I’ve never paid much attention to my style.
In high school and college I was more or less a ‘scrub’ who wore sweatpants and sweatshirts to school everyday. I just wanted to be comfortable… all the time. Ok, I also had of a pair of jeans and several button-downs for going out at night.
Since graduating I’ve paid slightly more attention to my style. Now, I also make sure my clothes fit me well. Even so, if you had asked me about my views on men’s fashion, even as recently as a few months ago, I might have laughed in your face. I believed paying too much attention to your wardrobe was a waste of time and money… not to mention a little effeminate.
However, as I’ve connected with more and more men who are at the top of their game – in terms of health, money, relationships, and life – my view of fashion has slowly changed. I recently began paying a lot more attention to how I dress and present myself. And I’ve been transforming my wardrobe in the process.
Below I explain the three main reasons I decided to deliberately craft my own unique style and why I think you should too.
#1: Dressing Sharply Builds Confidence
Let me get one thing straight: there are plenty of insecure guys who pay a lot of attention to their style. Just because a man dresses well, that doesn’t make him confident.
However, consider this: doing anything that makes you stand out takes a certain degree of courage. It doesn’t matter if it’s public speaking, approaching a cute girl, quitting your job, or dressing sharply. All of these things make you stand out. And when we stand out, we become the focus of other people’s attention, and we tend to feel insecure about ourselves.
However, getting comfortable doing things that make you stand out is the very cure for the fear of being the center of attention. Therefore, dressing sharply will help you build confidence. It will slowly desensitize you to the feelings of insecurity that arise when you put yourself in a situation where other people are likely to notice you and concentrate on you.
This does NOT make the act of dressing sharply a magic, confidence-building pill. No, not even close. As I said in the intro to this section, there are plenty of otherwise insecure guys who are perfectly comfortable dressing well and expressing their sense of style. But it is still an important piece in the larger confidence-building puzzle, and therefore you should NOT neglect it.
#2: Assembling a Wardrobe Boosts Creativity
Let’s get something else straight: crafting your own unique style does NOT mean dressing like James Bond… or an H&M model.
Crafting your style means paying attention, noticing when you like some aspect of another man’s outfit, and then incorporating it into your own look. This is NOT an overnight process. Sure, there are some quick fixes, but it will take time and patience, the same as improving any other area of your life.
This is one area where I definitely failed quite miserably. For the last 2 years my style has basically consisted of wearing outrageous amounts of Lululemon. Yes, that’s the women’s yoga clothing company. But don’t hate! Their menswear is on point, too. It fits especially well if you have a muscular, athletic body and it’s comfort is unparalleled. Also, as a writer and personal trainer, I spend 90% of my time at home, at a cafe, or at the gym. So I can keep it very casual (READ: sweats all day).
The result was me being the guy who’s always wearing functional, athletic clothing. And to be fair: that’s an honest reflection of my interests and how I spend most of my time. BUT now that my style is something that I’m paying deliberate attention to, I realize that this is not the one-dimensional image I want to project to the world.
Now that I’m looking at my style as an artistic expression of who I am, I’ve decided to make it more sophisticated. This does not mean ditching all of my functional, beloved Lululemon – no no no! Rather, it means incrementally and intentionally ‘upgrading’ it and making it slightly less casual, while still maintaining my ‘athletic edge’.
#3: It Helps You Bring Purpose into Your Life
You can approach nearly every situation in life from one of two angles: by simply going through the motions OR by being mindful and living with a focused intent. The latter is always the better choice.
When you are NOT mindful and NOT acting with purpose and intent, you tend to be caught up in neurotic thoughts, anxious, depressed, and extremely unproductive. On the other hand, when you are mindful, you tend to immerse yourself fully in what you’re doing, actually enjoy it, and do measurably better work. This is the goal of meditation, and why it’s such a crucial habit.
