Style Superlatives: Complex's 2011 Fashion Awards

Another year has flown by and menswear has had its gigantic triumphs and epic fails. We've seen the highs and lows. We laughed, we cried, we cried while laughing. We took field trips to trade shows and international fashion weeks. We stood in single-file lines outside of Supreme and H&M, waiting with bated breath for buzzed-about collaborations to drop. We saw rappers in women's jeggings and pop stars in underground designer gear. We even ranked the year's 25 Best Men's Style Brands.

There are way too many trends, collections, bloggers, and all-around fails too remember, but there are some things that have etched themselves into our brains like the lyrics to "N**gas In Paris" after the ninth consecutive performance. 2011 did the damn thing and we want you to reminisce with us — yearbook style — as we go through our Style Superlatives: Complex's 2011 Fashion Awards.

This year's most prominent street style photographer is responsible for many of the year's most memorable moments in style, and if this award was given based on the number of reblogs and retweets, then Tommy would still be the clear winner. And even though his blog Jak & Jil took a bit of a hiatus due to his growing commercial portfolio, he recently relaunched it with a new look, and a noticeable upgrade in the quality of his photos. It was as if he sensed his presence in the blogosphere was slipping, so he did it just to remind us all who's really got the game on lock.

When these Don C. creations came on the scene earlier this year, they had every other dude asking "who makes those?" Debuting on the dome of Kanye West, the Just Don caps rode the same wave of hype as the Watch The Throne album, even making an appearance in one of the most talked about videos of the year.

Whether it was authentic snakeskin details, the $400 pricetag, or the inner-circle flicks of various rappers rockin' the latest versions, these pimped-out Mitchell & Ness hats were one of the most covetable accessories of the year. They even spawned similar (and more affordable) styles from The Genesis Project and New Era. Snapback back.

We know this is a tough pill for many YMCMB fans to swallow, and we love Weezy as much as the next hashtag rap enthusiast, but, like, was he serious with these pants? When we broke the news that the pants Lil Wayne wore to the VMA's in August were in fact women's jeggings, all hell broke loose. They're tight, they're white, and they're 100% ridiculous. Despite being a top candidate for the "WTFYW of the Year" award, we knew he would bounce back and put these behind him (and hopefully burn them), but we have no doubt this won't be Wayne's last foray into animal print abuse.

The boot tuck is a disgusting menswear trend. Too often styled lookbooks and collection presentations feature this affected lower leg flair, and unfortunately, the trend has caught and now runs rampant in the streets. Unless you're wading through flood waters, let's let the pants fall as they may in 2012, and resist the urger to tuck pant hems into boots. This trend has seen enough.

Photos of bearded men, sleeping children, and breakfast foods. The odd mix of objects sounds like a potential serial killer's tumblr feed, but it actually comprises the weirdest lookbook of the year, thanks to Stussy Deluxe. Father and son Mark and Tyrone Lebon shot the brand's fall collection, capturing some of the awesome pieces, and threw in some of their weird-ass home photos because, you know, lookbooks can't just be about the clothes anymore.

Wristwear in general was at an all-time high this year, but the woven bracelet was the most popular by far. Whether guys adopted the "Kanye at Coachella" look and piled on the Burkman Brothers bracelet, or opted to go the luxury route with a few from Michael Saiger's Miansai line, it seems these accessories signified the dudes who took the Internet seriously versus the ones who didn't really care.

The colorful accesories essentially acted as your entry into the bearded, buttoned-up, side-parted club that is menswear blogging. These neon wrist chokers were easy to spot a mile away, and usually paired with a nylon NATO watch strap, and most likely a J. Crew Timex watch.

Basically, Dockers brought in some of the best designers on the planet, as deemed by the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and made one of the coolest collections around. The all-star line up featured GQ's 2011 Best Menswear Designer Alexander Wang, and runners-up Patrik Ervell, Michael Bastian, Riviera Club, Miller's Oath, and Warriors of Radness. The capsule collection not only made the often cost-prohibitive duds of the designers more accessible to regular guys, but this new, style-conscious image helped turn Dockers into the best brand of 2011.

So, uh... how many people saw this collab coming? We're going to go ahead and guess none of you — unless you work in the corporate office at Restoration Hardware or in the Schott NYC factory. It's like the frumpy design nerd hooked up with the rebellious loner, and somehow, we got a pretty sweet leather café racer jacket. Who knew they had it in 'em?

All it took was one line and everyone asked the proverbial question: "What's that jacket? Margiela?" The label rapped 'round the world has been on Gucci-level on shout outs this year. Even new kids on the block like A$AP Rocky co-signed the mysterious European design house. But rappers aren't just name-dropping Maison Martin Margiela, as you've seen Jay rocking the label's luxury sneakers courtside, while Swizz Beats brought the Belgian heat out on the streets. Shit, you even have a G like Andy Garcia rocking your kicks. That's when you know you're hype.

Inspired by history and well-made objects of the past, the ATL brand manages to still put out forward-thinking pieces that are informed by the notion of timeless style while still remaining relevant, not costumey. Their workwear-meets-streetwear aesthetic means you can rock gear like chore jackets and camo without looking like you're ready for the railroad or a hunting excursion. Couple their solid outerwear with a complementary line of denim, simple buttondowns, and a look that remains classy while completely untucked, and Strivers Row gathers up the accolades while remaining 100% dedicated to their grind.