For most men, pulling off a fashion forward look is a mysterious and slightly heretical dark art. Sure, it's OK when Kanye West wants to wear a bandit scarf, but when a dude shows up at a bar with a goofy bandanna on, he just gets funny looks and people snickering at him behind his back. Here's another specifically male ego-sensitive fashion dilemma: is a popped collar really ever a good look for the average joe? If so, when and how?

Just so we're on the same page here, you have to realize that most men would like to look cool, yet would really hate it if people thought they were looking cool by any other means than sheer accident. Think 'I just woke up today, and my collar was all messed up and I went with it.' The effort to look fashionable must be concealed. The inspiration for this question is a letter to WSJ's fashion guru (WSJ has a fashion guru?) where a guy asks:

"Should I wear the collar of my leather jacket or blazer turned up? It seems a little pretentious, but women I know say that it looks more stylish that way. What do you think?"

That pretty much sums up the feelings of a lot of guys about a lot of trendy styles that they're a little bit insecure about. Basically: 'will I get laughed at?' The trusty style guru then rattles off a few of the notables who popped their collar -- Marlo Brando, James Dean, René Lacoste, etc. -- then lists a few of the benefits: it makes your neck look longer if you have a fat neck. Awesome.

Once again, those guys are famous movie and fashion stars ... and this guy wants to know if it would look pretentious if he was poppin' his collar. So, what's the public opinion on this? Is pulling it off a fine art? Or is it pretty much douchey no matter who's doing it?

[via Gawker]