Teaching Men Fashion Shopping Plug in
"I'1000 just not naturally stylish."
Does that sound familiar?
Here's the truth. Dressing well is a skill. And like any other skill, y'all tin larn it and amend. Don't believe me?
Yep, that's me in high school rocking a terrible ponytail, along with spectacles that were way too small-scale for my head.
And to mankind out the paradigm, my daily outfit in high school consisted of:
- Plaid button up shirts
- Amorphous jeans with ripped hems because they were too long and I kept stepping on them
- Clunky Rockabilly shoes I establish at the mall
It wasn't until college did I start paying attending to my style in a serious way. And if that kid above could acquire, so can y'all.
In fact, you take a huge advantage equally an Essential Homo reader. I didn't have a existent resource, and had to get through years of trial and error before I've truly learned what not bad style was.
Today I'm sharing with you lot essential style tips for guys who want to dress better.
Whether you're a complete beginner, or have been working on your style for a while and need a refresher, I've refined these concepts and tips over the last 11 years to help yous look your best in no time.
Heads up! I put together a special beginner'due south bonus for this post to help you lot kickstart your new style in less than 10 mins!
Download my "How Clothes Should Fit You" Cheatsheets. You lot'll acquire "article of clothing fit" hacks that'll help yous find clothes that fit, cutting your shopping time in half, and make yous look really fucking good – even if you have a "weird" trunk type.
You lot can learn these simple tricks in ten minutes. And all-time of all, it's gratis! Simply enter your info below and I'll send information technology to y'all!
Success! Check your email for your bonus!
1. REALIZE THAT DRESSING WELL IS A SKILL
Just like cooking or shooting free throws, dressing well is a skill that tin can actually exist learned.
My chore as a personal stylist isn't to buy dress for guys and send them on their way. I teach men how to choose apparel that enhance them so they tin can do it on their own. If dressing well wasn't a skill that could be taught, I'd be out of a chore!
With all skills, you get better the more you practise. And unless you live in some weirdo nudist colony (I would apologize here, but if you're a nudist reading this weblog, yous're in the incorrect place), you lot need to get dressed everyday. That ways you accept an opportunity to practice and nurture the skill of dressing well every single day.
WHAT Y'all CAN DO TODAY: Nobody is born in a perfectly tailored 3-piece suit, or with some magical intuition on how to wearing apparel well. (If you lot need a reminder, scroll back up and look at my high school moving picture again.) Realize that dressing well is a skill that tin be developed through practice.
2. DEVELOP YOUR "Middle" BY IDENTIFYING Manner YOU LIKE
Right afterwards guys tell me that they're merely not "naturally stylish", information technology's often followed upwardly with:
"I just don't accept an heart for putting together outfits or knowing what looks skillful"
Here's what I tell them:
"Ok. Is there anyone who's mode yous call up looks good? Something you lot think 'I'd like to apparel like that', even if you don't recall you could pull it off. Peradventure information technology'southward a glory, a musician, an athlete? Even a fictional character. Some of my clients have mentioned James Bail or Tony Stark before."
The guy will and then listing off a ton of men he thinks dresses cool. And so I similar to point out that he merely debunked his own assumption that he doesn't have an "eye". He just showed me he tin can see and recognize bully fashion!
Now, he might not know the why yet, and that's frequently the reason why guys tell me they don't have an heart. Agreement why is learnable.
Just whenever you lot're working on a goal, information technology's important to identify and challenge stories you tell yourself. Whether it's that you don't have an eye for manner, you're as well busy to work out, or yous're but a shy person. The stories we tell ourselves are often invisible barriers to keep us in our condolement zone.
WHAT YOU Tin can DO TODAY: Take v minutes. Listing out 3 or more guys who style y'all retrieve looks great and that is in the direction you'd similar to go. Even if you don't think you can pull it off, list it. It could be someone you lot know, a celebrity, or even a fictional character from a movie.
3. SOLVE 90% OF YOUR STYLE Issues By GETTING THE RIGHT FIT
"F*@K Ryan Gosling!"
This is something an actual client said to me once afterwards seeing the moving picture of Ryan Gosling to a higher place.
"How the hell does he expect then absurd wearing but a t-shirt and jeans?"
