Menswear (sometimes written "Menswe@r") were a short-lived Britpop band in the mid 1990s from Camden in London. They signed their record deal after their fifth gig and were paid £500,000 as a publishing deal by Island when they had only written 7 songs.
They were featured in a Select article about the mod revival when the project was still purely in the imaginations of Chris Gentry and Johnny Dean. They later appeared on the cover of Melody Maker before they had released any material. Their dress sense was Mod (tight fitting suits etc) whilst their music was influenced by both Blur's second album Modern Life Is Rubbish and Elastica.
They generated so much publicity that they appeared on Top of the Pops a week before their first single had even been released. This made them the first band to appear on the show without releasing a record. Their first single "I'll Manage Somehow" was a limited release and a minor hit. Their second single "Daydreamer" peaked at number 14 in the UK charts.
On the one hand, the band was criticised by the British music press for allegedly having success based on good-looks and charm rather than musical talent. On the other, this helped Menswear appeal to readers of both the NME and Smash Hits.
The band released their debut album Nuisance in 1995. Menswear played at the Glastonbury Festival the same year and released another single "Stardust" at the end of 1995. It reached the top thirty, as did follow-up single "Sleeping In". A fifth single, "Being Brave" gave them their first and only top ten hit.
As the popularity of Britpop faded, so did that of Menswear. They released a second album Hay Tiempo! in 1998 - but it was only available in Japan. It was rumoured that Menswear would remerge under another brand, and return to their dance music / boy band roots.
One guitarist, Simon White, went on to manage the bands Bloc Party, Engineers, Fields, and is also the UK manager for Les Savy Fav. The other, Chris Gentry, is now managing Clocks, who have recently signed to Island Records, and is playing guitar for Ali Love, who recently had an NME Single of the Week with the song K-Hole. Drummer Matt Everett went on to work on the news team at London radio station Xfm.
