Men's Fashion

So for everyday and date night (with the fiancee) clothes where can I go that will have good advisers who will help me pick stuff? I am hopeless choosing clothing off the shelf but have had luck with advisers in my business clothes (suits/etc).

General tips of fashion that is in and will most likely always be in:

1) Wear slim fit (European style). If you're unsure what this is, go try on Hugo Boss clothes. Most of their outfits are slim fit.
2) If you don't have an ass, don't wear skinny jeans. They make your ass look even more flat than it already is.
3) Read magazines that are fashion oriented to help you figure out what looks good -- GQ is a great way.

Generally, all jeans are great as long as you have the right wash (color). Unless you wear carpenter jeans. No one wears carpenter jeans. Ever. My preference of jeans are bootcut and straight. To test if it fits, try on the jeans and sit down; if you are uncomfortable sitting down, don't get that waist size. A great tip for jeans that shrink while cleaning them is to put them on and then pull the waistbands out to stretch them.

Shoes are a whole 'nother stuff -- pointed boots and dress shoes are in. Don't wear the squared dress shoes. Big no no (think carpenter jeans).

GnCGOD: I would suggest Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom. Great thing about any of these higher end stores is that it's OK to try shit on and not buy it (especially Neiman Marcus). If you like it, don't buy it and look for a similar version in a cheaper store like Nordstrom Rack.

Great store for denim: Diesel and Levi's (and Aeropostale!)
Great store for tops: Bloomingdales and Hugo Boss
Great store for tips: Bloomingdales, Hugo Boss, Saks, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom

Another thing is what you want to try and aim for is something that looks good with a trait of YOU. My partner has blue eyes so I bought him a couple of blue things to match it and it looks great. Do this with sunglasses, shoes, and tops.

My biggest fashion problem is finding jeans that fit well. While I'm not fat, my widest point is my hips/thighs so while a size 34 or 36 pair of jeans might fit no problem around my waist, they're super tight in the hips and thighs. This results in having to go up a size, which makes the waist really baggy and gives the impression of ill-fitting jeans. I've looked everywhere for a style/brand that helps with this and haven't found anything. It seems like something that requires a tailor to customize jeans.

If you reddit then /r/malefashionadvice will be insightful and will give you ideas. Since I've been following, my wardrobe has changed significantly with the exception of my comfy lounge clothes which I doubt I'll budge from.

1) If you wear undershirts, go for v-necks instead of crew neck.
2) Stop wearing white socks unless you're at the gym or doing lawn work. I wearDocker's Sport Crew Socksor other comfy dress socks all the damn time now. My girlfriend loves them and constantly steals pairs out of the drawer. I'll pick them up if it's buy one get another half off. The Docker's are incredibly warm and soft and fit snug on the foot without sliding down your leg. Good dress socks last longer and do not get funky and lose their softness after a while like cheap white socks do. Easiest way of tossing some color or add some zing to your outfit is in your socks so have fun with it.
3) Match your belt color with your shoe color.
4) Try some visible layering with a dress shirt/sweater/vest in the colder months (if you can).

Easiest way to look good is to be tailored. Not all fits of shirts will look good on everyone right out off the rack so a little altering goes a long way if you're inbetween sizes.

I started on this path around 1 - 2 months ago with the same goal. Though I have a much different body type 5'9" 280 lbs so results may vary. Starting from funny t-shirts and jeans to 'grown up' apparel was the goal. I would agree with attempting the layering, nice sweaters that you can wear over a dress shirt are great.

A site I haven't gotten much use out of but does have clothing for slim gentlemen isFrank & Oak. They have a rotating catalog each month I believe so it can help cycle through some interesting choices.

I work all the time so I have gotten a lot of mileage out of Men's Warehouse. They have nice business casual for plus size guys. Working into the slacks, shirts, bow ties, and such at the moment. Once I have that filled out a bit more going the vest / sweater route next.

Definitely seconding non-white socks. Start with normal colors and move on to crazy socks if that is your bag. My mother and wife started me on the crazy sock path this Christmas.

I am not a fan of v-necks personally. I am a fairly hairy guy and people don't need to see that.

