Men's Style for Beginners

1. Introduction: Welcome to Men style with Stephen I'm Stephen and I'm a stylist and marketer living in Austin, Texas. Over the last several years, I've helped hundreds of people developed their own personal style and discovered just how good it feels to look your best. I created this course because I felt there was a need for an ad free to the point tutorial on what students like you should look for when establishing or refining your own personal style. This course is meant to be an easy to digest rundown of some key areas, including closet basics, how your clothing should fit, interview attire, outfits for travel and a few other accessory tips. I'd like to thank you for joining this course. I look forward to helping you develop your own style and your participation along the way. Thank you very much. 2. Closet Must Haves: welcome everybody to the section closet must haves in this section. We're going to be reviewing nine items that I feel are critical to establishing a really solid wardrobe. We're going to jump right in and cover bottoms 1st 1st up is the light wash pair of denim for Texas. It's hot nine months out of the year, so I can get away with these for a really long time. However, if you're living in a place where their distinct seasons reserve it for the spring and summer months, he's looked fantastic with white T shirts with Navy T shirts with lightweight sweaters. Anything gray, navy or white are gonna look really classic and super American because this is a very American styles of blue Jean. Next on the list is the dark wash denim or a rinse Denham. I prefer Denham that has no wash to it. If we're going to go dark because I can dress it up, I can dress it down. I can wear it on casual Fridays. I can actually wear it on date nights with ah blazer like I'm wearing now. Here, check this out. Looks fantastic. Super clean. For these you can wear button downs, T shirts, anything. Just make sure to invest in a premium pair of dark denim because they're going to get more use than any other pants in your wardrobe. Next up, we're going to be talking about the cotton Chino. So for Chino, I would recommend doing a Navy I khaki or an olive pair. You're going to get a lot more use out of those. They're going to be easy to incorporate into an existing wardrobe. I would wear a buttoned down with ease. I would wear T shirts with ease, anything that I would work with a denim. I do that equally with a Chino. Invest in something with a little bit of stretch. Make sure the fit is good there, too. You could even rock these with, You know, a blazer like I'm doing right here looks fantastic. It's a way to dress things up. If years an event that is prohibiting denim cotton chinos are the way to go in this section , we're gonna be review my recommended tops for your foundation for your wardrobe. Since this is focusing on the basics, I'm gonna leave dress shirt out of the equation. I'm only going to recommend casual items and dress casual items because they're gonna have the most versatility in any guy's wardrobe. First up is the Oxford shirt. If you're looking for something that is still on the casual side but is a little dressier, Oxford shirts are an amazing way to go. They come in a multitude colors. I recommend sticking with white to begin with, it's gonna go fantastic with chinos, with any washing denim and the fact that you can get them in lighter stretch here. Fabrics for warmer climb mints makes all the difference. I love the Oxford shirt. Next up, we're gonna go with amore dress casual. It's a little bit dressier than an Oxford shirt. It is just a white hopping collar shirt. This is amazing because if you're not wanting to invest in a drescher, which is done by measurements, thes one simply come in sizes and they come in different cuts. This is a medium slim. You want to make sure it is well fitted because you wanted to look great outside of a blazer situation. If you want to put a blazer on, it's still gonna look really clean and crisp. Lastly, but not certainly not least is my favorite item. It is the plain white T shirt. This is amazing. I'm gonna use this with any denim. Any Chino. I could even put it on underneath a blazer like I'm doing with my blue light blue short here, and it's still gonna look really fantastic. That critical part is making sure that these things are freshly pressed or steamed and they're gonna be color wise, super clean. You want to make sure that if you're going to just it down, make it look good, make it look super clean, make it look like you know what you're doing. And you will never be disappointed in your wardrobe because the white shirt or the playing color T shirt is going to be one of the most versatile items in your entire closet. For this section, we're gonna be going over third pieces. And in my opinion, 1/3 piece is something that you just pair with a top and bottom that essentially elevates your entire look. The first item that comes to my mind in regard to functionality is going to be the navy blue blazer and with a navy blue blazer, you're going to notice that it's gonna have a lot of uses in a wardrobe like this. Not only is it utilitarian, it's got a ton of pockets. This one is actually online, so it's perfect for warmer weather. It's also packable, so I can keep this in my backpack or when I'm traveling. It works amazing. The other reason I use something like this is because if I'm asked to go out after work, I could just pop this on. It's gonna instantly elevate my look even if I'm just in T shirt and jeans and everything goes with Navy. You're looking at Oliver's. You're