Menocore is the new Normcore was declared by The Manrepeller.
Intrigued as to what 'meno' would stand for?
My Latin and ancient Greek trained mind interpreted it as “less” and got excited that it was a Manrepelling version of minimalism. Alas, it referred to a-50-something year old woman that who doesn’t care what other people think and just wants to be supremely comfortable.”
So: sure, that’s what you do when you are not a Millennial and you are lucky enough to have reached a point in your life when you own your style, you know what looks good on you and what doesn’t without having to fit into a description or a trend or a social media post. In other words, th art of not giving a f^&*
At this point, the description of what is “menocore” went on and all that liberty and freedom above was bypassed by a need of fitting into a definition.
Pero, why? (one of the fine things I have learned in Miami)
Here’s what Menocore dressing is according to The Manrepeller:
- billowy pants sporting elasticized waist bands (in Stromboli or Panarea that’s all you wear; in the book's chapter "Borrow from the boys" I describe how )
- head-to-toe ecru (chic in my books)
- well-loved market bags (like the shoppers that you use instead of using plastic bags at the supermarket? Like Ikea or Balenciaga?)
- loose tops with bold prints (Hawaiian shirts?)
- exposed bras (honestly, us over-50 love free nipples)
- clunky sandals (Marni or Prada you mean?) or sneakers (All Stars for sure)
- loose ponytails secured with scrunchies (please refer to the last chapter of the book: “Some things you never do” no matter what age)
- a porcelain bowl of freshly-cut pineapple sitting on rumpled white bedsheets (we eat in porcelain plates, don’t use SOLO cups or plastic nothing and bedsheets are hand-embroidered linen)
- jewelry that looked like something a kid might make in art class (yes, you don’t wear those cookie-cutter parures of bijoux they sell at the mall, and said jewelry is usually mixed with 24 karats gold family heirloom jewelry)
- unapologetic sun protection for unapologetic sun protection’s sake (we don’t wear sunprotection, remember? We are over-50 and wrinkles we have already. Tourists wear unapologetic sunprotection)
- tarnished gold barrettes (we don’t own cheap pharmacy stuff, do we look like we live in a dorm?)
- sequins just for the fun of it (if not us, who?)
My first time being hurt by something The Manrepeller publishes, I guess I felt called into the conversation because of “that certain age” or “older”.
The article redeemed itself when they realized they had hit the “ageism” button and specified:
“the movement […] pays long-overdue homage to an age bracket that is often ignored by the fashion industry.” So basically is Millennials and Gen Y on one side and Iris Apfel on the other side, middle-aged women have no saying and menocore is what is for us.
Why do we need to categorize and be put in a class, like “no you go in A and your friend goes in B, you may meet at recess or for lunch, but not together for this year”. Then you know where is the problem? We need to define everything in this country, “normcore” “menocore” “office attire” “cocktail attire”.
I wrote a book in which I described “Italian style” and what it means in 10 chapters because there isn’t one single definition that serves to describe what it takes to adopt the Italian way. And, no there are no trendy or pretty adjectives to be used, we may eat pineapple, but also a great pasta and a red Chianti, and we know a good one from a bad one, we don’t ask for Cabernet or Chardonnay, we look at the wine list. It’s a timeless, comfortable in your own skin attitude, simple, slow, sophisticated, and, by all means, we never buy stuff one size smaller.
