Bros in fashion

MANILA, Philippines - If a woman ran into another woman in a similar dress at a party, she could do one of two things: acknowledge the unfortunate coincidence with a joke or run to the bathroom for a quick adjustment  the latter is usually not an option. We’re talking about women here; the first to adjust loses! But in the case of Bradley Cooper and Gerard Butler who wore matching powder blue suits to Wimbledon last week, it seemed to have been a welcome coincidence (which led to their bro-hood being broadcast across the web).

Cooper, who wore a cotton Hugo by Boss suit, and Butler, who wore a similar linen Boss by Hugo Boss suit, even snapped a selfie in the stands. The result was a now-immortalized photo that prompted Gerry to say, “I don’t go on the Internet so I don’t know what (a ‘selfie’) is.” In another story in marieclaire.co.uk, he sort of explained what happened: “Bradley and I are friends. (The matching outfits) was coincidence. It was a little embarrassing…. We gave each other a hug, then looked down and went, ‘Oh, shit.’” They seemed to have gotten over it pretty quickly, though, as seen in photos of the two that have surfaced all over the web –– Bradley and Gerry laughing, Bradley and Gerry hugging it out, Bradley and Gerry watching the match when they’re not busy being BFFs.

We live in a world where men care about the width of their ties, the direction of their collars, the color of their socks, the way their pants hug their butts. Men now have a heightened sixth sense — fashion sense — and it’s resulting in more “who-wore-it-better” moments for them. The bromance factor adds adorableness. I mean, two hot men dressing alike and taking selfies? Almost as cute as infant pandas sneezing. And there seemed to be no douchery involved, too. They just seemed to be having a great time, unknowingly stealing the spotlight from…who was playing again?

But now I have to ask our male readers: Would you wear matching outfits with your best bro? Justin Bieber and Jaden Smith did it, and though they are smaller, younger, have higher-pitched voices and, come to think of it, better abs than Cooper and Butler, their matchy-matchy play date didn’t quite trend around the web. It’s just cuter when it’s unplanned and the people involved a little bit humiliated.

I guess it’s the same way for men as it is with women: you hang out often enough, you end up appreciating the same things. You read the same books, watch the same movies, shop at the same store, and it’s only a matter of time before you start looking alike.

Here at the office, some of the boys dress alike –– not the T-shirt and jeans boys (of course they dress alike), but our bagets Young Star boys. I don’t think they meant to, but they all once came to work in matching tropical-print shirts. Another time, they were all wearing bomber jackets. And always, always with man-shoes sans socks. They also take selfies whenever this happens –– I think it’s one of the unspoken rules of modern society. When matching, keep calm and take a picture.

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