The main feature that drove people to admire the Balmain jacket on Justin Bieber at the Met Gala was the black and gold fabric with dragons which really ignited people's senses. The ball was paying tribute to a Chinese theme, the name escapes me, and by far Bieber's jacket stole the show beyond the traditional tuxedos, white tie and creative black tie ensembles worn by other men. It even trumped Hamish Bowles' wonderful traditional smoking jacket which did look a little oversized on his slender frame.
But something didn't sit right on Bieber and it was only when I found this image on the countless ones loaded onto Google overnight that I noticed what it was. The jacket was cut too short - in that way that those young Italian boys that turn up to Pitti cut their jackets to the top of their jeans. It kind of works if you are taking a street wear approach, which is I imagine what Olivier Rousteing from Balmain was most likely edging towards but to my mind by doing this it suffers from a direct contradiction in terms of the cloth used. The embroidered dragons, which I assume are done over a black velvet base, lends itself more to a sweeping and flowing jacket than to something which frankly looks cut off from it's natural finish. To my mind the jacket should have at least been cut to the mid thigh to allow the flair of the fabric and to allow for the repeat to flow.
This has also been coupled with another faux pas of younger men, which is that the shirt sleeves are cut too short and to not show past the sleeve end of the jacket. A certain amount of sleeve cuff showing through would have also looked a little more elegant rather than seeing that lovely ornate fabric meet immediately the contrast of skin.
So, my advice for Bieber - cut your shirt sleeves and your jackets a little longer unless you want to look like a sartorial kid all your life.
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