Mens Tips Money Deals Fashion Dave
"I'm just non naturally stylish."
Does that sound familiar?
Here'south the truth. Dressing well is a skill. And like any other skill, you tin can learn it and improve. Don't believe me?
Yeah, that'southward me in high schoolhouse rocking a terrible ponytail, along with spectacles that were style too small for my head.
And to flesh out the epitome, my daily outfit in loftier school consisted of:
- Plaid push button up shirts
- Amorphous jeans with ripped hems considering they were too long and I kept stepping on them
- Clunky Rockabilly shoes I institute at the mall
It wasn't until college did I offset paying attention to my mode in a serious mode. And if that kid above could learn, so can you.
In fact, you have a huge reward equally an Essential Man reader. I didn't accept a existent resource, and had to go through years of trial and mistake before I've truly learned what great way was.
Today I'm sharing with you essential way tips for guys who want to dress better.
Whether you're a complete beginner, or have been working on your fashion for a while and need a refresher, I've refined these concepts and tips over the last 11 years to help you look your best in no time.
Heads up! I put together a special beginner's bonus for this mail to assistance y'all kickstart your new way in less than 10 mins!
Download my "How Clothes Should Fit Yous" Cheatsheets. You'll learn "vesture fit" hacks that'll assist you lot find clothes that fit, cut your shopping time in half, and make you await really fucking good – fifty-fifty if yous have a "weird" body type.
Y'all tin learn these uncomplicated tricks in 10 minutes. And best of all, it's gratis! But enter your info beneath and I'll send it to you!
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1. REALIZE THAT DRESSING WELL IS A SKILL
Just like cooking or shooting costless throws, dressing well is a skill that can actually exist learned.
My job as a personal stylist isn't to buy clothes for guys and transport them on their manner. I teach men how to choose apparel that enhance them so they tin exercise it on their own. If dressing well wasn't a skill that could be taught, I'd be out of a task!
With all skills, y'all get better the more yous practice. And unless y'all live in some weirdo nudist colony (I would apologize here, but if you lot're a nudist reading this blog, you're in the wrong place), you need to go dressed everyday. That ways you have an opportunity to practise and nurture the skill of dressing well every unmarried 24-hour interval.
WHAT You lot Tin DO TODAY: Nobody is born in a perfectly tailored three-slice arrange, or with some magical intuition on how to dress well. (If you need a reminder, scroll support and look at my loftier school picture once again.) Realize that dressing well is a skill that can be adult through practise.
2. DEVELOP YOUR "EYE" BY IDENTIFYING STYLE YOU Similar
Right afterward guys tell me that they're just not "naturally stylish", it's often followed up with:
"I just don't take an eye for putting together outfits or knowing what looks good"
Here's what I tell them:
"Ok. Is there anyone who'due south style you lot call back looks good? Something you lot remember 'I'd like to dress like that', even if you don't recall you could pull information technology off. Perhaps it'south a glory, a musician, an athlete? Even a fictional grapheme. Some of my clients accept mentioned James Bond or Tony Stark before."
The guy will then listing off a ton of men he thinks dresses cool. So I like to signal out that he just debunked his own assumption that he doesn't have an "center". He simply showed me he can encounter and recognize great manner!
At present, he might non know the why yet, and that's ofttimes the reason why guys tell me they don't have an middle. Understanding why is learnable.
Only whenever y'all're working on a goal, information technology's of import to identify and claiming stories you lot tell yourself. Whether information technology's that you don't have an middle for way, yous're too busy to work out, or you're just a shy person. The stories nosotros tell ourselves are oftentimes invisible barriers to keep u.s.a. in our condolement zone.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY: Take v minutes. List out 3 or more than guys who style y'all think looks great and that is in the management y'all'd like to get. Even if y'all don't recall you can pull it off, listing it. Information technology could exist someone you know, a celebrity, or even a fictional character from a picture.
3. SOLVE 90% OF YOUR Fashion Issues BY GETTING THE Correct FIT
"F*@K Ryan Gosling!"
This is something an bodily client said to me once later seeing the motion-picture show of Ryan Gosling above.
"How the hell does he wait so cool wearing simply a t-shirt and jeans?"
The reply, my friend, is fit.