I'll just post links to places I shop from since that's pretty easy.

www.ctshirts.com- These compare favorably to my much more expensive shirts and I enjoy the shirt options
www.jackedthreads.com- pretty inexpensive street wear
www.gilt.com- most everyone knows what they have on here
www.ruelala.com- I've grabbed some suits and shoes off of here but you really have to know what you are looking for
www.myhabit.com- Amazon's version of gilt
www.hautelook.com- Nordstrom's version of gilt
www.lyst.com- no discounts here, but it's sort of like twitter or pintrest for clothing

That's all I have for the moment. One thing that I would watch out for is brands or lines made specifically for discount sites. You can often get really good discounts, but you have to know what you are buying. For example Incotex has another line called Incotex Ivory which isn't the same quality as their normal line, but is often sold on Gilt and MyHabit. The same goes for Antonio Maurizi. I know of no place that sells these shoes other than the online shops. I however own a pair of their double monk straps because I really like the way they look.

For shoes if you live in or near a major city you can often get good deals at DSW.

Styleforum.net has a lot of great information. They tend to focus on very high end, but if you ignore this fact you can still learn a lot there.

Saks Fifth Avenue outlet and Nordstrom Rack have great options for shoes at reasonable prices. Nordstrom itself has two big sales a year, one right now (directly after christmas) and another in the summer. There is also an anniversary sale for card-holders which is better than either. Brooks Brothers has a blowout sale every June which is excellent if you like how they fit; I am a bit slim and they fit me like a fucking bag.

Hugo Boss recommendation is a great one. Their slim fit is very well tailored off the rack. DKNY and CK Steel are also well tailored if you're on the slimmer side; they're a bit lower quality than boss though.

When you buy a dress shirt, here are what the cuts mean:

Regular/Classic - Huge - meant to hide being 30-40+ pounds overweight or just having a very very stout frame
Trim/Sharp/Tailored - Much Slimmer than classic; can still be 15-20 pounds over weight and this will look good
Slim - Tiny bit slimmer than trim. 10-15 pounds over weight still OK here.
Extra Slim - Made for exceptionally skinny folks; 6ft 130 pound types. Honestly I think this cut pushes it a bit.

The above sizes are rough and based on popular brands. Note that for the most part, expensive dress shirts (150-200+ retail) will generally be made in Italy and sort of imply some sort of slim/tailored fit, even though it may not explicitly state so. I have noticed high end English dress shirts, Hickey Freeman etc, are still pretty boxy despite their quality/price. I also consider Brooks Brothers and David Donahue slim fits to fit like shit, so try them on before buying.

For dress shoes, lot of differing opinions here. It's worth noting that cap-toe oxfords are the gold standard super conservative shoe and should be worn in conservative interviews etc.
Cap-Toe Oxford:

Points to note: Lacing; Comes to point at front; Stitching by toes, ie 'Cap-Toe'

Loafer - Much more casual than above shoe. Good for business casual or night out.

Note - Slip on



In terms of dress shirt fit, these are the areas that I think are important to look at when you're at the mirror:

1. Shoulders - the sleeve should ideally begin directly at the point where your shoulder starts to fall. The further past this point you accept the cut to fall, the sloppier you will look.
2. Fabric coming off upper arms - If you pinch this to your arm, this shouldn't really be more than two inches or so on either side of the upper arm.
3. Fabric off mid-waist - Inch and a half to two inches.
4. Fabric by belt - Depending on cut, you will probably have to tuck some excess fabric in the small back so that this looks right. If you have to tuck in too much and the fabric is billowing off your lower back by like 6+ inches, get the fucker tailored or don't buy it. If the upper body fits well and this is fucked up, getting a shirt a.) 'darted' or b.) having the sides taken in will probably accomplish what you're looking for.
5. Sleeve should sit about where this guy has it on 5, at the bottom of the thumb. I'd say his sleeve on the other arm look like it's down too far. If the arms a little too long, use the tighter wrist button so that the sleeve doesn't creep down too far. It's usually better to go a bit longer than shorter on the shirt length if you're an in-betweener. A button can solve the 'little too long' problem, but if you put your elbows up at a table, there's nothing you can do about showing 4 inches of wrist if you go too short.
6. Fabric coming under arm pit - This can drape down maybe 2 - 3 inches at most. If you have too little fabric, you won't have enough flexibility in the arm.

Biggest mistakes I see in shirts fitting are shoulder cut being way off and far too much fabric at 2. and 6. The other problem with 6 is that the lower you allow this to go, the further down the shirt is going to fit correctly through the upper chest. If your shirt doesn't fit across your upper chest correctly, you may look like you have man boobs whereas a well fitting shirt will make you look in shape.



