“Wear the sky-blue shirt. It almost makes you look nice.” /Dr. Cuddy
But truthfully, you seem like a spring and should wear blue, sage, olive shirts. They will make your eyes pop.
Seconding wearing clothes that fit. They will make you look slim and put together.
Hey Robot Arm, what do the coolest pair of shoes in existence look like?
[quote=“Autolycus, post:8, topic:469265”]
This is something I always have an issue with. I like my dorky-casual look sometimes, but I’m noticing that a lot of people will associate negative social meaning to this. I know that in a sense who cares what people think… but, eh, it’s not fun to have people assume you are a social misfit dweeb before you even open your mouth. It pisses me off that when I wear my Evangelion T-shirt out most people are going to assume “anime… dork… possible crazy otaku,” but that’s life I guess.
QUOTE]
I can feel your pain. Because I like my slightly eccentric cool dork style as well, but I don’t dress like that for all people and all occasions.
When I’m hanging with people of the same mind then I let my dork flag fly, but if I’m going to hang out with peeps who are conservative then I’ll leave my clever t-shirts at home.
Be a flexible dork.
Like this, but with a deep merlot red instead of the brown.
Would you? I’m currently low on clams, but I sure could use some practical experience.
Hmmm… I won’t be formally employed for a while, so I’d want casual and dinner-date clothes. As for what I want to say about my personality, honestly I’m not totally sure. I think I’d like to downplay my natural dorky-intelligent look, because of how often it intimidates people and/or gives them the wrong idea about me. That’s a negative statement though. As for what I’d want to look like, I like all sorts of different styles, but maybe a preppy, faux-dork, chic look (w/e that means) would be nice, sorta like Peter Parker in Spiderman2 when he stopped being Spiderman temporarily.
Those are possibly the awesomest shoes on earth.
Disregard anything anyone says about magazines. Assess your lifestyle and its physical movements, the impressions you are required to make, etc. Stop wearing anything that has graphics or words on it that are larger than your thumbnail, it makes you look garish and insipid. Anyone who talks too much about colors or “matching” seldom has any idea what they are talking about, although basic application of color theory never hurts. Women have no idea what they’re talking about with regard to men’s clothing 99% of the time. Dressing for “fashion” is also a terrible idea.
You don’t have to wear suits or collared shirts or “dress shoes” if that’s not who you are. You sound like the sort of guy who’d benefit primarily from wearing decently fitting solid T-shirts with dark, minimal jeans and sneakers with clean lines. All of this can be accomplished with very little money and you’ll have no further problems with looking like a nerd in anime shirts and cargo pants.
Additionally, if you are out of shape or poorly groomed, your clothing means little or nothing. A guy who takes care of himself or is otherwise fortunate in rags is going to be better-received than his sloppy counterpart in finery.
Take the basic aspects of your personality, body type, and lifestyle and magnify them in a way to maximize your positive attributes.
And not to be cruel, but no one in anime T-shirts is intellectually intimidating anyone on sight. Not saying you might not be a smart guy, but it’s not the look, man.
You need to read magazines and watch people in the circles you actually move in. You don’t want do watch bankers if you’re running with the internet startup crowd. Scope out the displays at the local mall. And don’t forget that not everything fashionable looks good on every person. Do what makes sense to you.
Yeah, but if he wants to bag a chick it might help to know what they consider good-looking.
As others have mentioned, GQ and Esquire are really good starting points. Even if you can’t swing the $4k sportcoat in question, you can find it’s stylistic equal at most places if you look. They won’t last as long or wear as well, but it’s a start.
Also, go to a store that you like, and just buy the outfits that they have on the mannequins. They pay people a lot of money to design those looks, so you’ll be rather fashion forward if you do that and it requires zero thought.
Thirdly, buy a navy blue sportcoat. If it comes with brass buttons have your drycleaner swap them out for navy blue or black plastic ones. Pair this with dark blue straight legged jeans and just about any collared shirt and or thin sweater you can think of and you’ll instantly look decent in most non formal situations. The navy sportcoat is to men what the little black dress is to women.
First of all, where are you going and what message do you want to convey about yourself? I dress very differently if I’m hanging out in a bar vs going to work.
