Whether we like it or not, we are judged by our appearance. Social standing, income, even intelligence are all implied by the clothes we wear. It is an instinct honed since man first learned to wrap himself in the skins of the animals he hunted. We can imagine a group of cavemen sitting around the fire, eating and grunting and bragging of their bravery. All of a sudden, in walks Grog, decked out in the skin of a panther, with a great bearskin cloak about his mighty shoulders. He wears a necklace made from the teeth of a sabertooth tiger; his club is fashioned from the tusk of a mammoth. The other men, perhaps looking down with shame at their own clothing, cobbled together from the pelts of deer and squirrel, deferentially offer Grog a place of honor at the fire, elevated from the muddy ground upon a large, flat rock. Grog is the clan chieftain because he is the best hunter, and his dress proves it.
Modern man, despite his many advancements, is little different. The CEO earns his position by being the best businessman. With his power comes money, and his money buys expensive and stylish clothes that set him apart from the office crowd. His wardrobe screams, “I am the alpha male!” Another example can be taken from the Shakespeare classic King Lear, in which the bard writes, “You, sir, I entertain for one of my hundred; only I do not like the fashion of your garments.” So said the king to Edgar, just before ordering him to change his clothes. The point is that you might be tolerated as useful, but if you really want the king’s approval, you should dress like the king.
“But I’m not the king! I’m just an average working man. My boss wears Armani suits and Gucci shoes. I simply can’t afford to dress like him!”
Fear not, Average Joe! You don’t have to wear expensive designer clothing to project a powerful image. You just have to wear the clothing you can afford in the proper manner. It is a sad fact that most men do not know how to dress properly. This guide will not only help you create a great wardrobe, but tell you where to buy nice clothing at great prices. So, on to the guide!
The Basics
As with any project, it is best to start at the beginning. It is often surprising to learn that few men even know the basics when it comes to their wardrobe. In order to dress successfully, it is important to have a thorough understanding of the fabrics and tailoring methods used in men’s clothing. Let’s start with the most important component of any piece of clothing; the fabric. Ideally, there are only three fabrics that you want in your entire wardrobe: wool, cotton, and silk. Men on a budget, however, are often forced to go with a blend.
Wool
Wool is the only fabric you want for your suit jacket and trousers. Wool is one of the strongest and most comfortable natural fibers; just ask any sheep. Worsted wool, a fine, lightweight fabric, is the absolute best choice. It is durable and wears well, and comfortable no matter what the season. Heavier wools, like tweed and flannel, are too rough and are not suitable for summer wear. Plus, tweed makes you look like the stereotypical college professor (Don’t forget the leather patches on the elbows, sir) and flannel makes you look like a lumberjack, which is fine if you are a lumberjack, but not conducive to a professional business image. For those on a budget, a worsted wool blend of at least 55% wool is perfectly appropriate. The blended fabric can be cotton, alpaca, polyester, or something else. The quantity and type of blended fabric will affect the price of the suit.
Cotton
Cotton is the only fabric you want in a dress shirt. It is also acceptable for your suit if you absolutely cannot afford wool. Since cotton is lightweight and breathes well, it is the best choice for your dress shirt, though a blend with at least 60% cotton is also acceptable. Your socks should also be cotton, unless you like having sweaty, stinky feet.
Silk
Silk is the only fabric you want in a tie. No exceptions. It is strong and lightweight, holds its shape well, and holds dye better. It also looks great. You can get a silk tie for twenty bucks; there is no excuse for anything else. Now let’s study each article of clothing more thoroughly.
The Suit
The most visible and most important part of your business dress is the suit. Therefore it deserves the most attention and, yes, money. As stated earlier, it should be worsted wool, or a wool blend. It shouldn’t have to be said that the suit should fit you, yet many men wear suits that fit horribly.
It is highly recommended that you have your suit professionally tailored. Tailors and men in the know call this a bespoke suit. Even a cheap polyester suit that has been professionally tailored looks better than an expensive wool suit that doesn’t fit right. If you can’t have your suit tailored, at least have yourself measured by a tailor, so that you know what size you need. While you are at the tailors you may also ask him to let you try on a few suits. He will tell you what looks best on you based on your body type and measurements, and you can then look for the same type of suit at a retail store. You can also look at different fabrics and colors to get an idea of what you like. Once again it must be said that if you can afford it, spend the extra money to have your suit custom made. You may be surprised at the low cost some local tailors will charge, and the quality workmanship means the suit will last longer, which justifies the higher price in the long run.
