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Style Tips for Men for business/smart wear
• Treat your body and an outfit as a whole. The colours should complement your complexion and everything from a tie to your shoes should come together beautifully. There should not be a divide between your top half (shirt and tie) and bottom half (trousers and shoes). The divide is usually created by mismatching colours and patterns.
• Any wardrobe or outfit must start with the basics. The basics for a man are always trousers. You should never buy a shirt before you have the right trousers.
• If you already have the trousers, wear them when you go shopping for shirts and ties or bring them with you.
• When you have the right trousers , the next step is a shirt and only then a tie. This is to avoid buying things that don’t go together.
• You should determine the most practical and flattering colours for your basics. It’s usually black, navy, charcoal (or dark grey), light grey and beige/or light brown.
• As a rule trousers and ties should be darker than shirts. If you do it the other way around, it’s a wardrobe disaster.
• The most ideal, classy and polished look is when a tie has at least one colour in it that is an exact match to the trousers.
• Ideally a shirt and a tie have to be in the same colour group. For example if a shirt is blue, a tie might have a blue and dark navy stripe in it. (Light blue and dark navy are the same colour group, just different tone).
• A plain white or light coloured shirt looks better with a tie. If you don’t feel like wearing a tie , go for a stripy shirt.
• The most classy and polished pattern for a business tie is a stripe. Ideally it should have 2-4 colours in it.
• The bottom tip of your tie should reach the middle of the belt buckle, but never go over it.
• Black belts and shoes go with black , navy, charcoal (or dark grey) and light grey trousers. For brown/beige trousers it’s best to have a brown belt and shoes. With navy trousers you can also wear navy belts and shoes , but the tone becomes more important then. Belts and shoes have to be the same tone or darker, but never lighter than your trousers.
• Belts and shoes ideally should be slightly glossy rather than totally matt. They look newer longer and more expensive. And in general have a more polished look. The buckle on the belt can be chrome or brass and again preferably polished not matt.
• Most men buy belts that are too narrow (at least 0.5cm) for their trousers. You get a much better fit when the belt is a perfect match for belt loops.
• You can wear a stripy shirt with a stripy tie but it becomes much more complicated then. It’s very easy to overdo it so until you’ve mastered the basics its best to stick to plain coloured shirt with a stripy tie or just a stripy shirt and no tie.
• In general, style and good taste are about keeping it simple and remembering that less is more. You achieve a more interesting look by wearing flattering and classic colour combinations rather than trying too hard to be fashionable and overdoing it with patterns and styles.
• It’s essential to have your trousers dry cleaned regularly and shirts ironed (you can do shirts yourself). If you don’t look after your clothes and keep them clean and ironed, you will never look good.
• Use a personal stylist service. Although style tips are very helpful, there is nothing like a personal touch. You’ll learn fast and pick up lots of tips and tricks even after one session.
• Style is something that is constantly evolving and changing just like you. Look around yourself, at magazines and on TV at how other men dress. TV presenters and news readers are good for picking up trends in business/smart wear, but even they get it wrong sometimes. Notice colours and patterns and ask yourself what makes them look good or bad.