A couple of pointers:
You should spend more money on more conservative styles that tend to be wearable longer. A $150 Brooks Brothers dress shirt is a good clothing investment. It will last for years and never fall out of style (style being a preppy conservative dress shirt). A $150 Sean Jean or Armani or whatever shirt you would wear to a club in Vegas will be out of style next season and you will look like an idiot wearing it.
Jeans should be dark, not to loose and not to tight.
Small, subtle patterns are better than loud garrish ones.
Wearing striped and plaids will make you look like an optical illusion.
Spread collar long sleeve shirts are in. Button down collar long sleeve shirts look like casual friday at Deloitte & Touche…10 years ago.
Belt and shoes - always the same color.
Always wear a belt
Sneakers should only be worn to the gym
If, when you are selecting an item of clothing you say “this will be hilarious”, don’t wear it unless you want to be seen as a buffoon.
You generally want to wear fabrics that feel well-made.
No one got a hand-job wearing cargo pants since 'Nam.
Black pants and a black long sleave make you look like a bartender at the W hotel bar.
Avoid wearing a visible undershirt
Unless you are an 18 year old Japanese kid, lose the anime shirts
An untucked shirt with Dockers style khaki dress pants makes you look like a sloppy college freshman who is happy to not have to get dressed for prep school anymore, but only has prep school clothing in his wardrobe.
People aren’t intimidated by dorks. They just find them unpleasent.
Athletic jerseys should never be worn anyplace other than at a sporting event. You are a grown man, not Derreck Jeters’s girlfriend.
People who don’t like being thought of as a dork do.
Or…just the long sleeve collared shirts. With the exception of golf/polo shirts short sleeve collared shirts make you look like a busdriver.
I should point out that a good pair of dress shoes is actually a better long term bargain than buying a cheap $120 pair of Kenneth Cole square toe Reaction shoes. The KC shoes tend to crack and wear out quickly and can’t really be refurbished while a $300 pair of Allen Edmonds will last years if taken care of properly and can be refurbished to look like new for less than the price of a pair of cheap shoes.
Except mine which has a crack in the heel after a month.
I suspect this thread has a few lurkers for precisely that reason.
Oh geez, let’s not go down that road again. I’m trying very hard to make myself better-looking for my own personal benefit, not for the opinions of the wimmin-folks. At least that’s what I’m consciously telling myself.
Back on topic, what’s the word on khaki pants? So far I’m hearing a big ‘no’ to pleated khakis, but I do like khakis in general sometimes. Any ideas?
If khakis you want, stick with plain front ones like from the Gap. Skip the dockers.
Any of these looks should be fine.
As a general rule, no pleats.
Personally I’m not a big fan of khaki / chino casual dress pants. They don’t look sharp. They don’t look dressy. They don’t look hip or trendy. They look like, “white suburban dude who shops at The Gap is meeting his parents for brunch.” When I was in my early 20s living in Boston, half the bars and clubs had a “no jeans/cargos” rule so we always had to wear chinos. And of course one idiot always wore jeans or cargos and we would force him to go buy some pants at the J Crew in Faneuil Hall before it closed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by discodancer
I know that in a sense who cares what people think
People who don’t like being thought of as a dork do.
Hey, msmith, you just misquoted me! That Autolycus’s quote that was within my post. I would never say such a thing.
NO to pleated khakis. Those have been out for a long time. Flat front please!
My strategy for shopping? I find the sexiest girl willing to accompany me and say “how bout this?” Consider your audience, man.
I think we could work something out with a quasi-preppy look. Luckily enough, a good deal of what you’re looking for is not out of style and I believe that we could look at a variety of shops and figure it out. I may not be the snazziest dresser all the time, but I have a good idea of what works and what doesn’t. Since you don’t have a ton of cash, we’d probably put the GAP at the top end of the cost scale when looking if you’re actually interested in purchasing.
Take a look at the male looks from TheSartorialist and more importantly read the comments on the looks that interest you.
It’s people watching at it’s best with knowledgeable commentators who dissect why the outfit works (or doesn’t work).
Incidentally Mr. Cortina discussed a few pages down is showing how to wear khakis stylishly, imho. He appears several times always with the same basic look. It’s amazing how, with just a simple roll of a pant cuff or waistband, he can transform khakis into something totally smashing and somehow rakish.
This, discussed in the August archives of that site, has been my inspiration for my current wardrobe this fall. Combat boots with suits is where it’s at right now.