looking with khakis you're looking at even, like, really, really light colored pants like like color khakis look fantastic. With this. The next item is gonna be the denim jacket, one of my all time favorite third pieces. It adds a level of ruggedness to any outfit. It adds a level of texture. If you're wearing something that is like a cotton Chino, adding a denim on top looks fantastic. One of my rules is if you're gonna wear dark denim jacket where a light colored pants don't go with a dark denim on the bottom it just looks to monochromatic. It also adds just a level of, like classic nous to the look. So where it with, like a light pair of khakis and you be good last on the list. I wanted to incorporate a little bit of color with an olive top. Olive is great because it goes really well with navies, whites, greys, khakis. That this bomber that I'm holding now is a suede bomber. It's a little bit more substantial. It's got a nice satin lining. I chose to invest in a premium third piece this time around because I wanted to age really well, and I just feel amazing when I'm in something that I know there's a little bit more premium . I know that I'm gonna have it for forever, and it's gonna fit me as long as I keep my shape. And I should be good to go for the next 20 or 30 years. First up is the clean white T shirt pair with the dark denim and some loafers. I'm tying it all together with my third piece, this casual navy blue blazer. I'm ready to go for after work cocktails in this, or if I'm just running around doing some errands. I know that I'm gonna look really put together with all three of these pieces. Second up is the bomber pair with a light denim, some white sneakers and a Navy blue T shirt. This is perfect for the bar. It's perfect for a game. It's perfect for just hanging out. If it gets too warm, I could easily pop this bomber off, and I'm still looking like I'm totally put together and ready to be seen. Lastly, I could do this outfit easily three times a week. This is a denim jacket paired with a cotton chino and a white Oxford shirts. I feel like depending on what you do for a living, if you're in a business casual environment, this is going to be perfect for work and for after work and just looking good throughout the day. No matter what happens, thanks again for checking out this section. If you have any questions or comments or need advice on incorporating anything into your wardrobe like these items, please send me a message and I'm happy to discuss it with you. Thanks so much 3. Fitting Guide: How's it going? Everybody? Welcome to the fitting guide section of this class here. We're gonna be talking about some of the key items that should be in your wardrobe and how they should fit. Although we're going to be discussing fit, we won't be getting into measurements for these items are reviewed. So many videos on men's style and callous influencers produce content on sizing. But in my opinion, something has usually been missing. And that element is knowing your measurements in this section, we're gonna be talking about the do's and dont's of how your clothing should fit. As many of you don't likely have a solid way to measure yourself at home, I recommend visiting a locally owned tailor shop in your area will not only be an excellent resource for learning, your measurements will become a great contact when you inevitably need some tailoring done , let's jump right into it. Your pants say a lot about you, whether you knew that are not pants that are too loose or too tight affect the way that others view you. For example, looser fitting pants can be seen a sloppy and even visually shorten a person's height in the eyes of others. Tighter fitting pants, on the other hand, can often be unflattering to those who don't have a slender build. It's important to remember that there are many reasons to dress in looser or tighter fitting clothing, especially if you're seeking to emulate a certain style. If you're looking to play it safe and have more versatility in your wardrobe, invest in pants that are not too tight or not too loose, and you'll be able to extend the life of your wardrobe on the shirting like pants. You're sure it's play a critical role in your wardrobe. Most times, it's the item with which we choose to project our personality like your favorite TV show were banned regardless of what's on the shirt. The critical element is the fit. Not dressing to your measurements can cause you to appear smaller or larger than you actually are, and distort other disease view of you. Ah, well fitted shirt should shape you appropriately, slimming you all around without accentuating any specific areas. I've included a link of the class description to an excellent sizing chart. You can print it out, take it to your tailor that what you never lose your measurements, and it makes shopping so much easier. Let's move on a suiting. Investing in a suit can be a life changing event. Whether it's for your first interview, your bar mitzvah, wedding funeral or even your first speaking engagement, a poorly fitted suit can completely ruin a first impression. Here's a key point to follow. You want to avoid baggy nous at all costs. This includes excessive stacking in the legs, too much fabric in the body and sleeves and too long or too short jacket length. Remember, the same goes for fits that are too tight now. Ah, well fitted suit has the power to transform you. It shapes your body to its ideal form, nipping you in at the right places and accentuating masculine features. Wearing a suit that fits you well can boost your confidence and can even spur a halo