Tips on how to dress and look sharp

 

The right clothing can give a young man precious seconds to make his case and influence others. It is worth paying attention to your clothing as a young man even if you’re working in a field without strict dress codes.

Tradesmen, welders, carpenters, and construction workers.  Our clothing still matters as it introduces us and tells our story before we open our mouth. Crisp, clean, and well fitted clothing – wherever you are at in the world – encourages others to take you more seriously.

Below are 9 tips for young men who want to look and be seen as sharp.

1) Dress From Your Footwear Up

Starting from the ground up, appropriate-fitting footwear is the first step to dressing sharp. If you’ve never owned really good shoes before, brace yourself and get ready to pay a significant amount of money for well-made, classic footwear.

A good pair of dress shoes will last you years and stay good-looking with nothing more than some light cleaning and the occasional shine.

2) Dress to Look Older

The way you dress is the way you are perceived. If you’re still wearing clothes that scream “student days” you’re going to be treated like a boy with no experience in the real world.

That means raiding your wardrobe and getting rid of the majority of your ultra-casual clothes: T-shirts, cargo pants, jean shorts, sweatshirts and sweatpants, baseball hats, and athletics.

Save a few for yardwork and exercise — but donate the rest of it to charity and start replacing it with dressier clothes that speak to your maturity.

Models get paid to make goofy clothes seem reasonable. Don’t fall for it.

3) Ignore Fashion Trends.

Main-stream fashion trends change too fast to make useful wardrobe staples. Most young men don’t have the budget to buy new pants every month or two — so stay away from pants that are only presentable during an “in” season.

Stick to classic clothing staples for the core of your wardobe and avoid anything that’s too far out on the cutting edge — even if you see something that makes it look good.

4) Take Care of Your Clothing.

If you’ve shelled out for a few pieces of good, quality clothing, it’s worth a few bucks more to keep the clothes in good shape. That means using good hangers for your suits, shoe trees for your shoes, and a little tender loving care with the washing machine.

5) Have at Least One Good Suit in the Closet

No matter what your job is, you’re going to need a decent suit at some point. If you’re in a field where you’re going to wear one regularly you should look for a variety of colors and styles; if you just need a single suit for infrequent dress occasions stick with a classic single-breasted, two-button suit in charcoal gray or navy blue.

6) Build from White and Blue Shirts

White and light blue cotton dress shirts are the backbone to a sharp wardrobe.

Much of this lies in the fact both of these colors make up approximately 90% of the dress shirts sold worldwide and that either color looks good on most complexions and body types.

Being so popular, these shirt fabrics are also available in a wide range of style and sizes anywhere in the world, making acquisition at a value price likely for the man on the lookout for sales and discounts.

Patterns can liven up the basic white and blue color palette, and there’s nothing wrong with branching out into some other colors as your personal style evolves. Just have a good core of white and blue dress shirts.

As long as you have one clean and hanging up in the closet, you’ll never be completely out of decent-looking things to wear.

Read also: 5 rules for looking great in jeans

7) Own Dark Fitted Jeans & Know When to Wear Them

Jean styles are always changing: rips, tears, acid and bleach washing, distressed, stone washed, boot cut, wide leg, low rise, skinny; baggy.

Keep it simple and stick to fitted jeans in a dark colour, sans fading or rips. You can wear them with a fitted T-shirt for a relaxed, casual look or dress them up with a buttoned shirt and a sport coat for a business-casual style.

8) Look beyond Denim

Well cut and classically styled trousers will make you look a little sharper at social occasions than jeans. They’re less common in a young crowd, so you’ll already be standing out, and a good pair of slacks has a drape and crease that looks much crisper than denim.

You can also get wool or cotton trousers much lighter than blue jeans, which is a blessing in any kind of warm weather.

9) Replace T-shirts with Polos and Sport Shirts

Wearing T-shirts to the gym or when you are performing house chores is fine. But wearing T-shirts to social events or to work is a no-no, especially when the shirt is too big and made from a shoddy fabric advertising the company who gave it to you a decade ago.

A good polo in a simple, dark color is always presentable and always flattering if it’s fitted well.

You can also opt for buttoned short-sleeved shirts in the summer, ranging from Carhartt work shirts to seersucker dress shirts. If you do wear a T-shirt, make sure it’s new, clean, close-fitted and in a solid, dark colour.

Credit: Realmenrealstyle

 

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