BLACKBURN AND SWEETZER

I woke up today fully prepared to mock this male cowl neck by B.Son - a designer collab between Rebecca Beeson and Brandon Scott, formally of Nice Collective - as it was featured in a emailer from Active Endeavors (pictured at very top). But then the cowl neck was gone from its stock. I thought maybe AE had come to its senses; perhaps there had been an outcry from shoppers who said, no, the male cowl neck did not work for Duran Duran, and it won’t work now! So, I started searching for it elsewhere and came upon the trio above at Blackbird in Seattle ($55), and lo and behold they can’t keep the neck drapers in stock! I suspect a similar situation at AE. Dudes, the ’80s pop-new-wave thing is a super challenge to pull off if you’re not an ’80s pop-new-wave star, in which case you’ve time traveled two decades and are lost. If nothing else, please, please, do not wear in ensemble with the acid wash jeans that are currently everywhere.

That being said, B.Son’s other offerings are incredibly well-priced and totally workable for the right guy: jersey hoodies and cardigans (below) for $75; u-neck and crew neck tees for $51; vests for $55 and short-sleeve cardis for $65.