effect to those around you. Having a solid relationship with your tailor is the most important take away here. They'll recommend alterations, if any, that'll work for you specifically. Lastly, let's talk shorts When worn correctly. Shorts can make you look more proportionate for your height and help slim you down a bit. The most important lesson when wearing shorts is to make sure you're choosing the right cut and length for your height and build. If you're slender and taller than average, stick with a slim cut seven or nine. In short, that will help you to balance out your legs with a solid fabric to skin ratio. The slimmer cut will also prevent your legs from looking overly skinny. If you're of average height, they're shorter. Stick to a seven or five in short, depending on your build, Go with a slimmer short to shorts with a wider leg, opening can further shorten you. Also, don't be afraid to show some skin you'll look a bit taller by switching to a shorter length . I'd like to wrap up the section with a reminder to post your questions or comments in the discussion area below. Also, don't forget to visit the link for the Sizing guide in the class project description. Before visiting your tailor, print out the sizing guide. You're Taylor can measure you and mark your sizes on the sheet for future reference. Most Taylor's should do this for free, and in my experience it was a great opportunity to build a new relationship. Remember, the more familiar you are with your measurements, the less mistakes you'll make in investing in clothing that fit you properly. Your clothing should always be comfortable. Finding the right fit will help you achieve comfort while helping look your best. Thanks again for checking out this class. I look forward to your discussion questions and comments. 4. Traveling in Style: welcome to the traveling in style part of the course in this mini section. I'm gonna show you some of my recommendations for making your next trip easier by dressing the part of the savvy traveler. I used to be one of those guys who would travel in sweat pants and a hoodie. Although I was really comfortable, I noticed that I always felt underdressed and a bit messy. I would later discover that dressing smarter for trip not only made travel easier, I was treated differently and sometimes better by airport and flight personnel. My first travel attire suggestion is to invest in a smart, casual look. I suggest a nice T shirt under a blazer and pants. Ah, blazer will hold your documents at the ready, and it will also look more polished than a hoody. If it's warming your destination, you could break it up easily into a more casual off it by removing your blazer. I don't know about you, but once I'm on an airplane, I'm ready to grab a cocktail and get cozy. Just a note. You want to make sure that your travel wardrobe is travel friendly, but more important that your items air fitting you properly for maximum comfort, I suggest reviewing the fitting guide section of the class as a refresher. In addition to this, I always travel with a white dress shirt. Be sure to invest in a shirt that has optimized for trips. This white dress shirt includes wrinkle resistance, moisture wicking and stretch equalities. Excellent for travel. My next recommendation is a no brainer. Comfortable business casual shoes. I recommend a business casual shoot because, in my opinion, they tend to be a bit more comfortable than a traditional dress. You and usually come with rubber soles, making them great for gripping the ground in rainy weather. Speaking of rainy weather, you can never be too sure about the weather, your destination. So that's why I recommend investing in tech fabric that are hydrophobic and to give you an idea of what hydrophobic qualities are, check this out. Notice how the beads of water simply repelled the blazer. This German tech fabric allows me to travel in any type of weather and even repel oil based stains, allowing me to travel without an umbrella. Those are my top travel style tips. Thanks for watching 5. Accessory Tips: Hey, guys, in this section, we're going to learn how to fold pocket squares. If you're not familiar with what a pocket square is, it is an accessory that can easily elevate pretty much any look. And also, if you're not a tie guy like me, it's a great alternative. It's gonna look fantastic in classic. Also, feel free to pause this video or slow down at any point. If it gets too fast, let's jump right in with the 1st 1 The puff fold. What you want to do is you want to start by angling this pocket square, catty corner where there's a point next to you in a point going away from you. And the first step is to essentially locate the middle of the pocket square with two fingers. Give it a little pinch, pulled it through your other hand, creating a little bit of a puff just like that. And when you're folding this from the bottom, you don't want to go all the way up to the top. This needs to be tall enough to essentially sit in the pocket without sinking down. You can make adjustments. It's really great to do this in front of a mirror if you don't have any practice doing it and we're gonna check it out right here. There you go. Looking classic. Nice, asymmetrical little puff. So the next fold we're gonna work on is the tri tip fold. I love this fold because it provides a little touch of flair. Unlike the asymmetrical puff, this provides you with three symmetrical points. I also like to use pocket scores that differ on each sides by color and texture for a little dashing character. First things first, we're going to rotate this catty corner