I understand that I’m engaging in the cardinal sin here – expressing intent to explicitly guide men’s dress when there should be as few rules as possible to allow for individualistic creativity and expression. With that said, however, I believe the below are items most of us should pay attention to when forming our own little fashion worlds:
Casual wear
1. Every man should have several pairs of great sneakers. Be adventurous – get them in different colors, and ideally have one that is not a standard color – get one bright green / orange / red pair of sneakers!
2. Every man should have a few polo’s in his closet – Lacoste or not, get a few polo’s.
3. Well fitted jeans and well fitted clothes. Sure, baggy clothing looked great in high school – here’s an idea…drop it! Nothing speaks to style the way well fitted clothes do. If your skinny, sure, get tighter clothes if you feel like it. If your bigger built, tight fitted jeans won’t look particularly good, but well fitted jeans definitely will.
4. Buy a good pair of shades.
5. Have a few great sweaters for the winter – V necks to wear over a casual long sleeve shirt on a date always look smart in the winter.
6. Rolling up your sleeves over your sweater always look smart if done well.
7. Buy a pair of loafers. They can pretty much go with anything resembling smart-casual.
Formal wear
1. Tailor made suits and a few shirts are a must have! Have them fit snug. Tapered around the shoulders and towards your waist / hips. With workable buttons preferably.
2. Have your shirt length tailored 1/8th of an inch longer than your suit sleeve length. Nothing attests to a tailor made clothing outfit like a shirt that just ever so slightly tucks out from under the suit sleeve!
3. Have a selection of a few great ties. Assuming you have recently bought your suit (and hence narrower lapels), go for a narrower tie – doesn’t have to be a skinny tie, but not the throwback grandpa ties from the 60′s. Ideally, get a selection that consists of both woven and printed silk ties – that way you can keep it serious and mix it up with the whimsical when you choose to take the edge off of the occasion! 3 1/4 inches is the standard these days. Always wear them so the tip is just at your belt. And learn to mix and match colors and patterns with your suits and shirts!
4. When you tie your ties – try a half or full windsor. Nothing like a great knot.
5. For suits, buy a great pair of black and brown leather shoes with laces.
6. Get a belt with a great buckle.
7. Avoid pocket squares unless you really need them – that, or if you are trying to pull a rabbit out of a hat!
8. For Blazers, button the top button. For a two-button suit, button the top button. If it’s if a three-button suit, button the middle one. Unless its a double-breasted jacket, always unbutton your jacket when sitting down!
9. Avoid double breasted suits!
So that is it! If you feel we are missing out any points on casual and formal wear fashion, please share your suggestions with us.
Filed under: General dress, Helping Ladies dress Men Tagged: Bespoke shirts, bespoke suits, Casual, Clothing, Double-breasted, full-windsor knot, half-windsor knot, Lacoste, Men's casual wear guidelines, Men's formal wear guidelines, Shirt, Smart casual, suits, tailor made shirts, tailor made suits, well fitted clothes
