Since the advent of the metrosexual, a term coined a decade ago to describe straight cosmopolitan men who enjoy shopping and know who Manolo Blahnik is, I'm constantly amazed at the way makers of clothes, accessories and even make-up think they can sell products to men that would otherwise be bought mostly by women.
They do this by inventing a trend then winning over a few journalists and fashion bloggers with a neatly-worded press release and a freshly-minted neologism. Or so it seems.
Remember guyliner, for men wearing mascara? Or what about the mankini, as modelled by Sacha Baron Cohen at Cannes in 2006? Admittedly, nobody took that one seriously. But we've also had manbags (handbags for men) and, just last year, manties, a kind of snug-fitting pantie-style undergarment. Even Marks & Spencer sold them – sales there rose by one-third over the year, apparently – and Spanx, makers of support wear for women, launched a male version called Manx.
There doesn't even have to be a product behind the word-play, either. Remember the himbo, a male version of the bimbo, and bromance, a straight relationship between two chaps?
The latest one to catch my eye is the mandle, a kind of candle aimed at men. This is hitherto virgin territory, of course: granted, your metrosexual type probably has a bag of Ikea tea-lights somewhere, but the only sort of candles most men buy are those stubby white ones you get in hardware shops. These are kept in a drawer, in case of powercuts – or on a shelf in the living room next to a well-used VHS of risible erotic drama Body Of Evidence, in case of visits from that film's hot wax-loving star, Madonna. For customers of ScottishPower, the first is a lot more likely than the second.
The "aimed at men" bit of the Mandle Company business plan involves using scents with names like Gunpowder, Swimsuit Model and Meat And Potatoes. The last is self-explanatory ("Like Sunday dinner at Grandma's house," it promises). The first two offer the smell of spent shotgun cartridges and "freshly-oiled" models such as those who grace the cover of high-brow American current affairs magazine Sports Illustrated, particularly its annual swimsuit issue.
Other scents include coffee, hash browns, peanut butter and a blend of three brands of whiskey/whisky which goes by the name of Jim, Jack And Johnny. That's Beam, Daniels and Walker, for those unfamiliar with hotel mini-bars.
Will all this word-play and sartorial cross-pollination ever end? The Scrabble-playing philologist in me hopes not – they say "manties" might be heading for the OED – though I'd think twice about arranging a romantic dinner lit by a scented candle called Stripper's Mouth. Even if it does just smell of peppermints. n
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