The respond, my friend, is fit.
Fit is the well-nigh important matter when information technology comes to great manner. It's so important, in fact, that I tell every 1 of my clients "wearing clothes that fit properly will solve 90% of your fashion issues."
When clothes don't fit properly, they throw off your body proportions. Because of the excess textile, clothes that are also large brand you not merely look sloppy, but fatter and shorter than you are.
Men have the tendency to wear clothes that are too large for them considering it either "feels more comfortable", or they merely don't know how dress are supposed to fit in the first identify.
The correct fit is how someone similar Ryan Gosling (or me, or you) can look effortlessly stylish rocking a apparently white t-shirt and jeans, and how someone can await terrible in a "dainty suit" that probably price 20x more.
This also means if y'all think you demand a suit in lodge to look stylish, you don't!
If yous're more leather jacket and jeans similar me, you lot can exist leather jacket and jeans and look great, equally long equally you're wearing dress that fit correct.
WHAT Yous CAN DO TODAY: "How Clothes Should Fit You lot" Cheatsheets which shows you my pull a fast one on to mastering the perfect fit for your shirts and pants in x minutes.
4. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH STYLISH PEOPLE (EVEN IF IT'S ONLINE)
When making any change in your life, peculiarly something that's physical similar your manner, the biggest roadblock is going to be the most surprising.
When information technology comes to the people around y'all now, your friends and family unit, your girlfriend, your coworkers, there is a high likelihood that they won't all have a positive reaction to your modify.
If you desire to work with me one on i every bit a client, you have to agree to work with me solo. That ways your girlfriend or married woman is not allowed to sit in to any of our sessions or shopping trips.
I created this rule subsequently working with a customer whose wife insisted she sit in in our styling sessions. She would give me feedback on every single piece of advice I'd give. Her notes and comments amounted to "He doesn't like that, he prefers to wear this." Essentially negating any advice I would give.
She was enabling his bad style.
After a couple of weeks, I promptly refunded his coin and created this rule.
Change is uncomfortable for people. It makes them face the reality that someone is working hard to improve, and it challenges what they're doing for themselves.
One of my favorite quotes of all fourth dimension is "Yous are the boilerplate of 5 people around you." Who we surround ourselves with has an extremely important touch on on our actions, behaviors, and mindsets.
This is why wealthy successful businessmen tend to exist friends with each other. Information technology'south why fit attractive Crossfitters are surrounded by fit attractive Crossfitters in Instagram pics. And it's why obese parents are more probable to have obese kids.
When it comes to your style, that's exactly what you lot demand if you want to improve. You need to surround yourself with people with the aforementioned goals as you.
WHAT Y'all Tin can Do TODAY: The simplest change you can make is to start following stylish people on places like Instagram. It'll give you lot a double whammy: It'll betrayal y'all to nifty style and requite yous some inspiration, but information technology'll also create an environment where dressing well is "normal". Need some stylish Instagram recommendations? Bank check out this post I wrote about my favorite stylish Instagrams here.
5. FOCUS ON A CLASSIC STYLE FIRST BEFORE TRYING TO DEVELOP A PERSONAL Mode
A mistake people make when trying to improve their style is thinking they demand to create an original, 100% unique personal mode.
This is a classic case of what'southward called "Farthermost thinking".
Want to lose 20lbs?
"Ugh. I have to requite up breadstuff, rice, beer, alcohol, candy, meat AND take to practice some crazy crossfit workout, and spend ii hours at the gym. Forget it"
Want to save money for a holiday?
"That means I have to cancel my Netflix account, stop going out on weekends, defer my pupil loans. I probably had to miss some credit card payments if I always want to have fun. That'southward going to ruin my credit. I'm never gonna be able to relax on vacation now."
When yous're starting to improve your manner, remember of it like how chefs learn to cook:
They don't become into the kitchen thinking they need to create some astonishing and original dish never seen before.
They larn the classic recipes and techniques first. So they start calculation bits and pieces of their personality and interests in to put a spin on them.
You're going to do the verbal same affair with your way.
Focus on classic styles first, and so slowly add your own personal spin later.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY: I write about classic styles in my "Essentials" series, you can encounter all the Essentials I've written well-nigh so far by clicking here.
