Fashion in American Psycho
Tuesday, April 12th, 2011As a book and as a movie American Psycho was something of a phenomenon. After a great deal of Hollywood shenanigans it was eventually Christian Bale that was chosen to play the role of the main character – a high powered businessman and sociopath with possible killer instincts. Bale apparently used the real life Tom Cruise as his template for the overtly friendly but strangely vacant Bateman, but the look of the character was long since decided. He was everything that an 80s yuppie was supposed to aspire to be.
The main character – Bateman – and his surrounding clique are Yuppies. This is a term coined by advertising executives in the 80s to denote ‘Young Upwardly Mobile Professional Person.’ It has certain scornful connotations now that weren’t exactly lost on the people that invented the label either. This yuppie crowd covet designer brands to an extent where the actual qualities of the clothes fall behind the name in terms of importance. Taste is everything, while at the same time taste is determined by what the latest advertising trends denote, rather than true individuality.
But what is the exact look. Well, as a businessman in the eighties there’s a lot of designer wear in there, as you’d expect. Armani is used extensively. It was movies in the eighties that took Armani all the way to the top of the ladder, with American Gigolo showing their suits as the height of taste, while in American Psycho they epitomise the rich snobbery of the workplace. As accessories to this you see large rimmed Gucci glasses, which look embarrassing these days, and shameless gold Rolex watches.
Cosmetics for men play a major part. The intro to the film has Bateman going through his morning routine including body scrubs, face packs and moisturisers. The concept of using masks and hiding yourself is a theme throughout the film but it also shows areal 80s newfound attention to male beauty care.
This movie is a brilliant way of showing how arbitrary much of fashion is, and how shallow it can be to claim superiority of taste over other people to an extent where only one way is the right way.
Keep up with the latest mens clothing, just don’t take it too seriously!