Fit is the well-nigh important thing when information technology comes to great manner. It's so important, in fact, that I tell every i of my clients "wearing clothes that fit properly will solve ninety% of your way bug."
When clothes don't fit properly, they throw off your body proportions. Considering of the excess fabric, clothes that are too big make yous not simply look sloppy, but fatter and shorter than you lot are.
Men have the tendency to wear apparel that are too big for them considering it either "feels more than comfortable", or they just don't know how clothes are supposed to fit in the starting time place.
The right fit is how someone like Ryan Gosling (or me, or you) can expect effortlessly stylish rocking a plain white t-shirt and jeans, and how someone can wait terrible in a "overnice accommodate" that probably toll 20x more.
This also means if you think you need a suit in order to look stylish, you don't!
If you're more leather jacket and jeans like me, you tin be leather jacket and jeans and look great, as long every bit you're wearing dress that fit right.
WHAT Yous Tin can DO TODAY: "How Wearing apparel Should Fit You" Cheatsheets which shows y'all my trick to mastering the perfect fit for your shirts and pants in 10 minutes.
four. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH STYLISH PEOPLE (EVEN IF Information technology'S ONLINE)
When making any modify in your life, especially something that's physical like your style, the biggest roadblock is going to be the almost surprising.
When it comes to the people effectually you now, your friends and family, your girlfriend, your coworkers, there is a high likelihood that they won't all have a positive reaction to your alter.
If you lot desire to work with me one on one equally a client, you have to agree to work with me solo. That ways your girlfriend or wife is not allowed to sit in to whatsoever of our sessions or shopping trips.
I created this rule after working with a client 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 similar that, he prefers to wear this." Essentially negating whatever advice I would give.
She was enabling his bad style.
Afterward a couple of weeks, I promptly refunded his money and created this dominion.
Change is uncomfortable for people. Information technology makes them face the reality that someone is working hard to ameliorate, and it challenges what they're doing for themselves.
One of my favorite quotes of all time is "Yous are the average of 5 people around you." Who we surround ourselves with has an extremely important impact on our deportment, behaviors, and mindsets.
This is why wealthy successful businessmen tend to exist friends with each other. It's why fit attractive Crossfitters are surrounded by fit bonny Crossfitters in Instagram pics. And it's why obese parents are more than probable to have obese kids.
When it comes to your way, that's exactly what yous need if you desire to ameliorate. Yous demand to surround yourself with people with the same goals every bit you.
WHAT You lot Tin can Practise TODAY: The simplest change you can make is to offset following stylish people on places like Instagram. Information technology'll give you a double whammy: It'll expose you to great style and give you lot some inspiration, just it'll also create an environment where dressing well is "normal". Need some stylish Instagram recommendations? Bank check out this post I wrote virtually my favorite stylish Instagrams hither.
5. FOCUS ON A CLASSIC STYLE Beginning Earlier TRYING TO DEVELOP A PERSONAL Way
A mistake people make when trying to improve their fashion is thinking they need to create an original, 100% unique personal way.
This is a classic example of what's chosen "Farthermost thinking".
Want to lose 20lbs?
"Ugh. I have to give up bread, rice, beer, alcohol, processed, meat AND have to do some crazy crossfit workout, and spend 2 hours at the gym. Forget information technology"
Want to save money for a vacation?
"That ways I accept to abolish my Netflix account, end going out on weekends, defer my student loans. I probably had to miss some credit card payments if I ever desire to have fun. That'south going to ruin my credit. I'chiliad never gonna exist able to relax on vacation now."
When you're starting to improve your manner, think of it like how chefs learn to cook:
They don't go into the kitchen thinking they need to create some amazing and original dish never seen earlier.
They learn the archetype recipes and techniques offset. Then they start adding bits and pieces of their personality and interests in to put a spin on them.
You're going to practice the exact same thing with your style.
Focus on archetype styles first, and then slowly add your own personal spin afterward.
WHAT You CAN Practice TODAY: I write about archetype styles in my "Essentials" serial, you can see all the Essentials I've written about so far past clicking hither.
six. THIS Also Means Buy CLASSIC STYLES Get-go Before DABBLING INTO TRENDS
Tell me if this sounds familiar:
You open up your cupboard. It's filled with clothes.
