Just now learning about style

Ok, hopefully you will all have mercy on me here.

I am a 32 year old man who has never had the money, nor the opportunity, to learn about style and buy clothes until recently.

I recently started a company and so needed to get some clothes besides my dockers and polo shirts. More than that though, I want to dress stylishly. Not knowing anything, I did the easy thing and went to the Mens Warehouse where I purchased some clothing I am fairly happy with. Its not the clothes I want forever, but it is at least rounding out what I have so that I can be dressed appropriately for my work. I got a some of the basics - white shirts, a few ties, blue sports coat, black cashmere sport coat, blue dress shirt, etc. I spent about a 1000 dollars and, combined with the clothes I already have, established a much better wardrobe than I have ever had. I'm pretty happy with it.

That being said, I CAN tell the difference when I see NICE clothing. But I have no idea how to start establishing a REAL wardrobe. I don't even know much about mens style, not even the basics. I tried a year ago subscribing to the mens magazine Details, and bought their book, but honestly, even I could tell that it was fully of drivel. I am starting to learn, but since I don't know anyone who is really stylish, and haven't found any real resources, I am here.

I seriously don't even know what I am asking for, other than, Can you all point me to real resources about real mens style? Or maybe just give me pointers on the basics? How does one go about establishing a nice wardrobe? Anyone else out there who started at the begining like I am, and has pointers for how they got to where they are?

FYI, I like nice and cool and stylish clothes, but not anything like streat wear.

Thanks ALL!

Keep reading this forum. WAYWN thread is the best place for photos all in one place. The shirt pron and shoe pron threads are also good but the shirts are folded and for someone new, you won't get an idea of how shirts should fit on a body with those threads. But you will get a good idea of some good shirt brands.

That's the best advice really. Keep reading. Keep learning.

PS: The WAYWN thread is generally at the top of the page and is the most viewed thread and is therefore "pinned" at the top. It is also called the "What are you wearing right now" thread.

Buy these books: Dressing the Man by Alan Flusser

The Suit by _____ Antogiovanni or something like that

Trust me, you will not regret it, especially Dressing the Man.

Originally Posted by GucciKid

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Buy these books: Dressing the Man by Alan Flusser

The Suit by _____ Antogiovanni or something like that

Trust me, you will not regret it, especially Dressing the Man.

I second that, I'm on Allans book right now, and it's simply brilliant and well illustrated.
The only thing is that I would like to have a bit more information about the color combinations with skin color...

First of all...Welcome! You're in the right place...and I totally agree with what has been said so far.

My advice is to spend as much time here as you can and learn to use the Search function. Unfortunately there's little consensus here and it can be quite confusing. For instance, if you check out the WAYWN (What Are You Wearing Now) thread you will see a lot of different styles and your first impression might be that most of the raving is about outfits that seem horribly mismatched. Many here like to push the envelope so to speak and your first impression is probably correct.

The 1st rule is that FIT is KING. Nothing else matters if it doesn't fit right.

Which leads to Rule #2 which is to Know Your Measurements

because Rule #3 is that it is silly to pay anything close to retail when there is more great stuff than you could ever wear in the Buying & Selling forum

which leads to Rule #4: be patient (refer to Rule #1) because good things come to those who wait.

And despite the impression you might get, most of us won't pay more than $500-$600 for a suit or $200-$300 for a pair of shoes. It sounds like you're on the right track as far as outfitting yourself for business. Blue and gray slacks and coats, white and blue shirts, blue and red/burgundy ties in "conservative" patterns and a couple pairs of good shoes (with one being a cap-toe balmoral).

always buy clothes you're comfortable in as well dont wear things simply because some joe butthole online or in a mag said it was stylish

all of these are great responses ^

Some people may frown at the following (given the madetomeasure and bespoke fetish pertinent to these forums) but; find a brand that fits your body type well (does not need to be Dior, but could be H&M, Club Monaco, heck even mens warehouse if it fits you well and a brand that you enjoy and agree the aesthetic of).

At this point really (also mentioned above), fit is really key. Once you have something that you think makes you look good according to your eyesight, other peoples povs and the books mentioned above; get it measured and start getting stuff some real QUALITY stuff online;

Either from GILT, Buyin and Selling section of this forum, ehaberdasher, ebay etc. and then perhaps, even get some made2measure (abbreviated to m2m in here), done for you.

Thanks for the great replies. That does help. I too would like to get to the point of "pushing the envelope", but I am not ready for that yet and am simply building a rounded-out wardrobe.

I will get those books.

Thanks for the 4 rules to live by. I will not deviate! lol

Thanks for the welcome. I will enjoy this forum, methinks. I love good style, I just need to learn about it!

Happy New Years all!

Originally Posted by specialmonkey

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Happy New Years all!

Welcome! Enjoy the journey!

Originally Posted by Faded501s

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which leads to Rule #4: be patient (refer to Rule #1) because good things come to those who wait.

As someone who was in the OPs shoes about 2 years ago, I want to reinforce rule #4 because it's so easy to get the first 3 and be off to the races.

If so, you'll amass a bunch of stuff (hopefully, well fitting) but then start seeing things that you realize you really wanted in the first place but settled for something not-quite-so in the original rush.

You'll see this time and again with n00bs who post "what first pair of shoes/suit should I get?" where the almost universal response is punctuated with "spend a little more and get something that will last".

Although, maybe this is the cycle of things for all of us - certainly it's how a lot of hand-me-downs make it to the B&S at ridiculous prices