Color
If you only have one suit, it should be a solid color. Pinstripes or other patterns are fine for second or third suits, but a solid navy, charcoal, or black suit is a must if you can only afford one. Navy is the absolute best choice, but charcoal is fine. A black suit is more formal and really only suitable for night wear, but it is acceptable for business settings if you simply must wear black.
Fit
A professional tailor can tell you which type of cut is best for your body type. Men with a healthy dose of gut will obviously not want an athletic cut suit, which tapers more toward the waist. The collar should lie on your neck and show about a quarter or half inch of your shirt collar. You should be able to walk, bend and stretch comfortably, of course. Try raising your arms horizontally in front of you with the suit jacket buttoned. If you can’t do it, or the buttons threaten to pop off, it doesn’t fit. The sleeves should fall to your wrist bone with your arms at your side, and should show a quarter or half inch of shirt sleeve. There should be a vent, or vertical slit, in the back of the jacket, unless you want to unbutton it every time you sit down. Once again, go to a tailor and ask if you can try on different ready-made suits. He will let you know which style and cut is best for you.
Your trousers should rest on the waist, and should be loose enough that you can fit two fingers into the waistband. All buttons should be buttoned. Some guys like to leave a button on the back pocket undone, if the pocket has one, so that they can keep their wallet in there. Don’t do it. You should never put anything in your back pockets. Not only does it wear and stretch the fabric, leaving a wallet mark, but it makes your ass look huge if you keep a lot of stuff in your wallet. Think of the snuff can-shaped wear in the jeans pocket of a cowboy. A great look for cowboys, but not for you. Your suit jacket should have a pocket inside it, usually on the left side; use it. Besides, it always looks better when you whip your wallet out of your jacket, like James Bond whipping out his Walther PPK.
The Shirt
This is where you get the chance to add a more personal touch to your wardrobe. It used to be that you had three choices for your shirts; white, blue, or white with blue stripes. Thankfully businesses today allow a little more variety. However, it is important to know which colors compliment your hair, eye, and skin color. If you have light skin and hair, then you should wear blue or navy, black, green, and red. Avoid browns and yellows. If you have dark skin and hair, then ivory, yellow, tan, pink and blue compliment you. You should stay away from dark grays or blues. If you have blue eyes, blue looks good on you. If your eyes are green, green looks fine. Listen to your girlfriend or wife when she says, “that shirt really brings out your eyes.” You want that to happen. Only people with brown eyes need to be careful with this; brown or beige rarely looks good near the face. Once again, a tailor will be able to tell you what colors look best on you.
If you want to add variety to your shirts, try stripes. A white shirt with colored pinstripes or candy stripes is best, but colored shirts with a similar color stripe are fine, too. Never wear a colored shirt with white stripes, though.
Remember earlier when I mentioned James Bond? I did that for a reason. One of the best ways to get a good idea of how to dress properly is to watch television and movies. Actors have highly paid image consultants that make sure the actor looks his best. James Bond, whether played by Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan, or even that Lazaby guy who was only in that one movie, is suave, strong, and sophisticated, and his dress is impeccable. His wardrobe helps convey a cultured, professional image. Do you think Bond could walk into a casino, sit down at a baccarat table, and proceed to win millions of dollars from his antagonist if he wasn’t dressed so well? Hell, no! They wouldn’t even let him walk through the door. So. if you like the image Pierce Brosnan conveys, and you happen to have the same skin tone and hair color, by all means copy his wardrobe. Maybe you watch Anderson Cooper on CNN. I like his show because he seems to be a knowledgeable, professional reporter. I like the image he conveys, and I also have the same light hair and skin tone, so I try to incorporate the colors and styles he wears into my own wardrobe. You should never be afraid to copycat someone who dresses well.
Shirt Construction
Color isn’t the only aspect of a shirt you need to consider. Shirts come in many styles and each style looks better on different people. We know the fabric should be cotton, but shirts come in many different weaves which change the overall look. Most well dressed men wear broadcloth shirts. Broadcloth weave is smooth and fine; it almost feels and looks like silk, with a somewhat shiny appearance. The threads are a single color. Another popular weave is oxford. Oxford weave combines white threads with a color. If you look closely you can see what looks like little white dots in the shirt. It gives the shirt a less intense color, and therefore is a bit less formal. The oxford weave gives it a rougher feel and look, which also decreases the formality. Pinpoint is the same as oxford for all practicable purposes. The difference is how the threads are woven. We could spend a lot of time on this subject, but the only thing you really need to know is that the smoother and shinier the shirt, the better. For those of us who are on a budget, or just plain stingy, oxford weave is probably best.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; go to a tailor! At least to get measured. Your shirt needs to fit properly, too.
