Drapes for Real Men references the traditions of textile and its functional and domestic associations, utilising printing to embellish the textile surface. The resulting textiles celebrate the handmade product but with an agenda, the content undermining the traditional expectations of what is pattern and the adornment of a domestic retreat. In this case every 'real man's' home is his bunker.

Dorothy Pauli writes that "Drapes for Real Men take on one of the most problematic aspects of Western economic success with a clear indictment of the arms industry, second only to drug dealing in terms of the profits it generates. His works then are personal reflections not only on the havoc caused by first world weapons used in third world conflicts, but also on the pursuit of profit at any price. In too many places the moral fabric of capitalism and the social structures it supports has frayed to the point of disintegration, the lure of wealth and power being too hard to resist."

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Michael Reed's art practice is printmaking based. He has a MFA from the University of Canterbury and teaches Printmaking at the School of Art & Design, Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology.