No whistles, no snickers cross the lips of construction workers when this brunet in powder pink greets them in Danville, Ill.
“They don’t say anything at all about it,” said Tom Wodetzki, 38, (below) who often meets with his all-male crew while sporting a pink oxford, pink polo shirt or even pink socks. “I don’t know if that’s because I’m the boss.”
But just as likely, it’s because a color commandment that thundered forth not long after Baby Jesus was swaddled in his first blanket–BLUE FOR BOYS, PINK FOR GIRLS–has been broken like never before.
“I haven’t seen so many men wearing pink since I was a kid in the ’70s and the ‘Preppy Handbook’ was in its first printing,” said Brian Boye, fashion director of Men’s Health magazine. “You can’t walk one block on Park Avenue in Manhattan without seeing refined, well-heeled businessmen hustling to their offices in pink dress shirts or ties.”
But the rose-by-another-gender phenomenon also has penetrated Middle America and middle schools.
Not to mention politics and hip-hop.
And, yes, even the molten cores of machismo such as Wodetzki’s industry and professional sports.
Soccer star David Beckham loves to wear pink off the field, Boye said, and a famous Italian soccer team, Juventus, wears it on the field as part of its uniforms.
“And Brad Pitt was photographed recently in a dark pink track jacket with jeans and a white T–with Angelina [Jolie] on his arm.”
Need he say more to prove pink’s potency?
“From my own experience, I can say that women love to see a man wearing pink,” Boye said. “I’ve gotten compliments, catcalls. Pink says he’s daring, confident and well-dressed. What we’ve learned it also says to women is that the man wearing pink is sensitive.”
Men’s Health published research last year on what colors attract women.
Pink came out on top.
“Guys are crazy not to wear more pink,” Boye said.
Its liberation has been a long time coming, said Leatrice Eiseman, author of “The Color Answer Book” and director of the Pantone Color Institute.
Credit goes not just to designers such as Roberto Cavalli, who trotted out a hot-pink suit, and rappers such as Cam’ron, who made pink his signature with his clothes and cars, including a pink Range Rover.
“The graphics industry has really used pink graphics so beautifully for ski boards and other adrenaline-pumping sports,” Eiseman said. “When you start seeing it in men’s sports equipment, then it really becomes an OK thing.”
But don’t kid yourselves, guys:
“Pink always says soft,” Eiseman said. “But that’s not a bad thing! A lot of guys, when they allow themselves to try the color, they look in the mirror and say, ‘Hey, I look pretty good in this.’ Any of the rosy tones really vibrate well for the skin. So I think besides using pink from a psychological standpoint [to show their softer side], there’s also the aesthetic aspect–knowing they look good and having people say, ‘Wow, that’s a great look on you,’ which invariably will happen. And that really locks it.”
It might be why Sen. John Kerry favored ties that transmitted as pink (sometimes a red-white check) during his presidential bid, prompting much post-election punditry in a Web chat room: “Think about it, who wears pink clothing that is a male? Rich little preppy guys. This could have separated him further from the low and middle class,” read one posting.
The Chicago Yacht Club was awash in pink shirts the night before the Race to Mackinac this month. Though he doesn’t wear pink himself, one racer, David Houck, 42, of Annapolis, Md., said his almost 13-year-old son, Scott, recently made his first request for an article of clothing: a Vineyard Vines polo shirt.
Specifically in pink.
“He doesn’t wear it with the collar up or anything, OK?” Houck said. “We might have to have a sit-down [if he did].”
Danny Zenisek, a 21-year-old accountant who lives in St. Charles, said his father kids him about wearing pink.
“My dad sticks to his blues and staple colors. He makes comments: ‘Oh, I see you’re going out in pink today. Good luck with that,’ ” Zenisek said. “A lot in my age group have adopted it because it’s been marketed to us in GQ spreads and by Abercrombie & Fitch.”
In the Advanced Fashion Zone, pink has even dipped below the midsection, in shorts, chinos and seersucker pants.
“A pink polo shirt is pretty tame at this point. I see them everywhere when I’m out,” said Chicago menswear designer Kent Nielsen, 27, whose pink ties and dress shirts are big sellers. “The real style comes below the belt.”
It also comes below designer price points.
“It’s our fashion color of the season, something we definitely believe in,” said Todd Snyder, vice president of men’s design for J. Crew.
Besides pique polo shirts in pink, which have been the No. 2 seller, J. Crew carried shorts in an orangey pink that Marc Wheeler, 36, of Greenville, S.C., bought into this season.
“I’ve got pink on right now. I’ve gone crazy. I don’t know what’s happened to me,” said Wheeler, who visited Chicago with his church youth group last month. “I decided I was going to get a pair of pink shorts and see what happened.”
What happened was, “I got some compliments from a teenager, who said, ‘Hey, you’re wearing pink!’
“I said, ‘No, they’re salmon.’ “
It seems that pink on the body’s lower hemisphere still makes some men slightly skittish.
But Tony Perry, 41, a construction worker in Chicago, isn’t afraid to take it there. He bought pale pink linen pants at the shop Trend for Men, 1551 N. Wells St., about a month ago.
“If you’re man enough, you can wear any color you want to,” Perry said. “And the women enjoy it, to be honest with you. I went to this one club and they really enjoyed it. It’s not like yellow that comes out and grabs you. Pink is a smooth color.”
It probably doesn’t hurt that Perry is 6 foot 4 and about 260 pounds. “Plus I’m dark, so it stands out a lot.”
Co-workers he goes out with observe the effect of his pink pants or shirts on women–and want to replicate it.
“They’re like, ‘Damn. Where did you get that from?’ ” Perry said. “And you know how women are; one asks, ‘Where did you get that purse from?’ And you say, ‘Uh, it was a gift’?
“Well, I say, ‘Uh, they don’t have any more,’ or, ‘You can get the same color, but get a different cut or something.’ We don’t need to be the Double-mint twins walking up to some restaurant.”
Pink does double the pleasure and double the fun for Adam Whitehurst, 33, who owns several shirts and ties in pink, including some from Chicago designer Lee Allison.
“My wife likes it,” Whitehurst said. “But my 2-year-old daughter loves it.”
Hot or not: Making pink a power color
“What I love about pink is that it complements every skin tone,” Men’s Health fashion director Brian Boye said.
But there’s a little bit of art and a lot of attitude required:
Fair guys look great in pale pinks, Boye said. Darker guys with darker hair can wear deep, punchy pinks that bring out the richness in their skin tone.
One caution, guys: “You will attract attention wearing pink, so be prepared,” Boye said. “Shine your shoes and fix your hair on ‘pink’ days.”
One shot of pink is an easy entry. Think pink with white, khaki, brown or tan shorts or pants. Or a navy suit with a pink shirt and a pink and blue striped tie. “Anything tailored is the Advanced Fashion Zone,” Boye said, better left to “fashion guys.”
“A tan certainly doesn’t hurt,” Chicago menswear designer Kent Nielsen said. “But more than anything it’s an attitude.”
–Wendy Donahue