In terms of dress pants, few important things to note:
Pleated Dress Pants - The natural dress pants crease going all the way up to the belt line
Flat Front Dress Pants - Natural crease stops at about mid thigh

If you are going to wear a suit, your dress pants should generally be pleated. Pleated dress pants usually have 'cuffs' by the ankles (rolled up fabric on the outside).
If you are going business casual, people generally wear flat front dress pants. These should generally not be cuffed at the ankles.

Wool is gold standard for pants and suit coats. Polyester dress pants are the common and cheaper variety; they look ok but will pill over time.
Cotton is gold standard for dress shirts. Non-Iron dress cotton shirts are essentially cotton dipped in formaldehyde, wrinkles will generally come out if hung. These shirts also tend to not breath as well and can have a bit of a glean to them. I do not recommend any dress shirts with Polyester, tend to look a bit off. Geoffry Beene Sateen etc looks idiotic and cheap, do not wear it.

McCheese_sl said:

My biggest fashion problem is finding jeans that fit well. While I'm not fat, my widest point is my hips/thighs so while a size 34 or 36 pair of jeans might fit no problem around my waist, they're super tight in the hips and thighs. This results in having to go up a size, which makes the waist really baggy and gives the impression of ill-fitting jeans. I've looked everywhere for a style/brand that helps with this and haven't found anything. It seems like something that requires a tailor to customize jeans.

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Have you tried Levi's 559's? They are the relaxed straight fit and can be found on macy's website, so can have them shipped basically anywhere.

As far as websites, I've been following:
dappered.comnow for over a year. A blog which focuses on affordable men's style and alerts you to current sales (J. Crew, BR, Nordstrom etc.). Has helped me change a lot from a sloppily dressed college student into a (mostly) well dressed third year law student, all while being on a budget.
primemagazine.comA more general blog but also focuses on style for a post-college grad.

One last thing worth mentioning is the impact that shoes have on your casual-wear outfit.

Wearing athletic sneakers all the time, while comfortable, really pigeonholes your ability to be stylish, especially in the winter. There are a number of things that look retarded while wearing athletic sneakers, such as scarves, wool jackets/pea-coats, leather gloves, etc. When you wear athletic shoes out, you pretty much have to either dress like you're going to the gym or you will look like a moron. If you have a nice pair of casual dress shoes, you can actually dress in a manner that makes you look well dressed while in a casual setting; this is essentially impossible in athletic shoes unless you're going for a very certain look.

Slim ties are also in now. I'm not sure for how long, but they're in. Another thing is to never wear banker (REGULAR) blazers/suit jackets. Always, if you can, wear slim fitted.

What if you're fat?

What if you're straight?

If you want to look like you have no fashion sense, then ignore this thread?

I bought allen edmonds park avenue last month for my formal dress shoe of adulthood. I've worn them twice so far and they were splendid -- i recommend all poor people go get a pair of fine (american made) shoes to treasure.

I ended up getting a really fucked up size (9E, so much for slim fit) so i'd definitely say try them on in store.

Opposed to what Prova says absolutely do not buy pleated pants with your suits unless you're fat.

prescient is correct. Pleats are not in and have not been in style for almost a decade. Avoid them at all costs.

Prova_sl said:

In terms of dress pants, few important things to note:
Pleated Dress Pants - The natural dress pants crease going all the way up to the belt line
Flat Front Dress Pants - Natural crease stops at about mid thigh

If you are going to wear a suit, your dress pants should generally be pleated. Pleated dress pants usually have 'cuffs' by the ankles (rolled up fabric on the outside).
If you are going business casual, people generally wear flat front dress pants. These should generally not be cuffed at the ankles.

Click to expand...

Don't ever buy pleated pants unless you are trying to make some sort of anti style/fashion statement. They look terrible on slim frames and will make your hips billow out. In fact you would be hard pressed to find pleated pants being offered by most designers nowadays. Also just because you are wearing flat front trousers doesn't mean it needs a leg crease. Cuffing your dress pants will make you look like your dad in his oversized men's wearhouse suit.

True regarding pleats. I suppose what I should have said is that you will see pleated pants occasionally accompanying a full suit, but in a stand-alone business casual get-up, they are rarely appropriate. From what I have seen, cuffs on pants are only applicable to pleats.

As recently as last year, I was at a Filene's Basement going out of business sale and they had a suit section where you could find a lot of high quality wool suit pants for very cheap. I would say 80% of these suit pants were pleated, so they are certainly still being produced for suit combos, although whether they are in style is another matter entirely.

The point of emphasis was moreso to underline the difference between the two styles. I'm sure to many readers who have not had to dress up for a living, they may not even notice that the pants that they bought were actually pleated.