How to Wear Pink as a Man?

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No more clichés! If pink has (too) long been an exclusively feminine color, it is now perfectly possible to wear pink when you are a man. Think it’s not for you? What if I told you that Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, and James Franco have appeared fully dressed in pink on the red carpet? Here’s proof that you, too, can be a sexy and masculine man by adopting a beautiful pink look.

Moreover, if we look back a bit in history, did you know that pink was originally the color for men? And guess what color was initially assigned to women? … Yes, it was blue, which represents the color of the Virgin Mary. Surprising, isn’t it?

Now that you know a bit more, let yourself be tempted by the pieces I’ve selected for you and get inspired by the trends to create your masculine look with a lovely touch of pink.

Do colors have a gender?

There’s a lot of talk about gender… but beyond the controversies, colors have a very strong symbolism in cultures around the world. In the West, we dress in black for funerals and in white for weddings, while in India, weddings are celebrated in red.

Do colors have a gender? Yes, but nothing is innate. Indeed, nothing predisposed boys to like blue and girls to like pink. Studies conducted in cultures that do not traditionally distinguish pink/blue have shown that children had no color preference based on their gender.

It was the aggressive marketing of the 80s and 90s that pushed the girl-boy gentrification a bit too far.

How did pink become feminine?

Why wear pink when you are a man? Simply because pink was originally your color, gentlemen! Yes, it was a derivative of red that represented male power and aggression.

Pink became feminine under Louis XV because of a woman: Madame de Pompadour, the it-girl of her time who the nobles of the court loved to hate. In short, the perfect reality TV candidate of the 18th century. The Marquise loved pink so much that Louis XV, to pay homage to her, named a pink rose after her: the Pompadour Rose.

Known for her lightness, sense of aesthetics, and extravagance, she who was the King’s mistress from 1745 to 1751 made this hue a frivolous, trivial, and sexy color. Let’s just say that the influencer marquise had no idea she was about to change the history of genders.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the cliché settled in for good. Pink is for girls. It was also during this time that we began to gender absolutely all consumer products.

Pop culture also appropriated pink, the color of little girls, to make it a downright erotic color with the advent of the pink phone in the early 1980s. You see the problem, don’t you?

From that moment on, it became a bit complicated to get rid of the feminine cliché surrounding this color. Until… today, when men are reclaiming pink.

What other colors to wear with pink?

Pink is a soft color that pairs very well with basics like black, white, or gray. Pink also goes wonderfully with floral prints that are super trendy this season and have brightened up the 2023 Fashion Weeks.

Fashion editor tip: if you haven’t been used to wearing pink until now, pair it with beige or taupe. This color combination will create an interesting contrast that will enhance your look. I recommend choosing a shirt with a reverse or American collar and a rather basic pair of pants with a well-defined or even asymmetrical cut, and adding a pink jacket, pink sneakers, or small touches of pink as accessories (smartphone case, watch…).

What pink pieces to choose?

There’s a very simple rule for starting to wear pink when you are a man: adopt one pink garment or accessory at a time. Once you are a bit more accustomed to the color, you can go wild and even tackle a total masculine pink look!

If your heart desires, you can also copy Antoine Griezmann and his pink hair. Well, at this stage, we’re not very far from a fashion faux pas, unless, like the soccer pro, you own it 100% and have an impeccable look!

Our shopping ideas for wearing pink when you are a man

Now that you understand that wearing pink when you are a man is possible, but above all, trendy and masculine, let’s move on to practice with this special summer 2023 shopping selection:

• The shirt

• The polo

• The t-shirt

• The sweater

• The pants

• The shorts

• The hoodie

Inspiring Outfits

Image at the top: © Caique Nascimento / unsplash