6. THIS As well Ways Buy Classic STYLES Starting time Before DABBLING INTO TRENDS
Tell me if this sounds familiar:
You open your closet. It'south filled with clothes.
Yous sift through all the hangers squeezed into your cramped closet and think to yourself "I have nothing to wear."
And then you go to the mall and buy even more clothes.
Then a month later, the same affair happens. Yous accept "goose egg" to wear.
You're not going crazy.
This is what I call "Panic style shopping". You open your closet and freak out because things are outdated, they're hard to mix, and there are and so many choices. And so you lot become out and purchase more apparel and add together to the problem.
Information technology'due south a vicious cycle. And i of the biggest reasons for this problem is trendy clothes.
Trendy translates to what's absurd now. It's what all the blogs and magazines are talking about. It's what'due south in the stores. And considering it's new and fresh, it's a little exciting.
But the big problem with any tendency is that information technology eventually dies down.
Remember how leather sweatpants were really popular a couple years agone? And what well-nigh double monk shoes before that? Or if yous're old like me, trucker hats?
Trendy clothes are like that big Summer blockbuster that you lot tin can't escape.
The actors are on every talk show. Commercials are playing non-terminate. Posters are everywhere. But, come up Fall, nosotros've moved on.
Classics styles are like classic movies. The Godfather. Back to the Future. Taxi Driver. They're not going anywhere.
That's the advantage of classic styles of apparel. They're time tested to look proficient. A leather jacket, dark blue jeans, boots? Looked great in the 1950s, still looks good today.
WHAT Yous CAN DO TODAY: First shifting your shopping habits to look for and buy classic styles. What'south the difference between something that's classic and trendy? How do you residue classics and trends in your wardrobe? Cheque out this post I wrote that answers that question.
7. STAY CLEAR OF GRAPHICS, LOGOS, AND WILD PRINTS (FOR Now)
Many Essential Man readers are older professionals (30+), and I often go asked "How can I look older/more than mature/go taken more seriously?"
One of the means is to stay clear of graphics, logos, and wild prints on any kind of clothing, whether it's a t-shirt, sweater, or god foreclose, pants.
Whenever y'all article of clothing a logo or graphic t-shirt, you either await like you're in college, or are y'all're on your way to a UFC fight. (Don't get me wrong, I'm a HUGE MMA fan. Just there is a certain manner that goes with it.)
I'm not opposed to logos and graphic t-shirts every bit office of a solid wardrobe, but when y'all're starting out, going solid colors is going to make you wait 10x more mature and serious.
WHAT Yous Can DO TODAY: Solid colors and graphic/logo-less clothes make you lot wait more refined and mature. The corking thing is that this change is a simple swap. Replace your graphic t-shirts and clothes with solid versions, like with the examples in a higher place.
viii. STICK TO SOLID NEUTRAL COLORS
Every human's wardrobe should be based around neutral colors.
What are neutral colors?
They're colors that aren't overpowering. Because they're not overpowering they easily mix with each other. Powerful colors like a neon green and orange? Pretty hard to work with.
If your wardrobe is all neutral colors, yous don't need to know "how to mix and match colors". A neutral color wardrobe is essentially self-working!
Here'south the other thing: You lot've probably already been dressing in mostly neutral colors without fifty-fifty knowing it.
Neutral colors are white, blackness, navy, olive, grey, khaki, brown
What I dearest about neutral colors, aside from it being self working, is that it's a very masculine colour palette. It makes you lot look refined, serious, and put together. It also provides the perfect backdrop when you desire to start introducing more color to your wardrobe.
WHAT YOU Tin can DO TODAY: I recommend a ratio of 3:ane when information technology comes to solid neutrals and non-neutral colors. Accept 10 minutes check your closet. Do you have more not-neutrals, graphics and pattern dress than solid neutrals? Make a note to start balancing it out to hit a iii:1 ratio.
9. TO QUICKLY Sympathize QUALITY, GET Easily ON
Why are some cashmere sweaters $100, and other $1,500? Is the $1,500 one actually 15x improve?
Are higher quality clothes "worth it"?
No doubt these questions have crossed your listen. And my respond is…
It depends.
