21 year old, needing advice on how to dress my age

Slim jeans and fitted t-shirts and polos is all you need. I wouldn't do sport coats at your age.

I also think this would work well for you. This is what worked for me when I was around your age.

Here you go, dude on left.

I'm probably going to get shit on for providing a formulaic look, but APC New Standards (size down 2) Hanes T-shirts (or Uniqlo or Muji if you live in NYC) Gold Toe socks (or Uniqlo if in NYC, Pantherella or Paul Smith if you can find off of ebay or B&S) RM William Chelsea boots, Alden Chukkas, or Red Wing 8173s or Gentlemen's Travelers, or LL Bean Katahdins. Some shade of brown. White Chuck Taylors, Jack Purcells, Vans New Eras, Common Projects Achilles, Spring Court (personal preference), or Supergas That's the basics. You will want to expand with knitwear, coats, and jackets. This is where you will need to do your own research and look at the WAYWT thread at the top of this forum, the recent purchases thread, the Buy and Sell forum, troll eBay, and various online vendors and local department stores for sales. If you live in an Asian country, find a local tailor and get a dark navy or a charcoal suit made. Once you like the fit have him make a coat for you too. Research materials and cloth books after you meet up with him. If not, good luck. (If you want suits, forum affiliate Thick as Thieves provides a nice MTO/MTMeasure Yourself program online. Nice modern cut) But before anything I believe you need a haircut, better glasses (I like Moscot or Shuron), work out, and get laid. The last four I think are key to developing swagger and without it I think you will possibly become like forum user wagthesam. Make sure you get your measurements taken by a friend, yourself, or even a tailor before you buy online. Measure your best fitting clothes and compare with measurements people give you for the garment. Make sure the shoulder to shoulder measurements fit first, then look at pit to pit, then length. Sleeve lengths can be altered. Dress like above and you wont get mad rep here, but you will look a cut above your peers. Welcome to SF

find your own style, dont follow the formula.

Slim fit ARE NOT the same as skinny jeans. Skinny jeans look ridiculous. Slim fit simply look like the jeans fit well.

To add, you can through in same casual button downs and classic khaki pants (a la J. Crew) with the stuff I mention earlier.

It's up to you whether or not you follow formula, but from experience most people here start up like you and end up with formula. I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Steez will come in time, but for now you need a foundation to build upon. Otherwise why even come here? If you want to wear hoodies go for it. If not then don't. Why come ask for advice? There's no do or don't, just does it look good or does it not.

as long as your clothes fit, they will look good. stay away from bright colors and you'll be fine

Gonna keep it simple and on the cheaper side. Here are some really really really simple things that you can do that aren't super expensive. Get a pair of Levis 501 STF If you live in America these can be found everywhere. Try on a pair and get the waist size that fits you and go up 1 from there if you want it slightly relaxed or just get that size. Make sure you get the inseam a little longer for the shrinkage. These feel a lot stiffer than normal jeans so you'll know they are STF. Swap out the white socks White socks can actually look really disgusting. The same black socks you wear with your jeans can then also be used for more dressy occasions. Someone mentioned this so get some goldtoe socks from costco for a nice cheap option. Try clothes a size down you normally wear For me my parents always bought clothes a size bigger than I was so I can get more wear out of them and for a while I thought I was a size large, but I tried on a medium again and it was a good fit and it was a fit I wanted. If you're already the right size then don't try and force the issue. Some other things for you to consider Get a classic pair of sneakers Converse Chuck Taylors, Jack Purcells, even Vans authentics come to mind. Get them in like a black or white or grey. Stay away from some of that eurotrash puma shit or that chunky skater shit or a pair of running shoes. Some other shoes are ok like some adidas stan smith/campus etc., but stick to the classic sneakers. Stay away from logos Some logos are ok but if you're unsure just stay away from them completely and you'll be safe. Just a quick heads up that Ralph Lauren horsey logo is ok on polos and the Levis logos are ok on Levis Jeans. Just a quick outline of some things you can do to make yourself look better quite effortlessly. I think these things that I have listed apply to all people regardless of the way they dress so if your style evolves into something different, the things that I told you here won't become complete bullshit.

get on albam and buy an outfit, you wont go far wrong

When I was 21 I was pretty happy with a pair of Levis jeans, chucks, an american apparel hoody, a northface jacket, and hanes t-shirts. If you're in school and money is tight, spend it on food and books (this is probably bad advice for a website called "styleforum").

check out h&m if you live near one