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The Gospel of Generation Z: Men, it's time to paint your nails

Not that this is a new phenomenon, but lately more and more men are stopping being ashamed, pushing the criticism - and boasting colorful nail polish. What used to be metal or rock'n'roll has become a common trend today. And what does that have to do with Corona?

• Nails
• Polish
• Men's fashion

Gal Slonimsky

(In the video: Harry Styles performing)

Men who paint their nails black colored is not something new in the landscape. Even men who take care of grooming has long been not something that makes us raise an eyebrow. However, the closure of the corona forced everyone to look for employment and quite a few men found the challenging nail polish craft, which requires quite a bit of patience, as a convenient refuge. Thus the trend of male manicure gained momentum and became popular, common and an integral part of the male look.

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The fondness for painted nails among men exploded in the 80s and 90s among rock 'n' roll and metal stars, and then she really did not call for female markers. So on the list you can find Marilyn Manson, Axel Rose, Stephen Tyler, and also our Aviv Geffen, who then in the 90s did not go on stage without heavy shadows and nail paint. The list of course also includes David Bowie with the colorful style that did not shy away from nail painting.

Over the years, nail painting has become more identified with men from the LGBT community and thus created disgust among men who do not belong to it. The last decade of the 2000s, which was marked by gender fluidity, turned the creators back. In 2017 it was the Balenciaga fashion house that hired The services of nail designer Mae Kawagiri decorate the hands of the models in a fall-winter show. After the show she opened a pop-up institute and reported that 80% of her clients are young men who saw the show and decided to try the trend. "Nail polish for men Transmitting a cool and cool look, just like tattoos or piercings, "she said. If you add to that the effects of corona closure, you've got a recipe for a manicure comeback.

In the last year quite a few men have been seen with colorful nails, and really the list is insane and long. Harry Styles, one of the leaders of the trend, as well as Marc Jacobs, the colorful rapper Lil Nas, Sean Mendez caught with black nail polish, Billy Porter playing on the streak, veteran Johnny Depp, Travis Scott, Adam Lambert, Jared Leto, Bud Bunny, rapper Aisap Rocky and many more. Everyone is addicted to the trend. One by one they uploaded photos to social media or were documented in paparazzi on the streets with colorful nails, and not just in tough male black, but really personalized with paintings and colors.

One of the most notable as mentioned is Harry Styles, who paints his nails in interesting combinations like blue and black, pink and yellow or shades of turquoise. One of his famous photos with nail art is from a fashion production taken for an article about him in the Guardian magazine, in which he is seen with smiley paintings on his nails. In the past year, photos have been circulating on Twitter of fans painting their nails in the same color combinations that Styles chooses.

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A post shared by NailBuff (@nailbuffapp) on Dec 17, 2019 at 3:21 am PST

While older men still find it difficult to come to terms with the trend, generation Z youngsters have already fully embraced it. So when Sean Mendez was spotted with black nail polish, none of the fans wondered about his sexual orientation or if he went crazy in isolation. On the contrary - the herd of fans just went on and on. However, not all responses are encouraging. Model Owen Mock told GQ magazine in an interview that he pays a lot of attention to his nails, but revealed that he also encountered criticism. "There's a lot of judgment these days, and it's definitely annoying," he said.

However, it is likely that these responses come from older men or women, who have not yet gone beyond the gender patterns. Generation Z as mentioned is not moved by social norms of gender and breaks the boundaries of femininity and masculinity. For example, you can see more and more Instagram pages dedicated to men with nail polish and the shatags are popular for the phenomenon. The biggest symbol of the phenomenon is Billy Porter who challenges the concepts of feminine and masculine attire at red carpet events, which totally makes us miss such an event that long ago was not due to the corona plague of course.

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A post shared by Shawn (@shawnshawnmendes_) on Nov 5, 2019 at 5:04 am PST

Those men who are not afraid of dichotomous definitions of what men should do what and women should do and choose to paint their nails in a variety of nail polishes, are also not afraid to pepper their look in bling bling, but not in the heavy nineties style, but in an up-to-date, edgy and full style. So along with the same colorful manicure colors you can also find bracelets, rings and even necklaces. The days when we had distinct men’s fashion and distinct women’s fashion are long over, and perhaps this is one of the necessary “pushes” that the corona plague brought with it.

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A post shared by Marc Jacobs (@themarcjacobs) on Mar 8, 2020 at 10:53 am PDT

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A post shared by ALL? '$ (@Asaprocky) on Aug 30, 2019 at 1:50 pm PDT

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A post shared by @evanmock on Aug 7, 2020 at 1:55 pm PDT

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A post shared by Harry Styles (@me_and_styles) on Feb 6, 2020 at 4:47 am PST