It's difficult to makeanything good for a low price. Whether that's a pair of jeans, a laptop, or a steak dinner at dwelling. When you take a limited budget to work with, there has to be some compromises.
There's an assumption that considering higher quality or designer clothes are expensive, "you're getting ripped off" as a customer. You'll sometimes read guys on blogs and forums proclaim yous're only "paying for the marketing costs"
I tin tell you having worked 11 years as a menswear designer, information technology's just not really true.
Meliorate materials, better construction, and meliorate design cost more to make, so information technology costs more for you to buy.
A perfect instance: Cheap jacket zippers can exist low equally $0.50 a zipper. They're light, tin be frustrating to use and, of form, interruption easily.
When I was making leather jackets, I was using high end RiRi zippers. They're heftier and nearly impossible to suspension. When you nothing upwardly your jacket, it was buttery smooth.
The downside? They tin sometimes cost as much equally $20 per attachment for me as a designer. That means by the time the jacket hits you lot in the stores, that unmarried $xx zipper adds $sixty to the cost of the jacket thanks to a standard 3x markup.
That'due south not marketing, that's math.
Simply information technology's difficult for you to grasp how much better that zipper or $1,500 cashmere sweater is without trying it. The aforementioned way I can tell you one of the best meals I've ever had cost $220, per person ,no matter how well I draw it, you can't truly empathise until you take a bite.
WHAT YOU CAN Practise TODAY:Get to a store that y'all would consider out of your budget. A place that might even exist uncomfortably expensive for you. You lot don't have to buy anything. Just walk around, impact the clothes. Maybe fifty-fifty try something on. Make mental annotation of how things fit, feel, and how yous feel wearing it. So go to a fast style store like Zara or H&M and try like items on. Brand notation of what's dissimilar and what's similar. Annihilation surprising?
10. Purchase THE All-time QUALITY YOU Can FOR YOUR BUDGET
This leads us to the question, how much should you spend on clothes?
Simple: My recommendation to all my clients is to purchase the all-time quality that fits in their budget.
If yous're making mid vi-figures a year, then a $200 pair of jeans might non be a large deal. But if $200 is barely what you make a day, at that place are enough of great options at lower prices.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY:To start, I always recommend J.Crew. They're in almost every major city, are classic with a touch on of trend, and they have solid prices. For more store recommendations, check out my post "Where I personally shop (and what I get there)"
xi. SAVE TIME IN THE DRESSING ROOM USING THE "PULL 3" Trick
Whenever I'm out shopping, I e'er come across people pulling ane size, then going dorsum and forth from the showroom to the dressing room.
It drives me crazy! It'south such a waste material of time.
Imagine cooking a meal at home where you took out ane ingredient at a fourth dimension from the refrigerator.
I'm going to show you how to cut your shopping time in half with one flim-flam.
When you're pulling apparel to try on in the dressing room, "Pull iii" of the same detail:
- One in the size you think y'all are
- One size up
- One size downward
So if you're shopping for jeans and you lot recollect you're a 33, pull a 32 and a 34 and take all three to the dressing room. It saves you a couple trips, and is a bit of insurance in case it'south a new cut or the brand changed their sizing.
WHAT Y'all Can Do TODAY:Use the "Pull 3" trick when you lot're out shopping
12. USE "THE SWAP Fob" TO GRADUALLY Pace OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE
There'due south no change without stepping outside of your comfort zone.
But it doesn't have to be terrifying.
I teach my clients what I telephone call "The Bandy Trick". It'due south a manner of introducing something into your wardrobe – a new trendy slice, a new color they thought they could never wear, or an item of clothing they never considered before – gradually.
Here's how information technology works.
Think of it like trying out hot sauces. You lot wouldn't go from a mild hotsauce straight to a super hot ghost pepper sauce. Yous would endeavour something slightly hotter than the last and work your way upward.
Information technology's the same thing when y'all're trying something new with your style. You lot probably don't want to jump from a black leather jacket to a neon light-green one. The next footstep upwardly would probably be a brown leather jacket.
Here's another example:
You desire to commencement wearing more colors and patterns for summertime.
I'll outset with an piece of cake outfit: linen oxford shirt, navy lounge pants, sunglasses, white sneakers. The color palette,while perfectly fine, feels a picayune boring and prophylactic. And so let's swap out the shirt for something a little more colorful. We tin get two ways, a brighter colour, or a design/print.
