6 May 2015

A Crash Course on Men's Style and Clothing

by u/champagnehouse

The /r/GetSuave Principles of Dressing

1. It is better to slightly overdress than slightly underdress. An overdressed man looks like he just got from somewhere, or is going somewhere. An underdressed man always looks out of place.

The more you make a habit of dressing well, the more comfortable you’ll feel wearing collars, buttons, and form-fitting clothes.

2. Dressing well is not optional for a suave man. Clothing is under your direct control, so there’s no excuse not to look your best. Consider our inspiration: Ocean’s Eleven movies, James Bond movies–you will never find these people underdressed for the occasion. Style is a major part of presenting your best foot forward to the world, and it’s not an optional piece of the puzzle if you want to be as suave as you possibly can.

Introduction

Ever see the movie “Crazy. Stupid. Love”?

Steve Carrell’s middle-aged father character is cuckolded, sent into divorce, and has to face the life of a single man. The problem is, he has basically no dating skills, having married his high school sweetheart.

With the help of Ryan Gosling’s character, he changes all that. He learns how to talk to women, yes, but the change is also visual. He completely changes the way he dresses.

Consider how he starts off.

If you didn’t know that was Steve Carrell, and were simply asked to make a few assumptions about that guy based off of his clothes, what would you say? “Dad.” “Frumpy.” “Probably has an average job.” “Goes on vacation once a year, at places like Sandals.” “Has two-three kids.” “Probably isn’t down for an adventure.”

But on paper, it’s just jeans and a polo shirt. Ubiquitous, right? On paper, it’s a stylish look. So why the hell does he look so damn frumpy? A few things.

Fit. The polo’s too big - you can tell by how the shoulder seams fall down his arm and how the waist drops down past his ass. The jeans are big and billowy, too.
Wardrobe choices. Yeah, it’s a polo shirt, which can work. But everything about it is off and screams “I’m a domesticated dad” rather than “I’m a suave gentleman who will always be suave.”
Shoes. Ankle-down, Steve Carrell is dressed for the gym, while Ryan Gosling is dressed to impress.

Focusing almost exclusively on these three items is enough to completely change the way people perceive you. Fit, wardrobe choices, shoes.

Now look at how Steve Carrell ends up. If this wasn’t Steve Carrell playing a movie character, you would probably look at that picture and have about fifty different assumptions. “He’s a jet-setter.” “He has a lot of money in the bank.” “He may be a bit of a womanizer, or his wife is gorgeous.” “He looks like he’d be fun to talk to.” “He looks important, powerful even.” “He drives a nice car.”

A few simple purchases and his vibe has totally changed. Lesson? It doesn’t cost a million bucks to look like a million bucks. So let’s learn how.

Fit

“Fit, fit, fit” is to style as “location, location, location” is to real estate.

I won’t re-invent the wheel here. The fastest way you can learn about fit is Shujun’s Comprehensive Fit Guide over at /r/malefashionadvice. There’s a lot of subtlety in that post, so defer to his judgments. But here are some key takeaways:

Know how an item should fit before trying it on. When you buy a pair of jeans, make sure it fits like this before you keep them. If you’re buying online, try to learn your sizes so you can buy right the first time–and make sure that you’re buying from a reputable place with a solid return policy, because you should be returning clothes that don’t fit.
Generally, billowing is a sign that it’s too large. Steve Carrell’s outfit is textbook “too big” because of all the billowing–the way the fabric gets wavy because there’s way too much of it and it stacks up on itself. Sometimes, you can go for billowing–such in in the hem of your jeans–but that’s a little too subtle if you’re just starting out.
When in doubt, get measured by a tailor. If you want to buy online, go get measured by a tailor and ask him to write down all of the relevant dimensions. You can then click through various “fit guides” in online shops to see what size works best. There may be some experimenting you have to do in order to find the brands that generally do you the best justice.
If you’re fat, lose weight. It’s entirely possible to look stylish while simultaneously carrying extra weight, but let’s face it: clothes are designed to fit most snugly and comfortably on normal-sized people. Take solace in the fact that one of the many rewards of losing weight is that “clothes fit better.”

