10 Lies That Men’s Fashion Gurus Tell You

Easy access to information that used to take a lot of work to collect and pass on flooded the internet with specialists, but there is a difference between those who understand a subject and those who just recite what they have memorized, without any deeper understanding of the subject. , as it happens a lot with the masculine fashion.

If understanding the intricacies of men’s fashion is already complicated, applying it to different types of men, taking into account their culture, their daily lives and even the climate of their region, only complicates the equation more, perhaps that is why many of the called fashion gurus, image consultants, masters of style (or whatever name they prefer) end up opting for generalization, and some rules emerge that may seem well intentioned, but only create a simplistic scenario, which in no way represents everything that men’s fashion encompasses and how it can be applied.

I’ve been reading, writing and talking about this subject for over 10 years, but just now I was sure I had a decent enough repertoire to create a course that could get people to understand how to use fashion in their daily lives without just repeating rules that, even said to help, are not really true, below I have listed some of them:

10 Lies That Men’s Fashion Gurus Tell You

1 – “Have a timeless wardrobe and you will never need to buy clothes again”

You don’t have to go far to see that this is not true. One day your clothes will wear out, stain, tear or you will simply get stuffed with them and think about buying new ones to “refresh” your repertoire. Fits and details also change over longer periods of time, you would hardly be able to wear a 90s suit these days without making adjustments. In addition, some changes in your life can result in a change in style that may require new items on hangers and drawers.

It would be more accurate to say that with a timeless wardrobe you will spend much less on clothes because they will last longer. It would be great, wouldn’t it?

2 – “Have a capsule wardrobe and you will never need to buy clothes again ”

Same as the previous item, just replace “timeless” with “capsule”. The difference here is that the main point is not the durability of the clothes, but the ease of combining them, yet sooner or later you will have to go shopping.

3 – “Every man needs a tuxedo”

A mantra repeated by magazines and fashion channels abroad and reproduced here by websites and blogs that love Google Translate ™ , but we have to be realistic: how many people have the opportunity to go to a black tie event today in Brazil?

If you are part of a social circle where tuxedo is necessary from time to time, invest in the costume, otherwise it is better to have a good suit for weddings, graduations and other formal events, leaving the tuxedo for a rental at specific times, that is, in case they arise!

4 – “This is the list of parts you need to have to …”

Each case is different. When I write my posts with lists I always try to make it clear that some suggestions (yes, I only give suggestions) must be adapted to the reality of each one. I cannot say that someone who lives in an extremely hot city must have a pea coat, a perfect jacket and a collection of heavy knits.

5 – “Learn all the rules of men’s fashion here”

Men’s fashion is much more about understanding the harmony of clothes and your body than rules themselves. These dogmas are easily circumvented if you know something about proportions, trim, colors and materials ( hello, style pyramid ! ), While still having a good amount of common sense involved. It is good to have an idea of ​​the rules, but it is even better to know when to circumvent them and invest in your own style. ; )

6 – “I will teach you to have your own style, my number one rule is …”

There are a few touches that will help you develop your own style, but what many (pseudo) consultants and self-styled experts do is create clones of themselves. There are style courses and excellent image consultancy, but there are also the guys who decorated some cool rules that worked for them (see the previous item) and go around preaching it as if it were the only way to have style. Ultimately, everyone dresses the same and creativity goes to the hole.

7 – “Forget fashion trends”

I am a little resistant to fashion trends, more because I am tired of seeing things that seemed to be the future of men’s clothing do not last six months and I know that some people spend a lot of time thinking about them and forgetting more important things. I think classic clothes are cool, but from time to time there are new features that can be incorporated into your repertoire to make it even more personalized and interesting, others will end up becoming classics one day. Remember that the same guy who is telling you to forget about fashion trends is wearing slim fit jeans that practically did not exist for 15 years, so relatively recently he was a trend and ended up falling in the male taste, becoming basic.

8 – “You have to have a cold wool suit”

I defend that the cold wool suit is the supreme masculine suit, combining elegance, class and quality, but I will not force anyone (and I can’t, right?) To buy something like that, because I understand that we live in a country where a wool costume cold costs a small fortune. Given the average Brazilian salary I find it fully understandable when someone says that they will have to make do with an inferior product, that’s why I always try to instruct readers to buy the best possible with the money they have and not pursue unattainable goals .

9 – “Dressing well will make you a successful man”

It depends, clothing doesn’t work miracles, but it can help on occasion. Being well dressed is always positive in any situation, but if you have no content, you probably won’t get very far, people will soon realize that they are dealing with a beautiful package that is completely empty. Read, get informed, improve your skills, cultivate good relationships, have education and ethics, then the beautiful look will be an introduction to a guy who is really worth paying attention to.

10 – “X and Y clothes give you power”

The social shoe is not the Infinity Gauntlet , the silk tie is not the Grayskull Sword , the clothing does have a certain power which is to make you more remarkable, respectable and elegant, in addition to discreetly communicating your intentions, but the mania that some male fashion gurus have to give mystical powers to the man’s clothes bordering on absurdity. It is true that a well-cut suit will make a good first impression, but that only goes to page 2, if you are a buffoon with no decent intellectual content there is no Akuma no Mi to help you.

I admit that I already believed in some of these fudges, there were so many people repeating the same thing that you think it is impossible to be wrong, then you notice that everyone is copying this source from the same source, it doesn’t always mirror your reality.

There are a lot of competent people talking about men’s fashion out there, but we also have some guys who simply want to take advantage of a much more serious subject than it seems, after all it affects self-esteem, vanity, socialization, relationship, personality, in short, several things that can change a person’s life if applied well.

Keep checking, but also keep asking and observing the matter in a more thoughtful way, not accepting anything they say. Fashion is feeling, but also a product of its time that involves a little bit of science, art, mathematics, psychology and logic, not a bunch of rules created by men in tuxedos, hats and monocles 100 years ago.