is essentially a moderately strong body coupled with a beer belly, is sexier than the jacked-up fitness freak we commonly see on Instagram. Pearson described the Dad Bod as “more human, natural, and attractive”.

Leonardo DiCaprio apparently is the most stylish person on the beach with his dad bod (Source: Bollywood Life)

In other words, the dad bod is sexier not because it’s aesthetically pleasing but because of the lifestyle it represents. Although there are countless fathers across gyms crushing it everyday, generally speaking, dads don’t have the time to obsess about looks and social media the way single men do. They still care about the gym enough to stay in reasonably good shape but are secure enough to enjoy beers and wings whenever their wife gives them a chance; regardless of the extra pounds they may put on.

Simply put, dads embody a central pillar of attractiveness that most single men lack: confidence.

It's the kind of confidence that does not need to be augmented by flashy clothes or washboard abs. It's the kind of confidence only a loving family can provide.

This is the confident lifestyle, which has been under our noses all along, that has captivated the fashion world.

Uniform of a Stylish Dad

Don't be fooled. This entire ensemble retails at over $1,700!

Let’s break up the typical dad outfit and see how it’s perfectly equipped for the rigors of fatherhood and family life. From the bottom up:

1.) New Balance Shoes – People buy them because they’re comfortable, which is all dads care about. Another quintessential dad shoe, Nike’s Air Monarchs are “flying off shelves” according to Business Insider. No doubt because of the new wave of dad chic.

2.) Dad Jeans – Loose. Comfortable. Versatile. Perfect for walking around Disney World or watching the Daytona 500. Whether it's changing the oil or spoon feeding a baby, no one will worry about these jeans getting ruined. And if they do, you can always pick up another pair at the local Target for less than $30.

3.) Sensible belt – Because dads don’t keep a belt for the office and a belt for the club. ‘Nuff said.

4.) Colorful Dad Shirt – Also comes in the Hawaiian variety. Think of it this way, colorful shirts add a bit of edge to the otherwise practical outfit. Dad’s aren’t just sports-watching, dinner-eating, little-league-coaching robots. At one point, many of these guys were pretty stylish. However, years of diaper changing have put them a behind the fashion pack which explains the outdated styles.

5.) The Jacket – it’s so versatile that it’s always on. It’s worn at work, church, and on early morning dog walks. You know? Dad stuff.

6.) Watch – The great thing about this watch is that Dad actually uses it. Not just because Dad has a busy schedule of Metamucil shopping and quarterly sales meetings. iPhones are mainly for calling the insurance company, not telling time or browsing Instagram (whatever that is).

How You Should Feel About Dad Fad

Keeping up with dad style is a paradox and a tongue twister.

If you follow dad style because you admire dads then you’re no longer in dad style because dads don’t follow style.

Make sense?

The recent wave of dad vogue, although stemming from a healthy appreciation of our fathers’ labor of love, is simply bizarre in the high fashion context and likely won’t last.

However, whether it’s a topic of conversation at New York Fashion Week or not, the look will always be around. It’s a paradox when you think that dad style exists precisely because it’s not stylish.

The style reflects one of the main aspects of being cool: apathy. Apathy for the stylish establishment and apathy for what anyone thinks about it. Dads simply have more important things to care about.

In a world when your personal worth is measured more by Instagram followers, being a dad has become the most rebellious thing you can do and being rebellious has always been sexy.

-- Real Deal LLC

Source: Huffington Post