This week’s 321 covers:
Three
Two
One
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If you’re in the States, next week is Thanksgiving. If you’re like me and my family, then you might get two.
We spend Wednesday night with my family up at my parents’ place and then Thursday with my wife’s family. Double the food, double the family, double the chaos, double the fun.
Thanksgiving is also about a lot more than the meal. We end up doing different things that may involve going to a movie, bowling, or playing football. Hence the need for an outfit that will work well in almost all those environments.
I’ve put together something that leans fairly evenly on all three Style Archetypes. The henley and socks are Rugged, the cardigan and watch keep it Refined, and the loud colors of the boots lend a Rakish element.
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By the way, you can click on each item in the photo and it will take you directly to a link from which you can pick up the item(s). These are affiliate links so, they don’t cost you a penny more, but they help put something back in my pockets – that way I can keep up on my own holiday shopping!
This episode was based on a revisitation of my September 2012 post Dressing the (Smaller)Man. Being as I’m six feet tall, I can only approach this topic from a hypothetical perspective. So I decided to bring on two of my good friends who are both style experts and on the shorter end of the spectrum.
Aaron Marino runs I Am Alpha M, a hugely popular men’s style site and YouTube channel. Aaron puts out daily videos that cover topics like dress, grooming, and fitness and has one of the largest, most abundant personalities of anyone I’ve ever met.
Brock McGoff runs The Modest Man, a menswear site dedicated entirely to helping men of shorter stature learn how to dress to their proportions and ensure that their style game is always on point. Brock puts his money where his mouth is and is one of the best dressed, most confident men I know.
In the episode we cover topics like:
Icon:
Easy for this episode. It’s both Aaron and Brock
Embarrassment:
Kim Jong Un
I’m extremely excited to have this course up and ready for you. Here’s a quick breakdown:
One thing any veteran of the #menswear world can attest to is the commonality of different courses and guides that are offered to help guys dress better – I think the only industry more saturated than ours is the world of online fitness.
Most men’s style bloggers will offer a couple of different courses that teach the fundamentals about dressing well. In fact, I have two of them (Style Handbook and the Staples) and I even have three more on their way (Rugged, Refined, and Rakish Style Guides). These are great, but they don’t really help guys internalize the concepts behind dressing better. As well-intentioned as we are, we largely end up treating you – the buyer – like a mannequin. One whose identity, goals, and tastes can all be pigeonholed into our lists of essentials.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s a phenomenal jumping off point. By helping readers immediately start dressing better, it breaks the aesthetic rut we can all easily find ourselves in. But, if we stop there, you’re not really dressing better or improving your life, you’re just letting us treat you like a doll.
And this is the whole reason I created Style as Storytelling. Those who heard it live can attest to the fact that there is not a single article of clothing that is recommended, there is not a style rule stated, and there aren’t icons I tell you you should emulate.
It’s a mindset course that is designed to walk you through the deep and ingrained relationship between masculinity and appearance. I teach you principles, give examples of how these principles have been demonstrated in the past, and then ask you to reflect on how these principles can apply to your own goals of dressing better and using that improved appearance to enhance the rest of your life.
The course can be broken down into these lessons:
1 – What’s Your Story?
2 – Clothes Don’t Make the Man
3 – Antipathy, Indifference, and Affinity
4 – Tribe
5 – The Way of Men
6 – Strength
7 – Courage
8 – Mastery
9 – Honor
10 – The Three Style Archetypes
Notice how there isn’t anything in there that’s specific to style. That’s not the point. I want you to think about your clothes, grooming, and appearance in a whole different way.
The course isn’t cheap, and it’s not just a plug-n-play formula to make your life any easier. It requires some real investment on your part (both financial and mental) to really reap the full benefits. If that isn’t what you’re after, buy the Staples and the Handbook or wait until my other guides come out.
Here’s what it will do for you though.
It will change the way you see the importance of clothing by either dialing up its priority or toning it down.
If you apply its principles it will ensure that you never feel awkward or out-of-place when wearing a particular piece of clothing. Every item you have in your closet will be infused with meaning, personality, and purpose to the point that you will better communicate who you are than you have ever been able to.
It will help you develop the vision necessary to create an aesthetic and a wardrobe that consciously and deliberately accomplishes the goals you’ll need it to. There will be no accidents.
Once you have the principles mastered, it will free you up from ever having to worry if you’re dressed well – leaving you to fully focus on more important parts of your life.
If that sounds like something you want, and you’re not afraid of a little mental work and a change in your mindset – then this is the course you’ve been waiting for.
From now through November 11th it will be discounted from its usual $47 to $27, so don’t sleep on it this week!
One of the quickest and easiest ways to ruin the refinement and seriousness of a suit is to throw on a ski coat or parka. The contrast between the high and low is too strong and it sends a subtle message of not finishing what you’ve started. The men I see sporting this look often look like Frankenstein’s monster – a piece pulled from this body, another pulled from that, throw it all together and hope it lives.
If you spend any time in a white-collar uniform, a topcoat is a worthwhile investment. Start with wool but if you can invest a bit more, cashmere is a game changer.
Use versatile shades like navy, grey, and charcoal but avoid black. Winter is already dark and somber enough.
Don’t hesitate to wear it casually either. I’ve seen a lot of looks that combine a topcoat with a t-shirt and jeans, joggers, or even sweats. The high/low works to your advantage when dressing it down.
Also, my hair was huge last winter. Geez.
