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Men’s Style Guide: How To Dress Well For Guys

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Men’s style, like many things in life, would be easier for guys if there was just an instruction manual to tell you what to wear and how to wear it. The problem is, learning how to dress, look and act like a man isn’t just about clothes, outfits and accessories. From the way you shave your beard to the haircut you get to the grooming products you use, the modern gentleman conveys who he is in the subtlest ways.

After all, a man’s style is part of his identity. How you look is the embodiment of so many core personality traits, such as confidence and self-esteem. And whether we care to admit it or not, there’s no doubt that the style you carry yourself with plays a critical role in both your personal and professional life.

To help guys take their style to the next level and improve their mind, body and business, we’ve created this guide to men’s fashion. We’ll start with the clothing, then move to grooming, hair and beard styles, diet, and exercise. With an eye on modern trends, it’s important to remember how to incorporate old-fashioned concepts like chivalry, honor, etiquette and classic styles into a timeless look.

When combined, these styling tips will build confidence, self-respect, discipline, dedication and finesse. Finally, we’ll cover how switching your mindset to a more confident one instantly improves how people respond to you, in a way that improving your physical appearance couldn’t.

Mindset

The most important aspect of great style isn’t physical, but psychological. How you feel definitely influences how you carry yourself, which is a deciding factor in how people view and treat you. The most critical part of your mindset is being confident and real with yourself, which thankfully happens when you are happy with who you are. And the best way to boost your confidence and be happy with yourself is to live by an honorable code and continuously work to improve.

Even if you don’t feel initially comfortable with remaking your style, “fake it until you make it” is definitely a valuable tool here. If you can act more confident, your style, appearance and how others perceive you will be positively affected, further fueling your motivation.

However, it is imperative that your level of confidence doesn’t exceed your abilities and start to resemble arrogance, chauvinism, or stubbornness. Understand and appreciate your strengths, but be willing to learn from and address your weaknesses. Being an alpha male isn’t about being controlling, prideful and egotistical. Try to model yourself after a classic gentleman.

Wardrobe –Dressing Styles For Men

Clothing is a topic that’ll need to be broken down into two parts: casual and formal clothing. As the old adage goes, you really do need to “dress for the occasion.” Wearing sneakers and jeans to a classy social event is going to get you some stares and no future invitation, while overdressing in a tuxedo and dress shoes to a date will quickly end your chances with any young lady.

With that in mind, each time you go out, you’ll need to decide whether to dress formally, casually, or somewhere in between. The best way to work that out is by looking at the relationships you hold with the people you’re meeting (personal vs professional relationships) or even just asking whoever organized the event. Some good style advice: it’s better to overdress than underdress.

Before we split it up into casual and formal clothing, here are some general tips for dressing up:

Tips for Dressing Up

  • Always slightly overdress if unsure.
  • Get the right fit of clothing.
  • Wear good quality shoes and pants – it’ll show!
  • Wear a belt, and, when possible, a watch (preferably something modest and classic – no fake bling).
  • Wear a smooth cologne. Nothing too strong, but a scent that sticks.
  • Try not to combine too many colors or styles, unless you’re sure it works.
  • Avoid shocking patterns and colors.
  • Skip clothes with logos and brand names splashed across.
  • Get some classic styles before venturing into trendy new looks.

Guidelines for Formal Clothing

  • Clean, ironed shirt in a neutral color (white, light blue, navy, or black)
  • If applicable, a tie (only wear a bow tie for social, but still professional functions)
  • Grey, navy or black suit and jacket are the classics. Brown, taupe, or tan jackets can also work, but are riskier
  • Black or brown leather belt
  • Pants to match your jacket or tuxedo
  • Black or dark socks
  • Polished, brown or black shoes

Although men’s fashion and styles change year to year, the basics of a well-dressed man generally remain the same. Invest in some classic yet stylish pieces and you’ll find that these lasting wardrobe essentials will serve you well time and again. 

Grooming

The next aspect in building up a cool men’s style is grooming, including hair, beard, skin and nails. Why? Because dirty, unkempt fingernails or messy hair can’t be unseen, and what is your potential business partner or client going to think if you can’t find the time to take care of something so effortless?

Here are some basic grooming tips to get started.

General Hygiene

The first thing you ought to start with is just being clean. Take regular showers, baths, and wear antiperspirant or deodorant if you need to. No one likes that guy at the gym who reeks of body odor, so why would anyone appreciate it at the office or a social event? In terms of first impressions, good hygiene is a foundation. You don’t get extra credit for smelling good or taking care of yourself – it’s simply a requirement for self-respect.