Creating an awesome wardrobe and getting dressed with purpose, each and every day, is no exception to this rule. You’ll infuse your entire day with an extremely large dose of mindfulness, focus, and purpose by simply taking the time to put together an outfit that you’re proud to be wearing. Make it part of your morning routine and it will set the tone for how you behave the rest of the day.
You know that feeling you get when you know your clothes are on point? There’s no absolutely reason you shouldn’t replicate that every single time you leave your home. You feel like a boss AND you can focus fully on everything else you’re doing, because you already know you’re looking sexy as hell.
And that’s a wrap! If you don’t already pay close attention to how you present yourself, I strongly urge you to join me and start doing so right now.
Note: I didn’t go into the details of exactly how to create a new wardrobe or sharp outfits, because I’m still only at the beginning of my own journey into this realm. However, you can expect future articles on the subject as I refine my approach to style. In the meantime I recommend browsing the Male Fashion Advice subreddit (check out the ‘Getting Started’ section on the right for some helpful resources).
This article is spot on. Dress well because that’s how people judge you.
At work when everyone wears a button down shirt with no tie or jacket, you’re a member of the pack if you do the same. Add a simple additional article of clothing like a fashionable tie, they think you’re dressed up. You stand above the rest in a positive way. That’s just adding a simple tie. Now add a sports coat and you’re styling. Just 2 additional pieces of clothing.
Yes you do stand out, but in a positive way. Just work out and keep yourself in shape and you’ll be in the top 10% of the men here in the US.
Thanks for adding that on John, I didn’t really touch on that aspect in the article but it’s true.
On way I’ve heard that idea phrased is to figure out how the top people in your ‘tribe’ dress and then emulate that general look… to which I’d add it would be best to put your own spin on it.
I read an article on ROK a couple of years ago regarding John F. Kennedy and it said that he always wore a sport coat or suit jacket when ever he was in the public eye. When you look at what great lengths women must go through to look good professionally, men do not need to do nearly as much to look professional and gain respect. I ask myself how lazy could I possibly be? If women put that effort in, I as a man should be able to do better.
That’s a solid perspective – and a possible application of the pareto principle – we can put ourselves above 80% of men by putting in only 20% of the effort most women do.
Awesome article. I’ve been working on upping my style for a while now, where money allows. I signed on to a site a while back called Cladwell, it’ s given me some great tips–I’ve never gone to any sites they’ve recommended, because well money–but it;s helped me up my game bit by bit. I like it and would suggest it, I think it’s still free (they make the money by referring you to other sites to sell you recommended clothing).
Thanks For the recommendation Todd – that sounds like a useful resource.
Buen trabajo!! Cada quien tiene su estilo propio, pero muy bien dicho que todos debemos poner un poco mas de esfuerzo y tratar de sobresalir del montón.
Exactamente eso, Dacero!
Hey everybody, I first want to start out by telling you, I’m blue collar to the core. I was communicating with David and I was telling him about what I see is a problem in men in general as far as style. I don’t care if you’re a corporate CEO or the guy cleaning toilets at the local pub, we all need to be as neat and clean as possible. I’m a semi truck tire technician and have been one for 20 years. I shower every morning and fix my hair before work and a little well placed spray of cologne. Not to mention I’m a regular at my barber shop. What guys have to realize is being well groomed doesn’t make you gay or a metrosexual. When we meet people, at whatever level we are , we are judged by the first minute or so of meeting someone. And one thing for sure, we never get a second chance at first impressions!
Thanks for sharing George. I think that’s a perfect example and explanation of why we need to pay just a LITTLE BIT of attention to our style and grooming! You’re just shooting yourself in the foot otherwise.
I love the style you have David. What would you call the style you have?
“How to Beast” offers a comprehensive guide to crafting your own personal style. From understanding the importance of dressing for your body type to choosing the right accessories, this article covers it all. One particularly useful tip is to add a touch of luxury to your wardrobe with items like a watch or designer shoes. Luxespeed, a car rental company, is also mentioned as a way to upgrade your style and impress others. Overall, this article is a great resource for anyone looking to up their fashion game.