Newbie's questions/guide to style

[Henry Li]

Hello there! I am new towards this (as indicated by the title), and I was wondering what tips does everyone have? What would you want to see if you had a Beginner's Guide to Menswear? Hopefully, this could prove to be a guide for future reference not just to myself, but to many others that roam the forum.

 

[mr monty]

Shoe advice 101
Do some research on SF about shoe quality and pricing. Shoes that you now think are high end may be at the bottom of the quality ladder.

Try not to pay more than 50% of the retail price. Everything goes on sale.


Try to start with SF defined high end footwear. This avoids later selling mid level shoes and replacing them with high end shoes.


In a hurry, will write more later.

 

[BXpress]

As a semi beginner i can give you some advice, having made mistakes very recently. What mr monty says about shoes basically goes for everything.

I can compare it to collecting Whisky which i have been doing hard core for years now. With whisky you start small in order to train your palate. It is no good to go for complex old stuff before you have the experience to appreciate it. With menswear it is the opposite. Always go for the best that you can afford, even from the start.

When i started out almost a year ago, my first search in google was "English ties". I ended up at Charles Tyrwhitt and thought "wow thats the good stuff" until i did some research and took a look at Shibumi, Drake's, Cappelli..Fortunately CT has a 6 months return policy and i sent 15 ties back into the abyss whence they came. For the return money i bought 1 from Shibumi and 1 from Cappelli. Better to have 3-4 great ties than 15 cheap ties.

That is not to say there aren't bargains and some cheap things can be great like second hand vintage cufflinks. But 95% of the time with most menswear whether casual or formal, there is only one rule: If a man buys cheap clothes, he will be punsihed with poor quality and fit.

 

[breakaway01]

lurk here and read a lot. You will learn a ton by reading.

But don't just read and look at photos on the internet. Go to different shops and try on clothing in person. Your body shape and personal preferences are unique to you. Clothes that I think fit me well may not fit you well, so take clothing brand recommendations here (or anywhere else) with a grain of salt. While cheap clothes may be of worse quality than expensive clothes, I disagree with the above poster's implication that more expensive clothes fit better than less expensive clothes. Indeed, a cheap(er) garment that fits you well is usually 'better' than a more expensive garment that fits you poorly.