The hipster style that blurs sartorial definitions of gay and straight is about the soft power of modern masculinity, echoing androgynous trends in their female counterparts.

Black and white contrasts, for instance are common to both sexes, so are florals and sporting motifs.

0 of 3

The youthful male silhouette may be a narrow one, but for summer the lines are more fluid and fabrics more easygoing. Blue – in all its tones – continues to be the colour of choice, but pink is drifting in there too, w hile other colours also infiltrate.

Today’s stylish urbanites have taken to tweed, winter and summer, a heri tage look carried off in a different way, such as the yellow Magee tweed jacket worn here with pale blue jeans and a grey waistcoat.

“It’s more about aligning the right shirt in a more tapered shape with jackets that are more deconstructed,” says Valerie O’Neill, menswear buyer at Arnotts, who points to slim-fit chinos, textured knitwear and “lapel interests” – pins and mock fishing flies – as popular accessories, along with pork pie hats, waistcoats and pocket squares.

Key influencers are rappers such as Tinie Tempah, famous in fashion terms for nailing today’s smart casual look, his rolled up trousers and low cut t-shirts revamping the standard jacket and jeans combination.

O’Neill cites Irish style leaders such as TV presenters Eoghan McDermott and Dermot O’Leary as sharp dressers and thinks the Gaelic footballer Bernard Brogan “quite snappy” in his choice of gear.

These photos, taken on the East Pier in Howth, show how to get a “relaxed look” through layering, colour and a hint of vintage, enlivened with striped shirts or a bright sweater and polished off with well-chosen finishing points such as zany socks, silk scarves in soft pastels, not forgetting those manly shirt braces.