Wardrobe Choices

First, read the basic wardrobe guides at /r/malefashionadvice - once again, they’ve done most of the work for me. I’m just going to whittle it down and explain some essential versatile items that every man should own.

Shirts

Remember our principle: it’s always better to slightly overdress than slightly underdress. I’m not even going to make T-shirt recommendations; all that’s really required is that they fit. As a newly-found suave man, you should basically only be wearing T-shirts around the house and to work out.
Polos. The suave man’s T-shirt, a T-shirt with a collar. Stores like Uniqlo have simple, stylish polos that are a step above the Target variety, and for completely reasonable prices. Here’s James Bond rocking a polo for inspiration.
Button-downs. Patterns like Madras and Gingham are fine, but there’s nothing more versatile than one of these bad boys, the Oxford Cloth Button Down (OCBD). If it fits, it’s instant style. Note that /r/malefashionadvice calls button-downs of all types “casual through business casual.” In other words, you can wear these all the freaking time, paired just about anything from shorts to jeans to chinos to suits. Generally white and light blue have the most versatility. The white option should be considered your staple.
Sweaters/sweatshirts/pullovers. To layer and add insulation in cooler months, use your OCBD or other button down to provide the collar for this kind of look. There are V-neck and standard/crewneck options. Choose whatever you like. I recommend Uniqlo for sweatshirts–they have a really classic texture and look that can be dressed up with a collar.
Blazers/sportcoats. The navy blazer is extremely versatile, and looks great over a white OCBD. In fact it has its own subreddit, /r/navyblazer, which has its own guide on navy blazers. If you’re going to invest in one item that will change your wardrobe entirely, I think it’s a toss-up between the OCBD, a navy blazer, or maybe a good pair of versatile shoes. As you grow into your wardrobe, you can add tan, grey, etc.

Pants

Shorts can look great–they shouldn’t be too long and shouldn’t have cargo pockets. MaleFashionAdvice once again makes my life easier with a visual guide.
Jeans should be dark, with high-quality denim. You saw an example before. They’re easy to find. You can buy a quality pair of Levi’s on Amazon in just about any old size–I recommend the “Rinse” or “Clean Fume” look. You can pull of light blue jeans, of course…but it’s safer to stick with dark if you’re reading this guide.
Chinos are what a lot of men grow up calling “khakis.” Khaki is a typical chino color, but you can buy them in just about any color. Avoid pleated chinos. Ryan Gosling “Crazy. Stupid. Love” says “you’re better than the Gap” but you can find some nice ones there. Also, check out how they dress their models–a lot of online shops can also serve as outfit inspiration.

Shoes

Talk about a post in and of itself. There are different shoes (and boots) for all seasons. Let’s handle three basic “temperatures,” if you will: beach, city, and snowy countryside.

Boat shoes are a casual option just about anywhere. Zappos has tons of selections (in fact, Zappos is great for all things shoes.) Brown tends to be the most versatile, but blue is good too. If you don’t want boat shoes, the casual option tends to be low-top canvas sneakers.
Chukka boots like Clark’s in beeswax or brown or tan are about as versatile as anything you could put under your jeans and chinos. Suede bucks are a great alternative that serve essentially the same purpose.
Winter boots can be anything from Bean Boots to Red Wings. Chippewa is another nice brand.

Note on shoes: unless you’re wearing pants, you should either wear no-show socks or go sockless. Shoes, shorts, and showing socks are considered a big no-no.

Socks

It’s the little details that make you a step above casually-dressed and “suave.” Once again, /r/malefashionadvice makes my life easier with their sock guide.

Notes and Resources

Is this a final, comprehensive guide? No. You can get far down the rabbit hole when it comes to men’s style. It’s just a basic introduction for having the right items in your wardrobe that allow you to up your casual dressing game from “schlub” to “sharp.”