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THE ESSENTIAL MAN

Rule No. 1: Always Buy Clothes That Fit Properly Rule No. 2: Stop Wearing Pants That Are Too Big!

Rule No. 5: You Get What You Give

Rule No. 3: Chasing Trends i s E x h a u s t i n g a n d Expensive

7STYLE

MISTAKES

COMMON

(AND HOW TO FIX THEM)

THEESSENTIALMAN.COM

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WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES.What matters is what we do next. Dressing well isn’t some “talent” you’re born with, it’s a skill. And you can only get better if you put the right concepts into practice.

Guys who still have trouble dressing well like to assume that it requires so much time and money to look good. But you’d be surprised how very little thought it takes me now to shop and get dressed.

YOU TOO, CAN LOOK THIS COOL

AS LONG AS YOU RESIST THIS

Compare your first experience with your s m a r t p h o n e v e r s u s n o w. I t w a s intimidating. You weren’t used to touch screens. You had to figure out how to text, send images, download apps.

Now you’re Instagramming while walking while listening to podcasts while drinking our coffee. (Don't lie. I know, cause I do it too.)

I’ll show you how to get to that effortless level with your style. It all starts with addressing the most common sty le mistakes I’ve seen men make over the last decade working in men’s fashion.

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MISTAKE #1

WEARING CLOTHES THAT D ON’ T FIT

Do a quick Google search of style rules for men. You’ll find one rule making an appearance on every single one of them.

Wear clothes that fit properly.

It’s not your fault. Men aren’t really taught how clothes should really fit when we’re young. Guys resort to clothes that are too big for them because it feels comfortable. And clothes that are too big make you look fatter (because they’re too big), shorter (cause they’re too long), and sloppier (because you look like you don’t care).

I tell my clients this: “Buying clothes that fit properly will solve 90% of your problems.”

Think about it, what’s the most important thing when you’re buying shoes? How it fits. After you figure out how a particular shoe style fits, figuring out what style and color to get is the easy part.

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THE FIX Most guides on how clothes should fit are too long and complicated. It’s not that hard to learn how clothes should fit you.

I have a simple trick I teach my clients to quickly learn how something should fit on them, it’s called “The Clues are in the Construction.” It takes 10 mins to learn, and 1 second to execute.

All you need to know about how clothes should fit you can be seen by looking at how it’s put together.

For example, if you want to know how a top should fit, take a look at the shoulder seams. Where the sleeve and shoulder connect on, say, a t-shirt, should line up with where your arm and shoulder connect.

Let’s take a look at 2 quick examples:

The Adam Sandler (left) example INSTANTLY tells you that the shirt is too big for him.

The shoulder seam of Chris Pratt’s (right) t-shirt lines up with where his arm and shoulder actually connect, making a much better fit.

This trick applies to ANY top – t-shirts, dress shirts, plaid shirts, jackets and blazers.

For sleeve length, hit at the wrist. For pant length, end right where your ankles are. Your pant waist should be tight enough where you can comfortably button them up, but not require you to suck your gut in to put them on.

If you need a belt more than a notch or two, they're too big.

Want more? I’ve created a “Clues are in the Construction” Cheatsheet for you on the next page. Print it out and study it. It shouldn’t take you more than 10 minutes to remember.

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THE SHOULDER SEAM (ALL TOPS)

Sleeve seam should follow where your arm and body connect. The top of the shoulder seam should sit as close to the top of your actual shoulder as possible. WAIST

(ALL BOTTOMS)

B ottoms sh ou l d s i t r i g ht ab out t h e half way point of your body. The pant waist should be just wide enough to button comfortably. It’s too t ight i f i t’s hard to button. If you need a belt with more than 2 notches , pants are too large. Gett ing the r ight s ize wi l l make sure the crotch of the pant is as c lose to your natura l crotch as poss ible . Other wise, the pant crotch wi l l be too low, making your legs look shor t . Pants that are too t ight wi l l suf focated your boys!

CUFFS (ALL SLEEVED TOPS)

End cuff r ight where the wrist ends and hand star ts . For jackets , i t’s ok i f i t’s s l ight ly less (as above) or more. If you c a n s e e f o r e a r m , t o o s h o r t . I f i t ’s extending into the middle of your hand or cover ing your knuckles , i t’s too long.

PANT HEM (ALL PANTS)

End right where the leg stops and foot begins, around or on the ankles. Too long, excesses fabric will bunch up and pants will drag on the f loor. Too short and the pants will look shrunken.

THE FIT CHEATSHEET “THE CLUES ARE IN THE CONSTRUCTION”

By aligning how clothes are constructed to our body anatomy, you can quickly figure out if you’re wearing the right size.

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MISTAKE #2

WEARING PANT S THAT ARE TO O LONG & WIDE

THE FIX Buy pants that properly fit your waist. Follow the clue are in the construction - it should be the same width as your waist. It should be easy enough to button and zip. You shouldn’t be able to pull down your pants when they’re buttoned up. Nor should you need to hold your breath be suffocating when you button them up. Think of it like getting a pair of gloves. It should fit just enough - not be blood cutting tight, nor should your hand slip right out without effort.

The length - get them hemmed to hit just about where your leg ends and foot starts, right around your ankle. The pant leg should be clean or have the smallest of breaks. To avoid the bellbottom effect, avoid boot cut and certain straight leg styles. Go for regular, tapered or slim, depending on your body type. For larger guys, brands like Levis and J.Crew have athletic cut pants, with a bit more room in the thigh, tapering in the calf for a better silhouette.

