I've noticed I've been spending a lot of time on RVF, in the chat and in private conversations with members giving style advice lately rehashing the same points over and over, so I figured it's time to drop a definitive style datasheet for guys who want to start dressing well. I promised a few of you a couple months back that I'd make this, apologies for wait.
What this datasheet will cover:
1. The three key elements of all stylish men's wardrobe's
2. A run down of items that all men should own
3. Fit, and how to assess whether an item actually fits you well
4. General style tips
5. Free men's style resources for you to continue your style education
What this datasheet will NOT cover:
1. Suits, which are not my area of expertise, I only own one and at my age only get to wear it a few times a year. This datasheet will only cover what is broadly called men's street wear. If you want suit help you'll have to consult one of the resources I'll talk about at the end of the sheet.
2. Shirts t-shirts (in detail). Items like this come down to individual variance too much. I could post dozens of pictures and shirts and tee's I own and like, but what I wear is going to be very different to what you'll wear simply because of our different ages, sub-cultures, personal preferences and the types of places we live in. Leaving explicit discussions of what shirts and tees to buy out of this datasheet isn't a big deal though, I'll explain why soon.
3. Higher-end items (over $200) and selvedge denim. While I wouldn't mind talking all day about how much I love $300 Allen Edmond Neumok's, it is neither appropriate for me to give advice on them nor appropriate to be discussed in a beginner's guide to style. If you want specialist advice on these topics, checkout some of the resources I've linked at the end.
It's worth noting that I'm a young guy but living in a major city that consider's itself to be a cultural capital. The older you are and the larger and more fashionable where you live is, the more formally you can dress. I would not walk around as a college age dude in Zanesville, Ohio or Bumfuck, Alabama wearing khaki chino's and brogue shoes and neither should you.
It's also worth noting that even in the city I live, the vast majority of guys aren't dressing well in my opinion. Unless you live somewhere like Paris, Milan or Tokyo, you don't need to be a style expert or spend stacks of cash on clothes to blow your competition out of the water.
![[Image: UCNqyHZ.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/UCNqyHZ.jpg)
The three key elements of all stylish men's wardrobes are: Good pants, good shoes and good fits. Once you have these three principles on lock, all you need is to develop a good eye/taste for what's appropriate to wear top wise and everything will fall into place. Once you have the three key elements down and have spent time observing other people's style and being aware of your own style, you will learn how to spot and avoid ugly and/or inappropriate tops and learn how to choose what's right for your own look. You won't need to memorize a fuck ton of rules about what kind of types aren't okay to wear and what exceptions they're are too those rules. You will develop a discerning eye soon enough, and that + basic social awareness is all you need. As a rule though, avoid any tops that give the trashy vibe, like say Ed Hardy.
Pants
There are four things to consider when buying a pair of pants or jeans. The fit, the cut, the colour and the quality of the material.
Cut and fit:
You want a pair of pants to be fit and streamlined as possible in proportion to the shape of your legs. The cut of your pants depends on how skinny and/or hipster you are. From the most to least, skinny, slim, slim-straight and straight leg cut pants/jeans are your options. Notice I left out skin tight jeans. Despite living in a hipster mecca, I have never once seen skin tight jeans being sold while out shopping. This tells me that the mega hipster dudes I see rocking such jeans from time to time are actually wearing women's jeans, suffice to say you should not be wearing them unless you're Russel Brand or in a popular indie rock band. For the love of god, please don't mix up skin tight and skinny jeans on the forum, or I will verbally rape you. Clueless guys often can't tell which cut is which. The easiest way to figure it out is to Google the name of the jean. Levi 511's for example, are slim jeans. The names of the cuts are technical terms, it's important to be very precise about what cut you're talking about when discussing jeans.
No matter cut your choose, you need to enough space around your thighs and seat (your booty) to be comfortable. Avoid pleated plants and pants that flare out at your legs. The rise of your pants (the length between the crotch seam and the top of the waistband) should be low to medium. Generally, short guys are better off with lower rises (at the hips), and tall guys with higher rises (up to right below the waist) in order to create a balanced, proportional look.