Fifty-fifty though the choice of a calorie-free blueish shirt isn't then crazy, y'all tin already see it feels a lot more than colorful than the outfit nosotros started with. With the impress, information technology'southward even better and more than in the spirit of summer.
But notice how 1 uncomplicated swap can change the entire mood of the outfit! This is really the key to starting to vesture more color. You lot don't have to vesture a lot to brighten up your look.
Equally a starting recommendation, I always advise to offset with just one swap per phase. When you get more comfy with wearing some color and patterns, have it a step further.
Each fourth dimension, swap out ane more particular in your await for something a scrap brighter and colorful. The great thing is, if you experience like yous went overboard, you can ever pull it dorsum a level or two and still take a great outfit.
WHAT YOU Tin DO TODAY: Think about something yous wanted to add together to your style that you lot're nervous about. How could you break it down and gradually introduce it into your wardrobe using "The Swap Trick"? If yous need a specific example on how to use The Bandy Trick for something like trends, check out this postal service I wrote on Effortless Gent.
13. YOU DON'T First WITH Conviction, You lot BUILD IT
Call back about when you first started learning how to drive a car.
You were probably terrified.
You were pretty certain inside the first 10 seconds of hit the road, yous were going to crash.
You weren't confident. Yet, as yous kept driving, your confidence grew. Driving got easier. Now you illegally Snapchat on your telephone while sipping your coffee and playing with the radio as you steer with your articulatio genus, and still get work in 1 slice.
It'south the aforementioned with your way.
You don't need to start with confidence to improve your style. Your conviction grows as you lot work to improve your style.
Just like with driving, the more yous exercise it, the easier information technology gets.
WHAT YOU CAN Practise TODAY: Kickoff with i outfit. Just one. Use the advice in the previous tips – stick with neutral colored, classic styles that fit well. You're going to look and experience slap-up. That quick win is important. At present use that feeling to keep going. Then, read the side by side tip to learn my favorite fob to help you build confidence even faster.
14. Utilise MY FAVORITE TECHNIQUE TO FEEL More than CONFIDENT IN A NEW OUTFIT
This is a great technique to use in conjunction with The Swap Play a trick on, and is a KILLER hack for a starting time date. In fact, it's something I used when I outset started dating my current girlfriend.
Whenever y'all have a engagement (or a briefing, interview, or speaking event): Wear the outfit you're going to wear to date for an entire day before the date.
Fifty-fifty if it'south a dressy outfit. Become about your day like it'south whatsoever other day. Get java. Go grocery shopping. Go to work.
What you're essentially doing is "breaking in" the outfit. Getting yourself used to wearing it.
I started doing this considering I noticed that when I would wearing apparel up for a engagement, even if it's clothes I've had for years, I would e'er feel uncomfortable during the date. I'd feel self-conscious. I'd fidget a lot.
Then one day I had schedule a engagement right subsequently work, since I had no fourth dimension to go home and change, I wore my appointment outfit to piece of work. By the time the appointment rolled around, I had spent an entire day in my date outfit and felt relaxed.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY: Whether it's a new jacket you got or an entire outfit for a date, intermission information technology in by wearing information technology effectually to do errands. Got a final minute date or event and can't spare an entire twenty-four hours? I've found even wearing the outfit for a few hours before helps.
Demand some appointment outfit ideas? Check out this post: "A beautiful woman lets y'all know how to apparel (and what to do) on a first date"
xv. SEEK THE Aid AND Communication OF EXPERTS
According to Mint, I spent $7,360 terminal year on books, courses, and consultants to assist me amend my business, my skills similar writing, and general cognition in topics I'k interested in like philosophy.
It sounds like a lot, but inquire yourself this question: What's the toll of bad advice?
Imagine you're a CEO of a company and you have a marketing budget of $25k. You read some advice from marketing forums filled with anonymous writers. You decide to accept some of the communication and it turns out to exist bad. At present you're out $25k. Suddenly, a $7k investment in an peak skillful seems like a steal.
How many months, fifty-fifty years, will y'all waste product following bad advice when information technology comes to your fettle routine? Your finances? Your style?
