Michael Bastian and GANT Rugger: F/W 2010

During this winter’s F/W 2010 Fashion Week, Michael Bastian was the center of some much deserved media buzz. Creating a line of lacrosse inspired clothes for the newly revamped Gant brand, Bastian has struck a chord with many of the modern prep enthusiasts, myself included.

During high school, I played lacrosse for four years. It’s an incredibly fun game; fast paced, aggressive, and with just a tinge of elitism. The best part of the game, at least in my eyes, is that it is practically non-existent outside of the Northeastern United States. Granted other areas, such as California and the Southeast U.S., have started playing, it will never rival its popularity in the Baltimore/Washington or NY areas. Perhaps this is why lacrosse players have a certain swagger which is often translated through their clothing style.

To be honest, I hated most of the stereotypical lax style. Chino shorts, polos, and boat shoes? Yeah right. This was during my more rigidly defined days of punk aesthetics. Fortunately, I have grown out of my iconoclastic ways an embraced a variety of other styles and attitudes (See Giussepe’s post on eclecticism). Where I would never have been caught dead in critter shorts, something about Bastian’s frayed corduroy edges and lax sticks has me reminiscing of the old days. Below is a sampling of pieces from Gant’s F/W 2010 lineup that just happened to catch my eye. While a part of me still cringes at the overly prep styling, any of these items could easily be mixed and matched in a way that could transcend this irritating quality to something much more appealing.