First Published: 20th July 2022, written by Olivia Doonan | Last Updated on 6th January 2024 | Reviewed and Edited by Chloe Safilo
In recent years, more men have taken an interest in their personal style. However, getting this style ‘right’ could take them a lot longer than they had previously expected or hoped. In fact, an awful lot of trial and error could be involved… or could it?
By reading this guide and following its recommendations, you could actually take much of the friction out of perfecting your style. Which, in many ways, is more of a journey than a destination.
Know your measurements
Menswear Style explains: “Perhaps the most important factor in looking good is making sure your clothes fit properly.” Peter Nguyen, a personal stylist for men, even tells his clients that “wearing clothes that fit properly will solve 90% of your style problems”, as The Essential Man quotes.
Many men choose, in the name of increased comfort, to wear clothes bigger than they really need. However, the excess fabric can leave you looking fatter and shorter than reality.
Start with a few key basics
This is important for two particular reasons. One, you need to ease yourself gently into the whole job of putting together contents for your wardrobe before you move onto the more advanced stuff, and two, the ‘basic’ pieces can often be worn as part of a wide range of looks.
Examples of basics you could consider include jeans, a blazer and at least two solid-coloured shirts, like the white shirts available to purchase online from T.M. Lewin.
Decide on your ‘personal uniform’
This term is used by the Gentleman Within website, which quotes former US President Barack Obama revealing during his time in office: “I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.”
This helps to explain why a navy suit served as his most recognisable attire during his presidency — and why you, too, could benefit from adopting a specific ensemble you regularly slip back into.
Add a few accessories
The mention of ‘a few’ would bear especially strong emphasis here — as, with accessories, it’s often a case of ‘less is more’. So, if you are very much a jewellery man, you might want to settle for just a simple watch and some understated rings.
If you aren’t an jewellery man, you could choose from plenty of alternative accessories. It could take just a hat, a scarf or a pair of sunglasses to significantly elevate your outfit’s overall look.
Show confidence
Believe it or not, the best accessory you could wear isn’t a physical item at all; it’s confidence. Whether you go for a ‘trendy’ or ‘classic’ look, how you carry it can make a surprisingly big, positive difference to other people’s perceptions of it.
Fortunately, you could find that your confidence comes naturally as a result of you experimenting with a multitude of pieces and figuring out which of them work well for you personally. Remember that what suits one person could have a very different effect with another.