You imagine the thought process for a John Galliano show going something like, “Let’s do Charlie Chaplin and Luchino Visconti on the sands of the Lido!” The references are usually groaners  and it doesn’t much matter since the results come out the same. Still, this time, Mr. Galliano’s mix of undersize jackets and oversize pants  low in the crotch and at the waist and held up with suspenders  made a sharp impression.

BUT men are having a hard time, as Hanna Rosin observed in an article in the current issue of The Atlantic, its tag line, “How women are taking control  of everything.” Men are wimping out, in the example of Judd Apatow’s chronic adolescent characters, or being mowed down by Beyoncé and Lady Gaga.

Image Yves Saint Laurent. Credit... Valerio Mezzanotti for The New York Times

You sensed a little of this problem at the shows, and it was not a pretty sight. Stefano Pilati, the Saint Laurent designer, reverted to a drowsy Paul Bowles sexuality, with delicate young men in even more delicate-looking knits and high-waist shorts that rippled over skinny legs. If you saw a guy with a little fez tipped over his brow, what would you think? How fast can he set up my chair by the pool?

I wanted to like Riccardo Tisci’s laces for the Givenchy man. I really did. There was something interesting about the mock Victorian elegance he seemed to be working, without the reliance on literal references. And there’s a footballer’s bulk to his silhouette, which is at least a consistent point of view for him. And I certainly have no gripe with his skirts, which are actually shorts with a flap in front. Shorts that suggest skirts were a trend of the collections. Rather, my problem with Mr. Tisci’s clothes is that his process seems too heavy-handed, without enough perspective and finesse that might make the results just a little more real.

Buyers praised what Nickelson Wooster, the men’s fashion director of Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman, called “the crisper, cleaned-up look” of clothes, a shift from washed fabrics. The amount of white in the collections  at Raf Simons, Hermès, Ann Demeulemeester  added to the fresher look. Mr. Wooster also liked the trend of sleeveless jackets and tops; it was a big theme at Lanvin, Dior, Rick Owens and Mr. Simons, who opened with a sleeveless scubalike jacket zipped over full white cotton trousers.