Hi!
I found myself becoming increasingly interested in the world of men's style earlier in the last few years, and have been slowly building a new wardrobe for about six or seven months – in conjunction with a healthy weight loss. For the last couple of months, I've found myself struggling to allocate my budget to the most (cost)effective thing. That is, I spend money on things that I'm probably not going to use that often.
Maybe you who've been on the journey for longer can give some guidance?
I work for a marketing agency in a Scandinavian country and became a partner earlier this year. There's really no office dress code to speak about. Most guys are wearing a casual shirt with chinos and a pair of white sneakers. When meeting a client, you might see an odd sports jacket and/or a white button-down shirt. I'm rarely participating in any formal events outside of work either, and I don't think I've been in a situation where a suit is expected since before the pandemic.
I'm in my early 30's, 6"3, quite narrow (not skinny) and somewhat disproportionate, having long legs and a shorter torso. I tend to like longer shirts, jackets, and sweaters. My legs are quite slim, while my hips are a bit wider. I've found that slim-fitted pants fit better than regular-shaped ones. The same goes with shirts, albeit it tends to get too tight around my waist. I'm quite fair-skinned, like most Scandinavians, with green eyes and dark-blonde hair (the remaining of it that is). I don't like black, "hard" white, or too flashy colors, as I feel washed out wearing it.
I don't have too many style icons I look up to per se, but I do fancy the James Bond look on the more formal side and Jason Statham on the casual side (if that makes any sense). As many do, I find the 20's and 30's style really interesting. I like Boardwalk Empire and Peaky Blinders for more than the plotlines. I guess the British style is more attractive to me than the Italian style. The climate up here is also more similar to Britain than Italy.
My wardrobe consists of about :
To add to the information overload, here are some of my criteria:
I found myself becoming increasingly interested in the world of men's style earlier in the last few years, and have been slowly building a new wardrobe for about six or seven months – in conjunction with a healthy weight loss. For the last couple of months, I've found myself struggling to allocate my budget to the most (cost)effective thing. That is, I spend money on things that I'm probably not going to use that often.
Maybe you who've been on the journey for longer can give some guidance?
I work for a marketing agency in a Scandinavian country and became a partner earlier this year. There's really no office dress code to speak about. Most guys are wearing a casual shirt with chinos and a pair of white sneakers. When meeting a client, you might see an odd sports jacket and/or a white button-down shirt. I'm rarely participating in any formal events outside of work either, and I don't think I've been in a situation where a suit is expected since before the pandemic.
I'm in my early 30's, 6"3, quite narrow (not skinny) and somewhat disproportionate, having long legs and a shorter torso. I tend to like longer shirts, jackets, and sweaters. My legs are quite slim, while my hips are a bit wider. I've found that slim-fitted pants fit better than regular-shaped ones. The same goes with shirts, albeit it tends to get too tight around my waist. I'm quite fair-skinned, like most Scandinavians, with green eyes and dark-blonde hair (the remaining of it that is). I don't like black, "hard" white, or too flashy colors, as I feel washed out wearing it.
I don't have too many style icons I look up to per se, but I do fancy the James Bond look on the more formal side and Jason Statham on the casual side (if that makes any sense). As many do, I find the 20's and 30's style really interesting. I like Boardwalk Empire and Peaky Blinders for more than the plotlines. I guess the British style is more attractive to me than the Italian style. The climate up here is also more similar to Britain than Italy.
My wardrobe consists of about :
- 7 dress shirts: Mostly light-blue and non-iron, but with a couple of oversized linen shirts.
- 10 flannel shirts: Most are either too large or washed out.
- 10 t-shirts: No logos, plain colors.
- 2 pairs of jeans: One grayish and one mid-blue distressed.
- 5 pants: Off-the-rack but with a "tailored" fit, all in different shades of gray and a polyester/cotton mix.
- 4 sweaters: All crew neck, in gray, green, and off-white. One cheap cashmere, the rest are cotton/polyester mix.
- 1 sports jacket in dark gray.
- 3 pairs of formal shoes and boots: Santoni monkstraps, Loake Nene (Chelsea boot), and a pair of gray suede derbies.
- 1 tie: Silk and burgundy.
- 2 jackets/coats: A brown leather jacket for spring and summer, and a navy overcoat for winter (100% wool).
- 1 pair of leather gloves and 2 scarves (monochromatic orange and a tartan with gray and blue).
To add to the information overload, here are some of my criteria:
- Off the rack, as I can't afford to splurge too much money at this point. That is, I can spend $300 - $500 on an item, but not much more than that. Buying secondhand is an alternative, but it's a small market and it's hard to come by anything worth the money (even at goodwill, clothes are marked at least 30 - 40% of retail prices).
- Classics or historical brands (I.e a western shirt from Wrangler, Levi's 501, or a pair of aviator sunglasses). This adds so much value to my experience.
- Quality trumps quantity: I don't like the buy-and-throw-away-mentality, and I take good care of everything I buy.
- Flexibility is key: Can be dressed down or up, easily mixed and matched, and/or be worn in all seasons.