You lot sift through all the hangers squeezed into your cramped cupboard and think to yourself "I take nothing to wear."
So you become to the mall and purchase fifty-fifty more wearing apparel.
Then a month subsequently, the same thing happens. You have "nothing" to habiliment.
Y'all're not going crazy.
This is what I call "Panic mode shopping". You lot open your cupboard and freak out considering things are outdated, they're hard to mix, and there are and then many choices. So you lot go out and purchase more apparel and add to the problem.
It'south a savage wheel. And one of the biggest reasons for this problem is trendy clothes.
Trendy translates to what's cool now. It's what all the blogs and magazines are talking almost. It's what'southward in the stores. And because it'southward new and fresh, it's a little exciting.
Simply the large problem with whatsoever tendency is that information technology eventually dies down.
Remember how leather sweatpants were really pop a couple years agone? And what about double monk shoes before that? Or if you're old like me, trucker hats?
Trendy clothes are similar that big Summertime blockbuster that yous tin't escape.
The actors are on every talk bear witness. Commercials are playing non-stop. Posters are everywhere. But, come Fall, we've moved on.
Classics styles are similar classic movies. The Godfather. Back to the Future. Taxi Driver. They're not going anywhere.
That's the reward of archetype styles of clothes. They're time tested to look good. A leather jacket, dark bluish jeans, boots? Looked keen in the 1950s, all the same looks practiced today.
WHAT YOU CAN Practice TODAY: Start shifting your shopping habits to wait for and buy classic styles. What's the deviation betwixt something that'southward classic and trendy? How do you balance classics and trends in your wardrobe? Bank check out this post I wrote that answers that question.
seven. STAY Articulate OF GRAPHICS, LOGOS, AND WILD PRINTS (FOR Now)
Many Essential Man readers are older professionals (30+), and I often get asked "How can I look older/more mature/get taken more seriously?"
One of the ways is to stay articulate of graphics, logos, and wild prints on whatsoever kind of clothing, whether information technology's a t-shirt, sweater, or god forbid, pants.
Whenever you wear a logo or graphic t-shirt, you lot either look similar yous're in college, or are y'all're on your way to a UFC fight. (Don't get me incorrect, I'm a HUGE MMA fan. But there is a certain manner that goes with it.)
I'm not opposed to logos and graphic t-shirts as office of a solid wardrobe, but when you're starting out, going solid colors is going to make y'all look 10x more than mature and serious.
WHAT YOU CAN Do TODAY: Solid colors and graphic/logo-less dress brand you look more refined and mature. The bang-up matter is that this change is a unproblematic bandy. Replace your graphic t-shirts and clothes with solid versions, like with the examples above.
8. STICK TO SOLID NEUTRAL COLORS
Every man's wardrobe should be based effectually neutral colors.
What are neutral colors?
They're colors that aren't overpowering. Because they're not overpowering they hands mix with each other. Powerful colors like a neon green and orange? Pretty difficult to work with.
If your wardrobe is all neutral colors, you don't need to know "how to mix and match colors". A neutral color wardrobe is essentially self-working!
Hither's the other thing: You've probably already been dressing in mostly neutral colors without even knowing it.
Neutral colors are white, black, navy, olive, greyness, khaki, dark-brown
What I dearest well-nigh neutral colors, aside from it being self working, is that it's a very masculine color palette. It makes you await refined, serious, and put together. It also provides the perfect properties when you want to beginning introducing more color to your wardrobe.
WHAT YOU Can DO TODAY: I recommend a ratio of 3:ane when it comes to solid neutrals and non-neutral colors. Take 10 minutes check your closet. Exercise you have more than non-neutrals, graphics and pattern apparel than solid neutrals? Make a notation to start balancing it out to striking a 3:i ratio.
9. TO QUICKLY Empathize QUALITY, Go HANDS ON
Why are some cashmere sweaters $100, and other $one,500? Is the $ane,500 one really 15x better?
Are higher quality apparel "worth it"?
No doubt these questions have crossed your heed. And my reply is…
It depends.
It'due south hard to makeanything good for a low cost. Whether that'southward a pair of jeans, a laptop, or a steak dinner at home. When you lot have a express budget to work with, there has to exist some compromises.