This tweet from Amy Hoy sums information technology upwards perfectly:
When it comes to learning how to dress, there are TONS of options. From style blogs, Instagrams, Reddit, and Youtube channels.
Some dish out groovy advice. Most are filled with guys who similar to store and like to talk nigh it online.
When it comes to style advice, it tin be tricky to filter out the good from the bad.
As someone that's been doing this for over xi years, I know how fashion advice can be challenging to teach. Telling someone what to purchase isn't the same as teaching them how to have great style. The same way a cook telling you lot to buy ingredients doesn't help you larn the technique.
WHAT Y'all Can DO TODAY: Whenever you read advice online, e'er consider the source. Exercise they dress well? More than important, is it a way you want to prefer? If they are a stylist or have products, how do their clients and readers await? Good, or terrible? Do they accept a background in manner or style, or are they "a regular guy merely similar yous!"
Once you find an expert you've vetted. You have ii options:
- Pay for their advice
This is the fastest way to learn. Whether that's a volume they've written, a course they've created, or hiring them for one-on-1 time. And while this is the fastest, this is likewise the more costly pick. This is my personal preferred way to learn because my time is limited. I can always make coin dorsum, merely one affair I tin can't make back is my time. - Accomplish out to them via e-postal service for advice
On the flip side, this selection is "complimentary", but is going to take more time on your end. Earlier you reach out to an skillful for advice, make sure you practise your homework. Experts are often busy people. Make sure you search if they answered the questions you want to ask before. Skim through their blogs, Twitter, check if they've been interviewed on a podcast or mag. If you lot can't find the answer you're looking for, just and so should yous consider reaching out to them. For that, I highly recommend reading this post: "How to get the attention of your favorite practiced"
xvi. LEARN TO Accept IT SERIOUSLY Plenty NOT TO Accept IT TOO SERIOUSLY (AKA Take FUN, IT'Southward JUST Dress)
I accept a confession to make: I don't read mode blogs.
Shocker, correct?
Certain, I skim sites similar Hypebeast and Gear Patrol to encounter what'due south new, but when it comes to blogs, forums, news about the industry, I stay clear. Why?
Well, for ane thing, a lot of it's actually boring. It also doesn't aid me with my job.
I practice a lot of research when information technology comes to learning the pains men take when it comes to their style. I frequently come up across forums where guys are endlessly debating selvedge denim vs non-selvedge, having long discussions almost the "death of original style", and share their theories on what "DESIGNER 10" was trying to say with his latest collection.
1 thing I realized after I went from designing menswear to becoming a individual personal stylist: I've learned to take it seriously enough not to take it also seriously.
Yes, peachy style tin can truly bear on your life. I've seen it showtime mitt.
Ameliorate way can make you lot go taken more seriously in your task. Information technology can make you an unforgettable brand. And aye! It will make you more than bonny! (What woman doesn't want a well dressed, successful man?)
But the last affair I want you to do is spend hours on forums debating about clothes. I'd rather you lot put on an astonishing new outfit (you learned thanks to me, of form), go out and alive your life. Crush information technology at your chore. Become on an amazing appointment.
Have fun.
Because if you aren't having fun dressing better, it'south not going to terminal very long.
HAVING Amazing Manner IS EASIER THAN Y'all Think
To sum it up, make sure you:
- Buy dress that fit – It will solve 90% of your mode issues
- Focus on the classics first – classics are classics for a reason. They're fourth dimension tested essentials that look practiced on every guy.
- Stick to a neutral color palette – Neutrals automatically mix with each other, then you don't take to worry about mixing colors. They make you wait professional and masculine, and when y'all're ready to introduce more than colour into your wardrobe, they serve as the perfect properties
- Have fun
Want to kickstart your new fashion in the next ten mins?
Download my "How Clothes Should Fit You lot" Cheatsheets. Yous'll larn "wearable fit" hacks that'll help yous find clothes that fit, cut your shopping fourth dimension in one-half, and brand you expect really fucking good – even if yous have a "weird" body type
Y'all tin learn these elementary tricks in 10 minutes. And best of all, it's free! Just enter your info below and I'll send information technology to you.
Success! Check your e-mail for your bonus!
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