![[Image: gPLFv3p.png]](http://i.imgur.com/gPLFv3p.png)
6'4 Michael Phelps looking like a fucking chode with low rise pants worn at the hips despite his height
The bottom of your pants should touch the top of your shoes. The length of your pants should have a half-no break at your shoes, i.e there should not be a puddle of material pooling around your shoes. A shorter hem allows your pants to drape cleanly, which creates a more streamlined silhouette, while also giving the appearance of elongated height. As such tailor your pants to hit the top of your shoes rather than tailoring them to the heel.
![[Image: fPu5ajY.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/fPu5ajY.jpg)
Colour and quality:
The standard colour for jeans is blue which is fine. The reason everyone wears blue jeans so much is because blue is most versatile colour by far when it comes to matching with shoes. Except for wearing black shoes with a blue suit, you can pretty much wear any colour of shoe with blue jeans/pants. However, you should only ever wear dark blue jeans. Every man should own a pair of well-fitting, decent quality slim dark blue jeans, they are the number one staple in a man's wardrobe. Wearing light or even medium blue jeans will get you pegged as lame. Jeans should not come pre-distressed which looks tacky, but rather should fade and be naturally distressed by your wear. After dark blue jeans, I'd also get black jeans, khaki chinos and maybe burgundy pants to handle all your street wear needs. In terms of quality, Levi's are a great entry point for beginners in terms of jeans. Pants are items you'll be wearing all the time so it's worth it to spend more for them. If you want to checkout high quality but expensive selvedge denim, brands like A.P.C are Naked and Famous are worth checking out.
The following are examples of the jeans and pants that I own and wear almost every day.
![[Image: iZRKlWYl.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/iZRKlWYl.jpg)
Levi 511's in Muse. Blue jeans should be no lighter then this. Something like this colour (Rigid Dragon) is also good
![[Image: UdtL4kAl.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/UdtL4kAl.jpg)
It's hard to go wrong with black jeans. While dark blue is more versatile, I personally think black looks more aesthetic. Note the desert boots
![[Image: nBceVSLl.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/nBceVSLl.jpg)
Khaki chino's are great for summer days and classier or preppy ensembles
![[Image: cd6hUL1.jpg?1]](http://i.imgur.com/cd6hUL1.jpg?1)
Want more? Burgundy is your best bet to add more colour and variety to your wardrobe. Note the brogue shoes
What this datasheet will cover:
1. The three key elements of all stylish men's wardrobe's
2. A run down of items that all men should own
3. Fit, and how to assess whether an item actually fits you well
4. General style tips
5. Free men's style resources for you to continue your style education
What this datasheet will NOT cover:
1. Suits, which are not my area of expertise, I only own one and at my age only get to wear it a few times a year. This datasheet will only cover what is broadly called men's street wear. If you want suit help you'll have to consult one of the resources I'll talk about at the end of the sheet.
2. Shirts t-shirts (in detail). Items like this come down to individual variance too much. I could post dozens of pictures and shirts and tee's I own and like, but what I wear is going to be very different to what you'll wear simply because of our different ages, sub-cultures, personal preferences and the types of places we live in. Leaving explicit discussions of what shirts and tees to buy out of this datasheet isn't a big deal though, I'll explain why soon.
3. Higher-end items (over $200) and selvedge denim. While I wouldn't mind talking all day about how much I love $300 Allen Edmond Neumok's, it is neither appropriate for me to give advice on them nor appropriate to be discussed in a beginner's guide to style. If you want specialist advice on these topics, checkout some of the resources I've linked at the end.
It's worth noting that I'm a young guy but living in a major city that consider's itself to be a cultural capital. The older you are and the larger and more fashionable where you live is, the more formally you can dress. I would not walk around as a college age dude in Zanesville, Ohio or Bumfuck, Alabama wearing khaki chino's and brogue shoes and neither should you.