There'southward an supposition that because college quality or designer dress are expensive, "you're getting ripped off" as a client. You'll sometimes read guys on blogs and forums proclaim you're just "paying for the marketing costs"
I can tell you having worked 11 years every bit a menswear designer, information technology's simply not really true.
Improve materials, amend construction, and amend pattern toll more to brand, then it costs more for yous to buy.
A perfect case: Cheap jacket zippers can be depression equally $0.50 a zipper. They're light, can exist frustrating to utilize and, of course, break easily.
When I was making leather jackets, I was using loftier end RiRi zippers. They're heftier and nearly impossible to break. When you cipher upwards your jacket, it was buttery smoothen.
The downside? They can sometimes cost as much as $20 per attachment for me as a designer. That means by the fourth dimension the jacket hits yous in the stores, that single $xx zipper adds $sixty to the price of the jacket thanks to a standard 3x markup.
That's not marketing, that's math.
But it's hard for you to grasp how much better that zipper or $1,500 cashmere sweater is without trying it. The same way I tin tell you one of the best meals I've ever had cost $220, per person ,no thing how well I depict it, you can't truly understand until y'all take a bite.
WHAT Yous Can DO TODAY:Go to a store that you would consider out of your budget. A identify that might fifty-fifty be uncomfortably expensive for you. You don't take to buy anything. Merely walk around, touch the clothes. Maybe fifty-fifty endeavour something on. Brand mental note of how things fit, experience, and how you feel wearing it. Then go to a fast fashion shop like Zara or H&M and try similar items on. Brand note of what's different and what's similar. Anything surprising?
10. Buy THE Best QUALITY YOU Tin FOR YOUR Budget
This leads united states of america to the question, how much should yous spend on clothes?
Elementary: My recommendation to all my clients is to buy the best quality that fits in their budget.
If you lot're making mid half-dozen-figures a year, and then a $200 pair of jeans might non be a big bargain. Simply if $200 is barely what you lot make a day, there are enough of dandy options at lower prices.
WHAT Yous Tin Practice TODAY:To start, I ever recommend J.Crew. They're in virtually every major city, are classic with a touch on of trend, and they have solid prices. For more store recommendations, bank check out my post "Where I personally shop (and what I become there)"
xi. Save TIME IN THE DRESSING ROOM USING THE "PULL three" Fox
Whenever I'yard out shopping, I always see people pulling 1 size, and so going back and forth from the showroom to the dressing room.
Information technology drives me crazy! It'due south such a waste of time.
Imagine cooking a meal at dwelling house where you took out one ingredient at a time from the fridge.
I'm going to prove you how to cut your shopping fourth dimension in half with one fob.
When you're pulling clothes to try on in the dressing room, "Pull 3" of the same detail:
- I in the size you lot recall you are
- One size up
- One size down
And so if you're shopping for jeans and you think you lot're a 33, pull a 32 and a 34 and accept all three to the dressing room. Information technology saves you a couple trips, and is a scrap of insurance in case it's a new cut or the brand changed their sizing.
WHAT YOU Can DO TODAY:Use the "Pull 3" trick when you're out shopping
12. Employ "THE SWAP Play a joke on" TO GRADUALLY Footstep OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE
There'southward no change without stepping outside of your comfort zone.
But it doesn't have to be terrifying.
I teach my clients what I call "The Swap Trick". It'south a way of introducing something into your wardrobe – a new trendy slice, a new color they thought they could never vesture, or an particular of clothing they never considered before – gradually.
Here's how it works.
Remember of it like trying out hot sauces. You lot wouldn't get from a mild hotsauce straight to a super hot ghost pepper sauce. You would endeavor something slightly hotter than the last and work your way up.
It's the same matter when you're trying something new with your style. You probably don't want to jump from a black leather jacket to a neon green one. The adjacent step up would probably exist a brown leather jacket.
Hither'south some other example:
You lot want to beginning wearing more colors and patterns for summer.
I'll beginning with an piece of cake outfit: linen oxford shirt, navy lounge pants, sunglasses, white sneakers. The color palette,while perfectly fine, feels a little boring and safe. And then allow's swap out the shirt for something a picayune more than colorful. We can become two means, a brighter color, or a blueprint/print.
