exploring The bear’s impact on menswear
I know that it's been said so many times in so many places, but in anticipation of Season 3 of the Bear premiering on June 27, I want to resurface the discussion on Courtney Wheeler's costuming work. Now that we're ~2 years out from the first season airing, and on the other side of the "white t shirt" pandemonium, I'm still thinking about how the simple + sleek + well-tailored styles worn by Carmy, Marcus (and eventually Richie !!!) etc. had an impact on the way that men think about style.
There are a few topics that come to mind for me when I think about role of clothing in The Bear:
Occupation-appropriate workwear: Fashion cycles tend to be such that workwear gets co-opted for high fashion, streetwear, and eventually fast fashion. So it's really cool that The Bear is an occupation-driven show where we see characters like Carmy be meticulous about his choice in clothing (i.e., supportive footwear but also steezy Thom Browne chef whites) and Sydney (especially with her cool scarves) with their professional demands in mind.
Return to craftsmanship: sort of in the same vein as previous bullet but I like that the plot subtly touches on Carmy's desire to have fewer pieces (though I guess you can't call his raw denim collection "a few pieces") of very high quality clothing. It seems like during the first two seasons people would squabble about the high price points for some of Carmy's clothing (yes the Merz B Schwanen tees are expensive) but not consider that it's perhaps a more worthwhile approach to invest in pieces that are well-made and will withstand the tests of time and trend.
Dressing for the job you want: what's not to love about Richie's "I wear suits now" declaration? It was such an emotionally charged sequence that was not only a satisfying character development arc but also a cause for my own reflection on how we use clothing to either protect us / hide us or empower us.
Shop styles from the bear
We can’t wait to cover Season 3 styles on June 27! In the meantime, you can find all of the best looks from Season 2, including Merz B Schwanen, Paloma Wool, and more, here on Montage.
