Ponchos for Men -- YEA or NAY?

Readers, I have never been a fan of the poncho.

I remember ponchos as a 70's fad.  They looked a lot like the patterns below, which, along with Nehru jackets, were about as counterculture as the Big 4 pattern companies ever got.  Naturally, given the times, many of these poncho patterns were unisex.  In those days, if you really loved each other, you wore the same clothes.





 



Today, ponchos are generally made for rain protection or to stay warm at the stadium: one step up from a Snuggie, but only just.

Is that a poncho in your pouch or are you just glad to see me?

But wait -- are you sitting down?

I ask, because it seems that designers are pushing ponchos (and their near-identical cousins, the cape and sofa throw shawl) as fashion once again.

Why now, I wonder.  Why at all?













Readers, I ask you: are ponchos to be avoided, or are these fabric hogs something you want to see on the man you love -- or even on yourself?  Would you ever sew one? 

Are ponchos, ultimately, yet another example of fashion that works only for people who -- let's be real here -- would look good in a tablecloth.  (And in a poncho, they basically do.)

Ponchos for men -- YEA or NAY?