Darren Barefoot has written this “Geek’s No-Fuss Guide to Better Dressing, which I think is fair to call a viable strategy for those unsure in personal taste but desirous of heightened levels of snazz. He suggests finding a couple of local stores with a nice selection and letting their able attendants help your choose your outfits.
* Check the fashion articles in your local alternative newspaper (in Vancouver, that’s the Georgia Straight). Find out where the clothes were obtained from.
* Ask your female friends who among your male friends is the best dresser. Find out where he shops.
* The stores should be independently owned–no chains, franchises (at least none that expand beyond your own city) or national brands. Otherwise, apathetic 14-year-old girls will be choosing your clothes.
* The stores are unlikely to be in malls. They’re probably in downtown cores as opposed to the suburbs.
* Include one vintage store (vintage is a fancy word for secondhand clothing).
Darren also suggests something that I’ve been trying to incorporate into my current wardrobe: buying nicely cut, relatively expensive clothing over cheap but unflattering options. It’s not necessarily about buying name brands or the most expensive option, but removing the poorly made items from your selection. Rather than buying five pairs of generic, loose jeans, two pairs of well-fitting jeans will last longer and look nicer. It’s the same reason I’ve decided I’m never buying a button-up shirt off the rack again, opting for the surprisingly-not-that-much-more-expensive tailored options.
Now I just have to keep purging my closet of all these worn shirts and bad suits bought on a whim. Or even better, figuring out how to alter them into something more attractive. How impossible is it to take in the cut of a suit jacket at the back seam? (My guess: pretty freaking difficult.)
What are your options if you live in the Midwest, away from pretty much most shopping centers other than the Internet? I’m doubting my small/medium sized town has much in the way of independently owned men’s clothing shops. Really, I think the biggest problems I run into with clothes is figuring out what matches (I’m horrible at it! What the heck is safe to wear with what color - I need a chart!) and getting bored with what I wear. Really, I have essentially the same set of clothes I wear week in and week out. I’m sure a lot of other guys do, too. I want a “clothesswap” service where I can trade in my entire wardrobe for a completely new one occasionally. Like leasing clothes or something….
i don’t see the big deal about buying from chains. my entire work collection is banana republic. stuff that i wear out of work is usually from indie stores, but you can’t miss with banana’s slim fit dress shirts and pants.
Agree with Adam about the chains. Tough to beat BR when it comes to price and styles for work, but for after work I definitely want something more creative and with lots more flair.
Also — it’s ridiculously easy to alter your shirts/jackets. I know both girls and guys that simply turn a shirt inside out, stitch up either side ( or for jackets the back ) and then cut away the old seam/excess. Works well. I’m fortunate (hah) that I’m sized correctly for most BR or Express stuff (GAP doesn’t fit for shit), and that covers me for business. ANY suit/jacket that I buy is immediately sent to the tailor, however. Makes the biggest difference in the world.
Pete: The best way to choose colors that match is to make sure they all come out of the same “palette”. A palette in this context is a collection of colors from all over the color wheel related to each other by intensity and brightness. For example, the neon palette includes neon yellow, neon pink, neon green, etc. and pretty much any neon color will match any other neon color. I am NOT suggesting you wear neon. That would be a Very Bad Idea ™.
Palettes to consider:
Earth Tones — These colors are muted, dusty colors, and many look like they originated from various kinds of dirt. This is because, back in the day, they did. The earth tones palette includes yellow ochre, cinnabar, viridian, terre verte, raw sienna, burnt sienna, raw umber, burnt umber, navy blue, etc. Try to stay away from pure black or bright white; both are too pure for this palette. Instead, stick to charcoal colors and dark greys, and ivory whites.
Jewel Tones — Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Garnet, and so on. These are very luscious, saturated colors that are probably more likely to be found on furniture than in the men’s department, although there’s no inherent reason you couldn’t wear them. I can’t think of a good yellow in this palette. These can be worn with black and white quite well.
Advanced maneuver: Pick an earth tone solid shirt, and a jewel tone tie that is any color EXCEPT the complement of the color of your shirt. Complementary colors are opposites on the color wheel and the short version looks like this:
red/green
blue/orange
yellow/purple
So, for example, you could find a navy blue shirt, pair with an emerald tie (possibly with some blue or yellow highlights) and a grey jacket (not black. black + navy is not allowed). An orange tie, however, would be against the rules.
Hope this helps!