# Male wardrobe advisor - is that a thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 6, 2015, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-wardrobe-advisor-is-that-a-thing/709144 "2015-01-06T18:43:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Boogly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Boogly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boogly)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-wardrobe-advisor-is-that-a-thing/709144/21 "2015-01-07T06:22:22Z")
Ask friends or family for help, which is what I rely on when I need to update my wardrobe. Take notes! I’ve lucky that I know several ladies and have a male cousin that know fashion that covers ‘a tight’ to ‘I won the lottery’ budgets. I have issues because my fashion sense is not only severely gimped but I am color blind. Some of my funnest times shopping was with a group of ladies helping me. It started out by looking over magazines at home to determine what I liked and didn’t like and listening to what they had to say about clothes. Hit up some Mens Wearhouse and model clothes for the ladies and see what happens. Hit up a couple stores that the ladies may know about to check out other cuts/materials. Listen to what they have to say; ‘that’s niiiiice…wear that when you are in social situations’, ‘that has class, wear that at work or official functions’, ‘that is business casual or casual’. This is how colors mix and match so with these few suits, shirts, ties, socks and shoes you now have ‘x’ combinations that you can wear in any situation. Again, take notes! I swear I’m the type of person that garanimals were created for. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-wardrobe-advisor-is-that-a-thing/709144/22 "2015-01-07T10:19:51Z")
Try reading “Dress for Success”. The author guarantees he can help a person in their business pursuits thru clothing improvements alone. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-wardrobe-advisor-is-that-a-thing/709144/23 "2015-01-07T13:49:18Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > I know it’s a stereotype, but find a well dressed gay friend to take you shopping. No, not all of us are fashion gurus but one that is will have both the perspective of what feels good to wear and what will be attractive on you. When I was single I had a few female friends I’d ask. Now that I’m married I just run everything by the wife. A couple of years ago I had to attend a conference so I needed a suit. I went to Men’s Warehouse and am very happy with my experience. I got a simple Charcoal Gray suit (I really hate colors), a light blue shirt and a white one, Egyptian cotton, and two ties. They’ve served well over the years. I’ve moved to the East Coast for graduate school so I need to dress a lot nicer than before (it’s definitely more formal here than in California). Now I just say, “Wife, I need a new sweater. Go!” and my new sweater magically appears. I usually don’t like the fit, but that’s because I like baggier things, so I assume my preferences are just wrong. So yeah, find someone you trust so you can bounce looks off of, even if it’s a simple cell phone picture with the caption, “Is this ugly?” I second getting your suit tailored. I strongly believe that every man needs at least one well-tailored suit. It can make all the difference. You can wear an Armani suit, but if it doesn’t fit right you’ll look ridiculous. Walk into a car dealership and see the young guys in their ill fitting suits. I only spent ~200 on the suit itself and I can honestly say a suit looks much better on me than them, and that’s because it fits. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-wardrobe-advisor-is-that-a-thing/709144/24 "2015-01-07T21:58:23Z")
> [@Nature\_s\_Call](#): > > Sure… couldn’t hurt 🙂 > > I’m thinking a couple thousand (open to suggestions). Part of the new job will be customer facing, so sharp, professional appearance is what I’m looking for - I guess suit/tie type stuff (or is it sport jacket and tie? - I’m helpless). Not sure what the actual day-to-day dress code is, but I’ll assume it’s “ready to face the customer at any time”. > > I guess the most important criteria is most variety for my buck. I’ve never been worried about wearing the same thing two days in a row, but I guess I do now. I don’t want to go to the dry cleaners multiple times per week, so at least 6-7 days of switcheroo-ability. > > \*\*I’m currently a bit overweight (who am I kidding - 5’7" 210 lbs. but I’m going to hack that down to 190 - I’ve done it before with sufficient motivation). \*\* > > Which suddenly reminds me of that Simpson’s episode: the time Homer and his then assistant were shopping for clothes. Assistant tells Homer to “let it all out” then promptly commands the tailor “You! Conceal it!” > > Should I consider a tailor? Hadn’t thought of that until the Homer memory. > > ETA: **BeeGee** : yeah, that’s been bugging me too - what if I spend a bunch and everyone there’s a slob. But the “customer facing” part and the fact that I can instantly “dress down” by ditching the tie/jacket mitigates it I guess. (bolding mine) If you seriously think you can drop 20+ pounds within a couple months, I’d just get a couple suits and wait on the rest. $2000 is a lot to spend on a wardrobe that will need to be replaced in the near future. 20lbs makes a big difference in how your clothes fit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/male-wardrobe-advisor-is-that-a-thing/709144.md?page=1)