Even though the choice of a light blue shirt isn't so crazy, yous tin already meet information technology feels a lot more colorful than the outfit nosotros started with. With the print, it's even better and more in the spirit of summer.
But notice how one simple swap can change the entire mood of the outfit! This is really the key to starting to habiliment more color. You don't accept to wear a lot to burnish upwards your look.
As a starting recommendation, I always propose to starting time with only one swap per phase. When you lot go more comfortable with wearing some color and patterns, have it a step further.
Each fourth dimension, swap out ane more particular in your look for something a bit brighter and colorful. The great thing is, if you feel similar y'all went overboard, yous can always pull it back a level or two and nonetheless take a great outfit.
WHAT You lot Tin Practise TODAY: Think about something you wanted to add to your style that yous're nervous near. How could you suspension information technology down and gradually innovate it into your wardrobe using "The Swap Trick"? If you need a specific instance on how to use The Swap Fox for something like trends, check out this post I wrote on Effortless Gent.
13. YOU DON'T START WITH CONFIDENCE, Yous BUILD IT
Recall about when you first started learning how to drive a car.
You were probably terrified.
You were pretty sure within the first 10 seconds of hitting the road, you lot were going to crash.
Yous weren't confident. Notwithstanding, equally you kept driving, your conviction grew. Driving got easier. At present yous illegally Snapchat on your phone while sipping your coffee and playing with the radio as you steer with your knee, and still get piece of work in ane piece.
It'due south the same with your style.
You lot don't demand to kickoff with confidence to better your way. Your confidence grows as you work to improve your style.
Just like with driving, the more than you exercise information technology, the easier it gets.
WHAT YOU Tin can DO TODAY: Start with one outfit. Merely 1. Use the advice in the previous tips – stick with neutral colored, classic styles that fit well. Yous're going to look and feel great. That quick win is important. Now employ that feeling to keep going. Then, read the side by side tip to learn my favorite play a joke on to help yous build conviction even faster.
14. USE MY FAVORITE TECHNIQUE TO FEEL MORE CONFIDENT IN A NEW OUTFIT
This is a nifty technique to apply in conjunction with The Swap Trick, and is a KILLER hack for a kickoff date. In fact, it's something I used when I commencement started dating my current girlfriend.
Whenever you lot take a appointment (or a conference, interview, or speaking consequence): Wear the outfit you're going to clothing to appointment for an entire twenty-four hours before the engagement.
Even if it's a dressy outfit. Go most your day like it's whatsoever other day. Become coffee. Get grocery shopping. Go to work.
What you're substantially doing is "breaking in" the outfit. Getting yourself used to wearing it.
I started doing this because I noticed that when I would dress up for a date, even if information technology'southward clothes I've had for years, I would always feel uncomfortable during the date. I'd feel self-witting. I'd fidget a lot.
Then one mean solar day I had schedule a appointment right after work, since I had no fourth dimension to go home and change, I wore my date outfit to piece of work. By the time the date rolled around, I had spent an entire day in my date outfit and felt relaxed.
WHAT You lot Can Do TODAY: Whether it's a new jacket you got or an entire outfit for a date, break it in by wearing it around to practise errands. Got a last minute date or outcome and can't spare an entire twenty-four hour period? I've found fifty-fifty wearing the outfit for a few hours before helps.
Need some date outfit ideas? Bank check out this post: "A cute woman lets you know how to clothes (and what to practice) on a first date"
15. SEEK THE Help AND ADVICE OF EXPERTS
According to Mint, I spent $7,360 concluding yr on books, courses, and consultants to assistance me improve my business organisation, my skills like writing, and general knowledge in topics I'm interested in like philosophy.
Information technology sounds like a lot, but ask yourself this question: What'due south the price of bad advice?
Imagine you're a CEO of a company and y'all have a marketing budget of $25k. You lot read some advice from marketing forums filled with anonymous writers. You decide to have some of the advice and information technology turns out to exist bad. Now you lot're out $25k. All of a sudden, a $7k investment in an top expert seems like a steal.
