Men’s Spring/Summer 2010 Fashion Trend – All American

America, the home of Hollywood, the Statue of Liberty, baseball, Elvis, the Simpsons and errrr Britney Spears? Love it or hate it, you can’t get away from the USA and its global influence on our lives and our fashion. But rather than taking style inspiration from obvious American icons like Kanye West or George Clooney, this spring it’s all about going back to school – Stateside.

Across the pond here in blighty, we don’t go on spring break, or summer camp and our idea of football doesn‘t involve shoulder pads and cheerleaders, but the All American style has never been closer to home. Inspired by classic American sportswear this trend has a modern edgy feel, with a nostalgic nod to the 50’s that makes it stand out, particularly in the UK. It can only be described as ‘campus chic’.

So lets start with the basics. The good news is that most of you guys will already own a few of the key items and your look will start to take shape fairly quickly. Remember how your wardrobe was full of pastels, shirts, nautical tees and tailored shorts last summer? Well you can use these items as your style base. Although this is a more relaxed, casual trend it has an obvious preppy influence so your current wardrobe can be adapted to fit. Think dirty pastels, light blues and yellows for shirts, polo’s and summer knits combined with either dark denim or beige chino’s. Here are some of my tops picks from the current collections:

The reason I love the All American look so much are the stand out, high trend pieces that give you the opportunity to give this look your own stamp and an individual feel. They can be either smarted up, or toned down to suit but the most important thing is they give you the freedom to express your eccentric side. You can step up to the plate with as a jock with a baseball jacket and high tops or you can let your inner art geek shine with brown brogues and a Ralph Lauren polo:

There is so much to celebrate within British fashion right now, but one thing’s for sure this is definitely one Stateside trend worth following. As far as I’m concerned, you can keep your blockbuster movies and TV musicals because there is only one American export we’re interested in this summer – it’s now up to you guys to ensure you’re not a college drop out.