The Manly Guide to Finding Your Style

The idea of finding and developing your personal style or an interest in fashion is often seen as feminine, which can put off a lot of men. As a result, they tend to end up wearing what their female relatives or partners have bought them. However, finding your personal style is a worthwhile pursuit; it can act as a first impression for other people, as well as allow you to discover what you like versus what you dislike, in addition to falling under the self-care category. Read on to learn more.

Trends Come and Go

Fashion trends tend to come and go, which can be a little confusing for those trying to keep track. Fashion also tends to be cyclical, meaning that certain eras make a comeback every few years; think of the Y2K or 70s trends re-emerging in the last couple of years. For most people, predicting fashion trends is a challenge. What is fashionable today might be out tomorrow. Often, a lot of trends are also developed around the idea of the perfect body type too, which is simply unrealistic and unattainable for most normal people. In short, following trends is not the way that most people find their personal style; of course, you can incorporate trends once you have found your style, but this is not where you start.

Your Body Type

The next thing that you need to take into account is your body type. There are a lot of characteristics that make up your body type, including your height, weight, and build; you should also think about your skin tone too. Your unique combination of these physical elements makes up your body type. You need to learn more about it because different styles and silhouettes suit different body types; the same can be said for colors, patterns, and skin tones too. For example, there are ways to reinforce your bodily proportions to give the illusion of height regardless of your actual size. You can also dress in a way to accentuate certain features while deemphasizing or disguising others.

Consider the Demands of Your Lifestyle

When trying to work out your personal style, it is important to consider the practicalities. Think about your hobbies, your job role and the dress code imposed by the business and the weather where you live. If you have a uniform for your job, then obviously, your personal style won’t really come into it; the same can be said for those working in manual labor. However, some jobs do require you to present yourself somewhat professionally. If you live in a rainy or cold place, then there are a few materials that you might want to avoid simply because they aren’t practical. Finally, what demands are made on you by your social life? If you frequently head out after work for drinks, then you need clothes that look good at work and at the bar. If you are an outdoorsy person, then you need your personal style to account for that too. That being said, arguably, there are a few items every man should have in their wardrobe, like these from SSENSE.

Don’t Be Afraid to Showcase Your Personality

While it is true that fashion needs to be practical, that doesn’t mean that you can’t inject a sense of fun by using your sense of style to showcase your personality. There are a lot of different ways that you can show your interests in your clothing, whether that is wearing band tees or pop culture merchandise or simply finding ways to incorporate your favorite colors, patterns, or textures. In terms of styles, there is the preppy look that you could go for; maybe you lean more towards a grunge style, perhaps you do want to incorporate some of the trends, or maybe you are more artsy, et cetera.

Look for a Style Icon

If you are still struggling to find ways to express yourself through fashion or find your style, then you might want to try and look for a style icon. Think about celebrities that you admire; how do they dress? What type of clothes do they wear? Ideally, you should try to find a celebrity that has a similar body type to you. This way, you can see how their stylist has dressed them and use similar ideas when picking out your own pieces. You could also look online and take advantage of the work that other people have done when creating inspo boards. Finally, you might also want to check out your wardrobe, look at your favorite pieces, the clothes that you feel really good in, and think about why you like them. You can then look for similar items going forward.

Closing Out

In all honesty, everyone should be able to wear the clothes that they like without worrying about what other people think. However, this is often easier said than done. Everyone wants to put their best foot forward when it comes to fashion. Finding clothes that make you feel good is half of the battle when it comes to trying to find your personal style. Use the tips mentioned above to help you; keep them in mind when putting together outfits or looking for new pieces to add to your wardrobe.