By Caterina Christakos
Poor men. While there are countless stores offering cool, unique, stylish clothes for women, men typically have to look longer and harder to find clothes that suit their style. In my experience, many men eventually give up on even trying to cultivate a personal style. They just settle on the ordinary t-shirt-and-jeans look and don't even think about it anymore. I understand this impulse, but it's a little boring.
And in the end, cultivating a look isn't so hard if you have something in mind. Rather than just throwing stuff up and seeing what sticks, it's good to have a certain men's fashion style in mind, and to commit to it.
As a general guide, here are the most common looks for American men.
Professional: This is the look in which you cultivate the appearance of an intelligent, professional, working man, but stopping short of being a powerhouse. In other words, you wear light suits, simple gray and white tones, along with non-flashy ties and stylish leather work shoes. The advantage of this look is that it's rare for it to be one man's all-encompassing style. After all, few people wear suits to the park on the weekend. In other words, you get to be business-stylish on the weekdays, and casual-stylish on the weekends and in the evenings.
Workman: If you're a guy who works a typical guy's job-anything in industry, construction, or any other type of hands-on work, the workman look might be perfect for you. Of course, even if you don't work in one of these fields, the workman look is still a great way to make a statement about your personality and to unite yourself with the working class. Go with simple work-shirts, beat-up jeans, flannel jackets, and plain t-shirts.
The Woodsman: This one is similar to the workman, but with more of an outdoorsy feel. Camouflage is generally a bad idea, at least if you want to be stylish, but it's good to wear olive, green, and brown tones, including corduroy pants and jackets, green hunting coats, simple shirts that you can move around in, lumberjack sweaters, and rugged outdoorsy boots.
The Sportsman: This one is easy, but it's usually not considered very fashionable. Dress as if you're going on a hike every day, with cotton jeans, light cotton sweaters, nylon jackets and vests, useful watches, and few accessories. Of course, there's another version of a sportsman, which involves wearing lots of jerseys and baseball caps, but not everyone can pull this off.
Rock-and-Roll: This is one variety of the hipster look. It involves leather or jean jackets, rocker jeans, lots of t-shirts, and the occasional vest or simple button-up shirt for those "special" occasions. Of course, you can only really pull off this look if you also sell it from the neck-up, with shaggy hair and stubble.
Laid-back bohemian: This is the other main type of hipster look. Essentially, you cultivate a non-caring air, bringing together a little bit of everything, but with a definite artsy and cosmopolitan vibe. It's hard to get this look right, so if you're not a genuine bohemian at heart, approach with caution.
Poor men. While there are countless stores offering cool, unique, stylish clothes for women, men typically have to look longer and harder to find clothes that suit their style. In my experience, many men eventually give up on even trying to cultivate a personal style. They just settle on the ordinary t-shirt-and-jeans look and don't even think about it anymore. I understand this impulse, but it's a little boring.
And in the end, cultivating a look isn't so hard if you have something in mind. Rather than just throwing stuff up and seeing what sticks, it's good to have a certain men's fashion style in mind, and to commit to it.
As a general guide, here are the most common looks for American men.
Professional: This is the look in which you cultivate the appearance of an intelligent, professional, working man, but stopping short of being a powerhouse. In other words, you wear light suits, simple gray and white tones, along with non-flashy ties and stylish leather work shoes. The advantage of this look is that it's rare for it to be one man's all-encompassing style. After all, few people wear suits to the park on the weekend. In other words, you get to be business-stylish on the weekdays, and casual-stylish on the weekends and in the evenings.
Workman: If you're a guy who works a typical guy's job-anything in industry, construction, or any other type of hands-on work, the workman look might be perfect for you. Of course, even if you don't work in one of these fields, the workman look is still a great way to make a statement about your personality and to unite yourself with the working class. Go with simple work-shirts, beat-up jeans, flannel jackets, and plain t-shirts.
The Woodsman: This one is similar to the workman, but with more of an outdoorsy feel. Camouflage is generally a bad idea, at least if you want to be stylish, but it's good to wear olive, green, and brown tones, including corduroy pants and jackets, green hunting coats, simple shirts that you can move around in, lumberjack sweaters, and rugged outdoorsy boots.
The Sportsman: This one is easy, but it's usually not considered very fashionable. Dress as if you're going on a hike every day, with cotton jeans, light cotton sweaters, nylon jackets and vests, useful watches, and few accessories. Of course, there's another version of a sportsman, which involves wearing lots of jerseys and baseball caps, but not everyone can pull this off.
Rock-and-Roll: This is one variety of the hipster look. It involves leather or jean jackets, rocker jeans, lots of t-shirts, and the occasional vest or simple button-up shirt for those "special" occasions. Of course, you can only really pull off this look if you also sell it from the neck-up, with shaggy hair and stubble.
Laid-back bohemian: This is the other main type of hipster look. Essentially, you cultivate a non-caring air, bringing together a little bit of everything, but with a definite artsy and cosmopolitan vibe. It's hard to get this look right, so if you're not a genuine bohemian at heart, approach with caution.
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