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TweetLast week I wrote about the best way for a man to look good without having to try too hard, and this week we’re going to carry that theme forward, from the street to the office. On those weekday mornings, I know as well as anyone that every second counts. A little bit more shut-eye never hurt anyone. As with casual attire, we want to look good without fussing over it.
The first thing I want to talk about is shoes. To me, and probably many men, nothing is more frustrating than putting on shoes in the morning. I’m sure you’ve been there: hopping around on one foot while trying to lace up a dress shoe, wondering if you’ve forgotten anything else? It feels to me like some sort of Yoga pose, and there’s no need for it. The cure is a solid injection of loafers into your shoe collection. These slip-ons are Velcro shoes for
men: easy and comfortable. Really, if you just own a good pair of black shoes and brown shoes, you should be able to just slip them on in the morning. With a whole day of work ahead of you, you don’t need the hassle of laces so early. Pick a couple of pairs that work with jeans as well, and you can cross them over when dressing up your denim. Black, obviously, but a medium brown is a smart option too and gives your regular shoes a rest, making them last longer.
Moving up a bit, here’s another word about socks. If you caught my last article, you know that you should have quite a few pairs of the same socks, so they’re easy to change out if you lose one. Here’s another trick: In between fancier dress socks and sweat socks, there’s a more refined casual sock that can multitask as both. Pick these up in quantity and you can move seamlessly between dress shoes and your sneakers.
Next up is an important one: suits. If you’re not required to wear a suit for work,
just substitute these thoughts for your approach to dress pants. If you need to get dressed up for work every day, suits are worth investing in because you will be wearing them for a long time. I don’t mean buying only more expensive clothing, but buying enough of it to last and keep looking good. Having only one suit is too much work because you have to clean the suit and press it more often, and as a result you aren’t going to look as good. So go with this smart style tip: when it comes to suits, you want a minimum of three. Keep them simple and that way you can wear them all year around. You can mix them with a lot of different shirts and ties while still looking stylish. This will save you money, and time, in the long run. I suggest getting one in navy, grey, and black. If you want to add one more, get a lighter or darker grey. This will keep you looking modern and timelessly fashionable in almost any situation. Not only that, but spend the money to get them tailored the way you like them.
Next up is the shirts. You want to own at least five good shirts, but ideally, 6 or 7. This way you’ll have stock when you send out the bulk to get cleaned. Double up on your favourite colours so you have a spare when the other ones are dirty. I recommend having at least two white, a couple of shades of blue, and then some wildcards, like a soft pink, purple, or grey to give you a little personality.
You don’t want anything but solids or the most subtle pattern because then you’re going to have to start thinking about mixing patterns with your tie, and that’s going to take more time than you want: we’re interested in easy style. As I was saying earlier about shirts: get them dry cleaned. Why? Even if you are the most frugal man on the planet, you will save money by dry cleaning. Add up the amount of time it takes to wash your shirts and iron them, you will have lost enough time that you will gain value just by paying the $3-4 to have them sent out and pressed to a professional quality. If you’re going to absolutely insist on ironing them yourself, at least be sure to find some that are advertised as “Easy Iron”. You’ll save a ton of time.
Lastly there are ties. Here’s where you can play around a little bit. Ties are an inexpensive way to mix things up and show a little flair. Start with some really simple choices that will work with anything: a mix of blues, a couple of reds; primary colours mostly. After that you can add some more specific ties that won’t necessarily work with all of your shirts. A caution on one time saver though: A lot of guys I know just get their ties tied in the store by a salesperson, leaving them tied forever. This will shorten the life of the tie because it crushes the lining, leaving a permanent crease, and then you’ll never be able to tie your own. Just learn a simple knot like the four-in-hand and you can tie it over and over again.
That’s it for the lazy man’s guide to style. Wear it wisely.
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