Men’s Style file: Update your look

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A clean, well fitted shirt and pant combo with a belt, socks and shoes is no longer considered your ‘Sunday Best’. As a grown man everyday is an ‘occasion’. Plus, we love it when you make the effort to look like you belong to someone when we are are out with you.

You don’t have to shell out our life’s earnings to update your look – understand that you can spend a lot of money and still look cheap. So in the event that you are going to purchase something new anyway, after all Christmas is around the corner and we all have a little shindig or two to attend, do keep the following pointers in mind and slowly update your look.

If you already know how to don that lavender argyle socks, with your pin-striped, navy, light-weight wool suit to match that cleverly placed, lavender flex in your patterned tie, this article is way too basic for you.

 

Head-to-Toe Men’s Style guide.

Hair
Keep the cut fresh.
If your hair is streaked, locked, moussed, gelled or otherwise has some length to it, keep it clean.
Attend to all other hair that requires grooming. See Manscaping

Tees
If you must wear, (beach, pool, grocery run), then keep them sensible. 
Donate all slogan tees; You are way past college frat boy. Anything that makes reference to your ‘tools’, ‘mother’ and/ or ‘last night’ for example, and especially, in the same sentence, needs to be destroyed. 

Do opt for crisp casual button ups or lightweight short sleeved shirts instead. Don’t unbutton shirts too far so that all your ‘sexy’ chest hair is exposed. That’s worse than slogan tees.

Dress Shirts 
Ensure good fit around the neck and correct sleeve length. Opt for shirts that fit – not too baggy and not smedium.
Keep it simple, you can never go wrong with plain colours. Or change up your look with a pin-striped or a simple one colour cross-hatched design (looks like small squares standing side by side)
Busy patterns, block colour, polka dots can all sit down, they just draw attention to your either your gut, your age, or poor fashion sense and take away from your dashing good looks or personality.
Denim shirts and multi-coloured vintage plaids will extrapolate your age.
Don’t roll. If you want your sleeves short, then purchase short sleeved shirts.
Resist the urge to don baggy multi-coloured tropical shirts when you travel. Don’t believe the hype, the ‘natives’ don’t wear ‘em. 

Neck ties
Do have fun when selecting ties, from subtle patterns to medium abstract print designs.
Do opt for one point of focus though, i.e. pair plain colored ties with printed dress shirts or patterned ties with plain shirt
For the uber sexy formal look match dress shirt  color with tie colour. MMmmmmm nice.
Do opt for medium to slim ties and keep the knot brief. Avoid skinny and very thick wide ties. If you are plump in the midsection go with the medium sized tie.

Stay away from Disney characters, obscene graphics, skulls.

Sweaters
Look for updated lightweight V-necked sweaters or the updated male cardigan.
Do avoid christmas/ holiday sweaters, the Cosby Sweater and your grandfather’s cardigan. If you want to be festive you can can always get a sweater in the colour of the season like burnt orange for Thanksgiving or deep green/ red for Christmas. We aren’t trying to dampen the festivities, we just want people to speak with you.

Jackets/ Blazer
Do invest in a quality neutral blazer (which will work well with most pant, shirt combos) in grey or navy for example, and keep simple. No busy patterns.
Stick to suitable weight of wool, wool-blend jackets/ blazers/ suits. 

Tuxedos/ Suits
Fit, fit, fit is key. 
Avoid shiny fabrics and crushed velvet.
Avoid too many buttons on your suit. The standard is two buttons for a casual look and three for more formal looks.

Pants
Fit, fit, fit is key. Smedium pants look untidy and make your friends uncomfortable. If you’ve outgrown your trousers either hit the gym hard or invest in a bigger size. Choose one quickly.
Hook up with a tailor to get the right pant length and make sure that the fit is otherwise on point. 

Plaid pants, regardless of design and designer, look like jammies. 

Update your look by opting for flat front pants.

Jeans
Dark washes work well for a dressier more sophisticated, yet casual look.
Do opt for flat front straight legged khakis over jeans for casual Friday’s if you want your superiors to consider you for that promotion. Remember that a pair of jeans, no matter how well crafted, is always considered  a casual look.
Likewise, do opt for khaki over denim shorts  

Leave the ultra faded and highly distressed (with holes) look for the kids.
No flare or bootcut jeans. They just make you look silly or short, respectively. Straight cut is the most flattering. 

Shoes & belt
Invest in a good, solid pair of leather dress shoes. Yes men’s shoes are expensive but you don’t need many, for most men two pairs is a good start. 
A black pair is considered the standard if you tend to wear mainly black as well as it’s the go-to formal shoe color choice. You can also invest in a brown pair if you wear mostly earthy colours (brown, green, yellow, also works well with navy,). Brown dress shoes also go well with dark denim for casual sexy. 
Almond toe (the love child of the round and pointed toe) shoes are the most flattering. Square toed shoes are overly severe.  

Get an understated belt with a plain buckle that matches the colour of your shoe.

Resist the urge to wear gym trainers outside of the gym or to sporting events, and that includes to parties and dates. Do consider loafers or a pair of those sneaker/ shoe combos as a casual alternative.

Socks
Choose men’s socks that match either the color of the shoe or pant that you are wearing. It doesn’t have to be an EXACT match but it should be a very close family member of it.
As you can imagine this excludes almost any occasion to wear white bobby socks outside the gym.

Accessories
Do keep to a minimum.
Simple studs if you wear earrings, and the best watch that you can afford, as you only need one.

 

Fit, Fit, Fit is key.
And keep it simple. You are handsome enough.
To ensure that you look like you own your clothing, do have a tailor on speed dial, especially if  for any particular reason, height, weight, athletic build etc, you have some difficulty in fitting into standard size cuts. 

Hope this clears up Venus’s expectation of how a grown Mars ought to dress.

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Lets keep it together ladies. 

Random music quote of the day: Janet Jackson

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“…When I first met you I knew that my life will never be the same and I knew that you felt it too…”

- Because of love, Janet Jackson

Happy Sunday!

Supernova