Speaking of fit, the worst fit offense a man can make? Wearing pants that are too long, too wide, and too baggy.

Wearing pants that are too big and too long gives off a bellbottom look, making your feet look tiny.

Strange stacking fabric stacking and bunching, called breaks, occur as well.

Getting pants that fit properly is like getting a fresh haircut. You’ll look completely different and people will notice. Then you’ll wonder what the hell took you so long!

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MISTAKE #3

BUYING TO O MANY TRENDY CLOTHES

A classic style can sometimes feel a little plain. In this case, trends are a great way to make your style interesting and fresh.

Most men, however, overdo it. They get their fashion advice from magazines, which benefit from promoting the latest and newest.

How else do you get people to continually buy magazines? By making sure what they just got is obsolete in a few months!

Jumping from trend to trend not only gets really expensive, it makes you look like you’re trying way to hard. It’s like you’re trying to impress people with the fact that you just got that “shiny new thing” everyone wants. (See photos above)

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THE FIX Focus on building a core wardrobe of classic essentials in neutral pieces.

Menswear changes much slower than women’s wear, making it easy to look good year in and year out, as long as you stick to a few essential styles.

Neutral colors (black, white, beige, navy/blue, olives) mix infinitely with one another, and work well with nearly every other color. It’s dead simple to create styles and mix colors without even thinking. Once you built your core wardrobe, feel free to dabble a bit in trends.

I recommend a wardrobe ratio of 75% classics and 25% trends, so you don’t waste money or find yourself with a closet that expires in a few months.

Need some ideas on building a wardrobe? Check out my ongoing “The Essentials” series on the website.

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DRESSING TO O CASUAL

MISTAKE #4

Some guys love telling me how much they don’t care about style when they find out I’m a Personal Stylist.

(I know, people are weird. It’s like telling a Doctor I don’t care about sick people.)

They always love to resort to this: “It shouldn’t matter what you look like.”

Of course, in an ideal world, yes, looks shouldn’t matter. But we don’t live in an ideal world.

My favorite way to respond is to ask them to close their eyes and imagine their perfect, ideal girl. What do you think the #1 most common trait is?

It’s that she’s hot! (Of course she is!)

We do people often think they’re exceptions?

There’s nothing wrong with wanting someone that’s attractive. But we get what we give. Show me where in life we get rewarded for caring and doing less?

It doesn’t take any longer to buy clothes that fit properly and look good than it does ill fitting, ugly clothes. I don’t take any longer to get dressed than the next guy. In fact, I probably get dressed faster because I took the time to build a great wardrobe and learn what to do.

THE FIX Start with a small upgrade. Instead of a t-shirt, wear a button up collared shirt, like a chambray shirt. Swap out your sneakers for boots. Your jeans for chinos. These three swaps take you from 20-something slacker to respectable man.

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TO O MANY GR APHICS & EMBELLISHMENT S

MISTAKE #5

Graphics, prints, overly stitched and embellished clothes scream 3 things:

1. 19 year old guys drinking Mountain Dew 2. 40 year old guys at UFC events 3. Guy Fieri

None of the 3 are good looks for you. There’s a saying in marketing: the shittier the product, the bigger the marketing budget. Embellishments, graphics, logos, etc are the same thing. They’re compensating for lack of style (think of obnoxious rapper jewelry and their head to toe Gucci prints.)

THE FIX Great style is subtle. Sticking to solid neutral colors achieves this, and makes you look a lot more mature and refined.

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MISTAKE #6

WEARING CHEAP, SQUARE TOED SHOES

Square toed shoes are still a thing. I know, because I saw a ton of them this morning on the subway.

Why are these so offensive?

They give you what I love to call duck feet.

They also scream cheap. Square toed style shoes now are usually only done by cheaper companies. Why? Because it wastes less leather (think cutting rectangles from a piece of paper vs circles) and it is easier to sew compared to rounded shoes.

Because their popularity with men with less refined taste in footwear, if you ever choose to buy and wear a pair, you’ll be lumped with them too.

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THE FIX Easy. Just go out and get some proper rounded toe shoes.

I’ll get you started with a few of my favorite staples: (left to right) Suit Supply Oxfords, Thursday Boot everyday boots, Common Projects Chelsea Boots.

If you’re still not convinced to throw away those outlet store dress shoes in your closet - just ask any moderately attractive woman what she thinks about square toed shoes.

I rest my case.

Suit Supply Classic Oxfords, $399 | Thursday Boot Co. Presidents, $199 |Common Project Chelsea Boots, $515

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OVERMATCHING

MISTAKE #7

Men often get matching wrong.

They think it means literally matching everything.

Yellow tie, yellow pocket square, yellow belt, yellow socks, yellow shoelaces.

That’s like putting salty gravy on a salty steak, then topping it off with some salt.

It’s overkill.

It comes off like you’re trying way too hard.

THE FIX Matching should really be thought of as “complimenting”.

Think back to the food analogy - while we wouldn’t salt something that’s salty, putting a little finishing salt on a cookie actually makes it sweeter.

It’s compliments it.

As I mentioned before, great style is about subtlety. When it comes to colors, better to stick to a overall neutral outfit and utilize colors subtlety. Check out this post I did on color blocking and pop colors over at Style Girlfriend.

WHAT TO D O NEXT

VISIT ME AT THE ESSENTIAL MAN, WHERE I WRITE MORE STUFF LIKE THIS.

I share everything I’ve learned in the 10 years working in Menswear.

It’s where I help some of the most successful entrepreneurs and ambitious men improve their style, so they can be taken seriously in their work and personal life.

In short, I help guys look really fucking good.

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