For many men, the idea of putting together a head-to-toe outfit that both coordinates yet also makes a style statement and embodies their personality can be beyond challenging. However, with just a little work, forward-planning, and increased awareness of what works and what doesn’t, you too could soon be effortlessly pulling off your own unique look.
Discover your style and look
No matter how uncomfortable you are with buying clothes or thinking about putting together outfits, all men have a sense of their style to at least some degree. Whether it’s just dressing casually for a night out or putting together something more formal for, say, an important business meeting or a date, we all know how it feels to catch a glimpse of ourselves in a mirror and sense that great feeling of knowing we’re looking our best.
While it’s sometimes easy to consider fashion and accessorizing to be just the preserve of women, when you think about it, we all have a clear idea of our own identity and how we want to be perceived. From the sporty guy that wants to be seen as being fit by wearing workout clothes to the businessman that aims to turn heads in a tailored suit, most of us have a pretty clear concept of the look we want to project at any given particular time.
The key is awareness
While we apparently live in an all-accepting, non-judgmental society, the fact remains that first impressions count, and everyone- inadvertently or otherwise – makes judgments on appearances every day. Sure, you might argue that you have a much more open mind, but psychology shows that physical appearance, non-verbal communication, and clothing all contribute to our overall impression of a person.
The importance of appearance in an age of social media
Since they first appeared around 15-20 years ago, social media channels have changed our impression of the world – and made us significantly more self-aware and awake to the places and people around us.
Indeed, social media and smartphones gave rise to an entirely new phenomenon and coined an original term – ‘the selfie’ – as well as other fashion-oriented words like ‘influencer’. In fact, it could easily be argued that social media has made finding your look more important than ever.
Tips to help refine your look and find your style
Below are some tips that could help you discover the look that best suits you and expresses your style and personality:
First and foremost, dress for you:
There’s little point trying to be something you’re not as it’ll just make you feel uneasy and uncomfortable – and that will do nothing for your confidence levels. Rather, think about the person you are, your lifestyle, your goals, and aspirations, then choose the best outfits that express these ideas. Also, remember that these styles should vary depending on what you’re doing, e.g., the look you go for relaxing at the weekend probably won’t transfer that well into an office setting.
Think practical:
Remember clothing – while undoubtedly sending a message – still needs to be functional for you. For example, there’s little point in investing in a wardrobe of three-piece suits if you prefer to wear more casual clothes and live in a good pair of jeans. The same can be said if you have a very physical job. For practical reasons, you’ll be wanting to work in older clothes that you’re not worried about getting ruined. That’s not to say you shouldn’t own a suit or two – but to get the most use out of your clothing, you might be better choosing items that are more suited to your lifestyle.
Realize that dressing well and finding your look might take time:
Just like every other area of life, the more you do something, the better you’ll get at it, so accept you might make some mistakes along the way. Understanding color theory and what patterns or designs go well together won’t happen overnight – but the more you expose yourself to this kind of material and thinking, the quicker you’ll start to pick up hints and skills that you can use to find the clothes that work best for you.
Understand that accessories matter:
Clothing is just one part of achieving your overall look and one of the easiest and cheapest ways to make a style statement without breaking the bank is to think about accessorizing your outfits. Try thinking about relatively simple items like watches, socks, belts, or Titanium Rings that could add that extra something to even the plainest of outfits and help you stand out with your unique style.
Buy quality:
Sure, it’s possible to pick up bargains sometimes, but when they’re put side by side, you can pretty much always tell the difference between quality clothing and lower-end items. As a rule, you should try to buy the best quality clothing you can afford as it will almost always fit better and feature better quality tailoring, manufacturing, and shaping. For example, hold up a fitted designer suit next to one bought from a supermarket, and you’ll instantly see differences in the design, quality of materials, stitching, and shape profile. Unless you’re buying in the sales, spending a little more on your clothes will almost always mean higher caliber and condition.
Work out your size and buy the appropriate fit:
No matter how much you spend buying top-quality clothes, if they’re not the right size, they’re always going to look bad and will almost make you feel like you borrowed someone else’s wardrobe. As a starter, you should get yourself properly sized – either by a professional tailor, or you could also measure your dimensions yourself with a basic tape measure. Remember, poorly fitted clothing can have the knock-on effect of altering your dimensions and body proportions – for example, by making you appear shorter, taller, heavier, or thinner. Also, bear in mind men sometimes buy sizes larger than they need in an attempt to appear broader or more heavily built – which often ends up with clothes achieving the complete opposite and hanging off the torso.
Avoid blindly following trends:
We live in a media-rich world where we’re surrounded by advertising and imagery every day. However, while our phones, laptops, and televisions might be pushing fashion ideas on us endlessly, it’s important to realize that some looks will suit you, whereas others could likely look terrible for your particular shape or body dimensions. Just blindly following current fashions is unlikely to work – plus could end up resulting in some truly horrendous fashion disasters. For example, if you’re carrying a few extra pounds, you might want to think about a more relaxed fit in your jeans rather than the current super skinny style that’s so on-trend.
If you want versatility, build from neutral:
While it can be tempting to pick loud, garish colors, you should aim to have a range of base neutral clothes in your wardrobe, which you can then accentuate with more ‘out-there’ items. This approach will give you greater flexibility and mean you can put together a much wider range of looks.
Read more: Best and Beautiful Easter Outfits For Teenage Girls