Collar
For business, you will most likely be wearing a point or spread collar. The only difference between the two is that the points on a point collar are not as spread out as those on a spread collar. Makes sense, huh? If you have a narrow face, wear a point collar. If your face is round, wear spread collars. Button-down collars have points that button down to the shirt. Since it is rarely advisable to wear a tie with a button-down collar, it is never advisable to wear one to work. Save the button-down for casual situations. A blue oxford button-down, for instance, looks great with jeans. Just leave the top button undone and of course don’t wear a tie, though these days more and more men are doing it, so you could get away with it. A tab collar has a tab between the two points which, as far as I can tell, is good for exactly nothing. Don’t waste your money on one of these.
Some shirts have collars and/or cuffs that are a different color than the rest of the shirt. Usually the collar is white. Larry King likes to wear shirts like this, and they look great on him, especially with suspenders. But unless you are Larry King, or maybe an old newspaper editor, it is best to avoid this kind of shirt.
Cuffs
You will find the barrel cuff or French cuff. The barrel cuff is your standard shirt cuff, with either one or two buttons. It may also be adjustable, with two buttonholes on the wrist, so that you can tighten the cuff if needed. The French cuff has no buttons; you must wear cuff links with these. If you can, go for the French cuffs and buy a pair of subdued cuff links. It is well worth it for the added impact the cuff links add.
The Tie
How intelligent is it to start the day by tying a little noose around your neck? -Linda Ellerbee
No matter what you think about ties, the fact is one must be worn for a professional appearance. The tie can also help personalize your wardrobe further to set you apart from the rest of the wage slaves. It was mentioned before that your ties should be silk. Period. If you feel tempted to buy a tie that is not 100% silk, you need to quit your job and find one which doesn’t require you to wear a tie. Later I will show you where to get a nice silk tie for twenty dollars. That’s less than a pizza, dude. With that said, let’s study the different aspects of ties.
Construction
Ties might be woven jacquard or printed. A printed tie simply has the design printed on the fabric, while a woven one has the design woven into it with different colored threads. The printed tie will feel smoother and be a bit thinner. Either one is fine, but the printed tie will cost much less. Make sure the stitching is straight and looks like it won’t break as soon as you tie the tie.
Design
If you choose a tie with a design, it should be subdued. Points or stripes are usually fine, though it is acceptable today to wear bolder designs like paisleys and abstracts. Go to a tailor again. Ask to see his most expensive ties. These will have the latest designs and be of the proper width. O yeah, about width. Remember those ties in the seventies that were obscenely wide? And those in the eighties that were obscenely narrow? Don’t wear those. The ties at your tailors shop will be of the proper width, but the main thing to remember is that the tie should not be wider than the lapels on your suit jacket. More on pattern coordination later.
Color
Here is where a lot of men totally screw up their wardrobe, even though they mean well. Usually the mistake is one of color, although the wrong pattern can also destroy your look. When choosing a color for your tie, you should always coordinate it with both your shirt and jacket. More on color coordination later.
Coordination
See, I told you so! Color coordination is an area in which men are often ignorant. So that’s where we will start.
Honey, does this tie go with this shirt?
If that sounds familiar, then you need some schooling. When coordinating colors, there are two things you need to know: hues are different shades of the same color, and matching colors don’t coordinate. For instance, you may be tempted to wear a white shirt with red stripes, a red tie, and a red pocket square. Don’t do it. It is always better to wear different hues of the same color. So the aforementioned outfit would look better if you combined the white shirt with red stripes, a brick red tie, and burnt orange pocket square. Yes, it would. It may not look good, but it looks better than if all the elements were of the exact same color.
A way you can do colors correctly is to simply watch television and read mens magazines like GQ and Esquire. Look at how actors and models wear their colors. They pay scads of money to people whose only job is to make them look good. Look at pictures of or news articles about successful businessmen, and take notice of how they dress. Many clothing companies will send you a free catalog. Look through these and see how they present the clothing. Even if they don’t use models, the catalog will often show shirts with coordinating ties laid upon them. Pay close attention at how they use color in these presentations. Mens clothing stores will also present the clothing in a way that coordinates. Some clothing companies, like Pierre Cardin or D’amante, offer boxed sets consisting of a shirt and matching tie. These are extremely cheap, too, and I’ll tell you where to get them later.