It's also worth noting that even in the city I live, the vast majority of guys aren't dressing well in my opinion. Unless you live somewhere like Paris, Milan or Tokyo, you don't need to be a style expert or spend stacks of cash on clothes to blow your competition out of the water.
The three key elements of all stylish men's wardrobes are: Good pants, good shoes and good fits. Once you have these three principles on lock, all you need is to develop a good eye/taste for what's appropriate to wear top wise and everything will fall into place. Once you have the three key elements down and have spent time observing other people's style and being aware of your own style, you will learn how to spot and avoid ugly and/or inappropriate tops and learn how to choose what's right for your own look. You won't need to memorize a fuck ton of rules about what kind of types aren't okay to wear and what exceptions they're are too those rules. You will develop a discerning eye soon enough, and that + basic social awareness is all you need. As a rule though, avoid any tops that give the trashy vibe, like say Ed Hardy.
Pants
There are four things to consider when buying a pair of pants or jeans. The fit, the cut, the colour and the quality of the material.
Cut and fit:
You want a pair of pants to be fit and streamlined as possible in proportion to the shape of your legs. The cut of your pants depends on how skinny and/or hipster you are. From the most to least, skinny, slim, slim-straight and straight leg cut pants/jeans are your options. Notice I left out skin tight jeans. Despite living in a hipster mecca, I have never once seen skin tight jeans being sold while out shopping. This tells me that the mega hipster dudes I see rocking such jeans from time to time are actually wearing women's jeans, suffice to say you should not be wearing them unless you're Russel Brand or in a popular indie rock band. For the love of god, please don't mix up skin tight and skinny jeans on the forum, or I will verbally rape you. Clueless guys often can't tell which cut is which. The easiest way to figure it out is to Google the name of the jean. Levi 511's for example, are slim jeans. The names of the cuts are technical terms, it's important to be very precise about what cut you're talking about when discussing jeans.
No matter cut your choose, you need to enough space around your thighs and seat (your booty) to be comfortable. Avoid pleated plants and pants that flare out at your legs. The rise of your pants (the length between the crotch seam and the top of the waistband) should be low to medium. Generally, short guys are better off with lower rises (at the hips), and tall guys with higher rises (up to right below the waist) in order to create a balanced, proportional look.
6'4 Michael Phelps looking like a fucking chode with low rise pants worn at the hips despite his height
The bottom of your pants should touch the top of your shoes. The length of your pants should have a half-no break at your shoes, i.e there should not be a puddle of material pooling around your shoes. A shorter hem allows your pants to drape cleanly, which creates a more streamlined silhouette, while also giving the appearance of elongated height. As such tailor your pants to hit the top of your shoes rather than tailoring them to the heel.
Colour and quality:
The standard colour for jeans is blue which is fine. The reason everyone wears blue jeans so much is because blue is most versatile colour by far when it comes to matching with shoes. Except for wearing black shoes with a blue suit, you can pretty much wear any colour of shoe with blue jeans/pants. However, you should only ever wear dark blue jeans. Every man should own a pair of well-fitting, decent quality slim dark blue jeans, they are the number one staple in a man's wardrobe. Wearing light or even medium blue jeans will get you pegged as lame. Jeans should not come pre-distressed which looks tacky, but rather should fade and be naturally distressed by your wear. After dark blue jeans, I'd also get black jeans, khaki chinos and maybe burgundy pants to handle all your street wear needs. In terms of quality, Levi's are a great entry point for beginners in terms of jeans. Pants are items you'll be wearing all the time so it's worth it to spend more for them. If you want to checkout high quality but expensive selvedge denim, brands like A.P.C are Naked and Famous are worth checking out.
The following are examples of the jeans and pants that I own and wear almost every day.
Levi 511's in Muse. Blue jeans should be no lighter then this. Something like this colour (Rigid Dragon) is also good
It's hard to go wrong with black jeans. While dark blue is more versatile, I personally think black looks more aesthetic. Note the desert boots
Khaki chino's are great for summer days and classier or preppy ensembles
Want more? Burgundy is your best bet to add more colour and variety to your wardrobe. Note the brogue shoes