Mancessories for the new man

It all started with the manbag, the man purse in the 1960s. It was the first mancessory (male accessory) that crossed over from the female fashion world and created a new word and a new market.

And now the marketers have a new male demographic firmly in their sights. The prime segment of the demographic is the metrosexual, the sexually ambiguous male that emerged in the 1990s. They are not challenged by the less successful heteropolitans and ubersexuals of this decade. The marketers run manverts, adverts designed for the male audience. They seek to attract a whole range new consumers to newly developed man-products crossing over from the female market. It is only the retrosexuals who resist, preferring the old-fashioned and un-moisturised lifestyles of their fathers’ generation.

The man-products are proliferating. The most famous, a comic creation, is Borat’s plunging one-piece, themankini. In a similar vein is the mansierre, the man-bra invented on Seinfeld for man-boobs. But there are serious products too. Mandals, men’s sandals, have been identified as a separate product; as has manternity wear, clothes and goods designed for the male in the pregnant partnership. There is also a strong push to establish mantyhose, panty hose for men, in the market.

But there is no point being dressed well if you are not looking good at the same time. Manscaping, is an industry that caters to male body hair grooming. Its main product is the manzilian, the man’s brazilian wax, which is also known as a manzini, a reference to the bikini wax.

Once groomed it is time for the beauty products. His and hers perfume brands are well established. As are mansturisers, man-moisturisers, to restore the softness of the man’s skin. But some male cosmetics are new to the market, such as, manscara and guy-liner, two British products. They may be used to accentuate that disinterested look.

Now that men are dressed in mandals and mantyhose and have been manscaped and mansturised, their lives are obviously very much changed. They go on mancations, a man only holiday. They go out on mandates, where male friends get together to have manversations, conversations about male things. These are heterosexual encounters where they might drink mantinis, beer served with green olives in a martini glass, while burning mandles, candles with less floral smells.

These new men are more focused on their health and head to their doctors more often. Men who are worried about cancer may ask for a manogram.

Meanwhile, the female half of the population suffers from manxiety, anxiety about having to deal with all this male cross-over and gender ambiguity.