Pattern coordination is also important. The basic rule for patterns is, “two solids, one pattern.” In other words, if you wear a solid color suit and a solid shirt, you should wear a patterned tie. You can mix this two-for-one rule any way you want, though. A pinstriped suit, solid shirt, and striped tie. But keep in mind that when mixing stripes or other patterns, just like colors, you don’t want them to match. If you wear pinstripes on one item, another striped item should have wider stripes. A checked shirt can be worn with a solid or paisley or tie, but a checked one might not work if it is too similar to the shirt. Once again, to really learn about coordination, visit a tailor or retail clothing store and take notes.
Now let’s move on to one of the least regarded, yet most important areas of your wardrobe; your shoes.
Shoes
How often did your father tell you too keep your head up and don’t look at the ground? Or if you were in the military, your drill instructor might have loved screaming that there are not discharge papers on the ground. So why bother to wear nice shoes? Nobody will notice them anyway, right? Wrong. For one thing, the first thing a woman notices about a man is his shoes. That should be reason enough to wear nice ones. But men notice, too, and judge you accordingly, whether they realize it or not. So if your boss notices that your shoes are all scuffed and the heels worn down, chances are he will assume that you are inattentive to detail and don’t care about getting things done right. Needless to say, this is the last thing you want him to think, especially when you are asking for a raise or promotion.
Your shoes should be leather. If you are a vegan or just really love cows, then you could get by with a pair of fake leather shoes, as long as they look very, very nice. But the best thing to do is just buy some leather shoes. Hey, the cow is already dead. You can’t change that by not buying his hide, Dweezil. Laces are a must on your shoes, but you can get by with slip-ons if you are too lazy to tie laces, or happen to trip over them a lot. The heel of your shoe should not be rubber. Rubber implies cheapness. You should shine your shoes every day and put shoe trees in them when not wearing them. This will help the leather breathe and give them a chance to dry out, which means they will last longer. As for style, just wear whatever you like, although it is best, once again, to check out the bigshots in your company or your favorite suave actor to see what is currently in fashion. Do you know what chukkas are? No? Good. Other than that, the only thing you need to know is to match your shoes with your belt.
The Belt
Your belt is leather or a good approximation. It should not be too wide; about an inch and a half is fine. The buckle should be of an appropriate size in either silver or gold. If you want to wear a big, fancy buckle, go be a cowboy. If your belt is black, your shoes are black. If you wear a brown belt, wear brown shoes. It should be long enough to fit you without a yard of it sticking out past the buckle. Speaking of the buckle, remember to match the buckle to your watch. If your watch is gold, wear a gold buckle.
Where to get it
So where do you get good clothing without breaking the bank? You might want to order from catalogs provided by good companies like Blair or Joseph A. Banks. Cyrillus is a French company that offers great clothing at a reasonable price. You can order any one of their catalogs online, and indeed many clothiers offer free catalogs that you can request online, or just read online. If you would rather shop at a retail store, the Men’s Wearhouse is your best bet. They offer a wide variety of clothing from many popular designers, and all are at very reasonable prices. Plus, they have wardrobe consultants that help you choose the best clothing based on your body type and budget, just like the stars! If the prices there are still too rich for you, try a retailer like Dillard’s. Almost every town has a mall, and just about every mall has a Dillard’s. You can find every part of your wardrobe here, and for an extremely good price. Dillard’s carries good quality clothing from manufacturers like Austin Reed, Hart Schaffner & Marx, Roundtree & Yorke, Kenneth Cole, Perry Ellis and Murano. Dress shirts are about sixty dollars, and suits around three hundred.
Still too expensive? Go to the other end of the mall where you will find JC Penney. They also have good quality clothing, at even better prices than Dillard’s. Stafford, Pierre Cardin, Van Heusen, and D’amante are some labels you will find at Penney’s. Shirts from twenty dollars and suits from one twenty-nine make this store one of the best bets for those of us on a limited budget. And don’t forget to check the yellow pages for local tailors. Pay them a visit, at least to get proper measurements. You may be quite surprised at how reasonable the prices can be. And if all else fails, don’t be afraid to try a second-hand store. Seriously. I once found a great Christian Dior suit at the Salvation Army thrift store for twenty bucks. After getting it fitted by a tailor I had a beautiful suit for which I paid approximately seventy-five dollars. So keep your options open and you, too, can dress like a CEO on a mail room clerk’s budget!
Reference:
- Great clothing at a good price from Joseph A. Bank: www.josbank.com Try Cyrillus for fine French fashion at reasonable prices: www.cyrillus.com Name brand clothing at discount prices: www.menswearhouse.com Good quality, great price: www.dillards.com Good quality, better prices: www.jcpenney.com