to where there is a point close to you and a point away from you. I'm flipping it because I think that's going to read a little bit better on the camera. We're going to start with the bottom point. We're gonna bring it all the way up to the top near the top point, slightly offsetting it just to make sure these two points are in line with each other. The next move is we're gonna pull the far right corner all the way up, just like we did the bottom corner, offsetting it to the left. This time to start those three points. What we're gonna do now is we're gonna take the left corner, bring it all the way to the edge, not to the side. We want to preserve those three points and we're gonna make a little adjustment like I'm doing now. We're gonna fold these in on the other side as well, because we want them to fit in our pocket. Now when we fold the bottom, we don't want to go all the way up to the top, because when I want to keep those three points on there, So when you fold in, you want to make sure it's a little longer. It's gonna sit in the pocket nicely and we can make adjustments as I'm doing right here now . And you could see nice little three points right there. It's gonna sit into the pocket really nicely. One to three solid points. The last style will be learning is thes square fold now, rather than starting with a catty corner set up or something that is tilted or angled, we're not gonna do any of that. We want to make sure that this is nice and straight in front of you. So the first move is locating the middle of the pocket square, giving it a pinch, folding it over like so to make a rectangle on making some adjustments. Because getting these measurements right in making sure it's nice and flat is key to having a nice clean pocket squares. You're gonna locate the middle, fold it over again, making a smaller square. I'm making these little tiny adjustments to make sure it's all angled right. Little known fact. Most pocket holes in blazers and suit jackets are going to be about 3.5 to 4 inches wide. So it's handy toe. Have a little measuring tape or a measuring tool on your workspace that you can make sure you're folding it correctly, making a little adjustment here. What a minute to do now is I'm going to make a smaller rectangle, and I'm gonna check it against the measuring tape to make sure I'm not over shooting it. I had a little bit more, so I'm gonna fold it again, bringing it in, making it square and look at that. It's about 3.5 inches is perfect. So when you're folding from the bottom for this pocket square, you don't want to go all the way to the top. You wanted to sit nicely in the pocket without sinking in. It's gonna be helpful that you play with it just a little bit, because when you goes in that pocket, you don't want to be messing with it all night. And I think you guys are gonna like the way it looks. It's gonna look super classic unclean. Check it out Here, Look at that Super clean. You don't have to mess with it. It's sitting there nicely and you're good to go now, on to one of my favorite closet tips slash hacks its belt rolling. Everybody's got belt to you to roll them up and they become unfurled or you just don't know what to do with them. You want to make sure your closets looking nice and clean. I'm gonna teach you how to do that. So the first step is to locate the very tip of the belt opposite the buckle. With your two index fingers in your middle finger and your thumb, you're gonna pinch. You want to start to roll. You want to make sure this is a little tight. It's gonna be tight, but still loose enough to get your fingers out off. So stick him in there. We're gonna start to roll it, and we're gonna roll it all the way up until we reach the buckle. And this is just a regular leather jeans belt. As soon as we get to the buckle, we're gonna twist it over so we can see that buckle. What you want to do is take out the very tip of that belt where we started. Don't take it out fully, but just kind of like ease it out and we're gonna start to crank it towards ourselves. So crank it in the counterclockwise motion and we're gonna do it until we see to belt holes . 12 There you go. Once we see those two bell toes, we're gonna essentially put it through the belt buckle and then close it on that second belt loop right there. And what this is going to do is this is going to secure the role, and it's gonna keep everything tight and in place. And there you go and looks fantastic. It's really small. It takes up almost no space, and it fits perfectly in shoes of you. If you ever put belts and chooses you're traveling, let's try it with something that is a little less rigid. It's a suede built. These tend to be a little bit more slinky. Erso, take those two fingers start to twist. Um, as you're twisting it, make sure you pinch the sides like that just to make sure it's a nice uniform role you're gonna keep on going until you see that belt buckle. You're gonna twist it towards yourself. And what you're gonna do is just like the first belt. You're gonna take that little end out and start cranking it towards you until we see the two belt holes And there you go, There's 12 we're gonna stick it through the belt buckle and we're gonna close it, just like on the 1st 1 on the second belt loop. We're gonna then secure it through the belt loop holes there, and in order to make it tight, we can just give it a little pull. We can make adjustments as it's done. There you go and wala to really nice belt loop, belt, holes, belt, whatever you want to call them. They look great. Leave me feedback. If you have any suggestions or questions, thank you