Hair and Scalp

Not only should you keep your hair and scalp clean, but keep it healthy, and in the case of your hair, styled, too! Massage your scalp when washing yourself to get rid of any hidden dirt and be sure to regularly shampoo and condition your hair as per product instructions.

Finally, pick a hairstyle you like and spend a little bit of time every month or two getting it cut. Trying one of the most popular haircuts for men can be difficult, especially if you’ve been getting the same boring cut for years. In fact, we strongly believe that, given how a person’s face is the first thing people look at, stylish hair is the easiest and cheapest thing to change to revolutionize your look.

However, you don’t need to deviate too far from a classic hairstyle for an updated look. The truth is, most barbershop cuts these days are slight variations of old-fashioned styles. For instance, the hard side part, pompadour or slick back are hardly new ways to style men’s hair. The only difference is that trends today focus on shorter hair on the sides.

If you need good men’s haircut and hairstyle ideas, consider a fade or undercut on the sides with a comb over, side part, quiff, or textured style on top. In terms of trends, the most popular cuts have been “short sides, long top” looks.

If you still want a retro finish, try an old school styling product like hair tonic or an oil-based pomade. Research the difference between hair products to determine which is better-suited for your look.

Facial Hair

The same rules apply for your facial hair. If you are going to have it, keep it trimmed, clean, and healthy! This can involve shampooing and conditioning or regular shaving. Depending on your personal sense of style and how facial hair looks on you, you may want to shave once a week, allowing you to enjoy both the clean-shaven and stubble look.

For an old-school experience, try using the best double edge safety razor on the market. Paired with a high-quality shave soap, the close cut and clean finish will be worth it. There are even solutions to shaving with acne.

On the other hand, if you want to grow a thicker beard, you may want to use beard oil to keep it soft. But remember that growing out your facial hair is no excuse to leave it unkempt and ungroomed. There are plenty of masculine beard shapes and designs no matter what stage of beard growth you’re in.

Just note that, even if you love having a beard, it’s healthy to shave your face once in awhile. Shaving offers a way to exfoliate skin by removing dead cells and increase absorption and penetration of quality skincare products.

Nails

This isn’t a difficult one. Buy yourself a quality nail cutting tool and trim your fingernails and toenails down every couple of weeks. If you really want to keep your nails nice, you can also use a file and buffer to keep them smooth after any trimming. Furthermore, consider visiting a nail salon every couple of months for clean cuticles.

Lastly, if you’re unable to keep the length of your nails in check, at least clean them well. This can help avoid pimples and infections when scratching.

Diet and Exercise

Diet and exercise will keep you fit, and there’s no doubt that fitness is a huge aspect of your style. For example, how clothes fit and look on you will determine what kind of wardrobe you can have. And if you’re overweight, you’ll be severely limited.

Similarly, look at any guy. If you compare the lean and slightly muscular version of him with a soft and slightly pudgy one, who do you think men will respect and women will want to be with? And all this doesn’t even take into consideration that an improvement in your overall health leads to more self-confidence, a happier mood, and generally a “I can accomplish anything” mentality. When striving for a certain physique, we certainly recommend lean and toned to huge and bulking.

Diet

Between diet and exercise, diet probably has the bigger influence on an average person’s health. Eating less stops excessive weight gain, while eating healthier can clear up your skin (e.g. acne), stimulate proper hair growth, prevent heart disease, and generally improve your body’s health.

While changing your diet is no small feat, real men are constantly working to overcome obstacles, strengthen their weaknesses, and ultimately striving for greatness.

Exercise

Exercise is also incredibly important in your appearance. If you want to look fit and muscular, a good diet isn’t enough. The two main routes in exercise are cardio and weightlifting.

Cardio raises your heart rate, helps you burn calories, and improves blood circulation and breathing. Meanwhile, resistance training increase testosterone and tears down muscle fibers to build them back bigger and stronger. Both are equally important. No guy wants to be stacked with muscle but out-of-breath and sweating profusely when walking around a theme park.

To improve the fitness aspects of your appearance, as well as build confidence and other similar mental attributes, it should be enough to hit the gym three times a week. You may even want to consider playing intramural sports with friends or a league, thereby adding a social and networking component.

The Conclusion

Building a new style for yourself isn’t easy. If you want to look and feel good, there are a ton of different factors you can worry about. However, we’ve managed to break these down into some major categories which you can focus on individually – clothing, grooming, diet/exercise, and mindset. Slowly conquering each of these elements of your appearance is sure to have a positive impact on your life, both personal and professional. Ultimately, your goal should be to feel healthier, happier and hotter.

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