How many months, even years, will you waste post-obit bad advice when information technology comes to your fitness routine? Your finances? Your way?
This tweet from Amy Hoy sums it up perfectly:
When it comes to learning how to dress, there are TONS of options. From way blogs, Instagrams, Reddit, and Youtube channels.
Some dish out great communication. Most are filled with guys who like to shop and like to talk about it online.
When it comes to fashion communication, it can be tricky to filter out the good from the bad.
As someone that's been doing this for over eleven years, I know how way advice can be challenging to teach. Telling someone what to purchase isn't the same equally teaching them how to take nifty mode. The aforementioned way a cook telling you to buy ingredients doesn't help you learn the technique.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY: Whenever you read advice online, always consider the source. Do they dress well? More important, is information technology a style you want to adopt? If they are a stylist or have products, how do their clients and readers look? Skilful, or terrible? Do they have a background in manner or style, or are they "a regular guy just like you!"
Once you discover an expert y'all've vetted. Yous have two options:
- Pay for their advice
This is the fastest way to larn. Whether that's a book they've written, a grade they've created, or hiring them for one-on-in one case. And while this is the fastest, this is also the more costly pick. This is my personal preferred way to acquire because my fourth dimension is express. I can e'er make money back, only one affair I tin't make dorsum is my fourth dimension. - Attain out to them via electronic mail for advice
On the flip side, this selection is "complimentary", but is going to take more than time on your finish. Before you accomplish out to an expert for advice, make sure you practice your homework. Experts are often decorated people. Make certain you search if they answered the questions you want to inquire before. Skim through their blogs, Twitter, check if they've been interviewed on a podcast or magazine. If you can't observe the answer you're looking for, only then should you consider reaching out to them. For that, I highly recommend reading this post: "How to get the attention of your favorite skillful"
16. Learn TO TAKE IT SERIOUSLY Plenty NOT TO Take IT Besides SERIOUSLY (AKA Accept FUN, Information technology'S Merely CLOTHES)
I have a confession to make: I don't read mode blogs.
Shocker, right?
Sure, I skim sites like Hypebeast and Gear Patrol to see what's new, but when it comes to blogs, forums, news most the industry, I stay clear. Why?
Well, for one thing, a lot of it's really tedious. It also doesn't help me with my job.
I do a lot of research when it comes to learning the pains men have when information technology comes to their style. I often come across forums where guys are endlessly debating selvedge denim vs non-selvedge, having long discussions nearly the "death of original style", and share their theories on what "DESIGNER Ten" was trying to say with his latest collection.
One thing I realized later I went from designing menswear to becoming a individual personal stylist: I've learned to have it seriously enough not to take it too seriously.
Yes, dandy manner can truly affect your life. I've seen it offset manus.
Ameliorate way tin brand you lot go taken more seriously in your job. It can make you an unforgettable brand. And yes! It volition brand you more attractive! (What adult female doesn't desire a well dressed, successful man?)
But the last thing I want you to do is spend hours on forums debating about clothes. I'd rather you put on an astonishing new outfit (you lot learned thanks to me, of form), become out and alive your life. Shell it at your chore. Go on an amazing date.
Have fun.
Because if you aren't having fun dressing ameliorate, information technology'southward not going to terminal very long.
HAVING AMAZING STYLE IS EASIER THAN YOU Recall
To sum it up, brand certain you:
- Purchase dress that fit – It will solve ninety% of your way problems
- Focus on the classics first – classics are classics for a reason. They're fourth dimension tested essentials that look good on every guy.
- Stick to a neutral colour palette – Neutrals automatically mix with each other, so you don't have to worry about mixing colors. They make you expect professional and masculine, and when you're gear up to innovate more color into your wardrobe, they serve as the perfect backdrop
- Have fun
Want to kickstart your new fashion in the next 10 mins?
Download my "How Dress Should Fit Yous" Cheatsheets. You'll learn "article of clothing fit" hacks that'll assist you find clothes that fit, cut your shopping fourth dimension in one-half, and make you look actually fucking good – even if you have a "weird" body blazon
You lot tin larn these uncomplicated tricks in 10 minutes. And all-time of all, it'south free! Just enter your info below and I'll send information technology to you lot.
Success! Check your email for your bonus!
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