Basic Fashion Tips Guys Need To Understand... & Use!

Dear Guys,

We're tired of you embarrassing us with your fashion sense(or the lack of it). Therefore, we've decided to give you basic guidelines on how to dress and look dapper. 

You're welcome!




For starters, we're assuming that you're 21 or above. 

Now, the overall idea is for you to look great without appearing to have put in too much effort... we want to see the cool you and not the struggle you put into it. So, we divided the tips into 3 categories - General guidelines that work in any situation, guidelines for dressing up and guidelines for dressing down.


GENERAL GUIDELINES

1) Avoid trends, they do you no good especially if you don't have the fit and chiseled body for it. Just stick to the staples and you'll be fine. The staples should fit properly. Not too tight(especially if you have a beer-gut or a womanly butt. LOL!) and not too loose. 

2) Unless you're some sort of celebrity, ditch the weird haircuts, heavy chains, gold teeth, rings and bracelets. Aside a wristwatch and a wedding ring, you're allowed only one other accessory at a time - a bracelet, a ring(this doesn't apply if you already have a wedding ring) or a hat - period! We don't think you should wear necklaces at all but, we'll leave the woman (or women) in your life to help you decide if you should. The slim ones though, never those heavy ones you see in music videos. Also, sunglasses are allowed... outside!

3) Please wear your trousers at your waist line - not your bum or your stomach - and they should touch the floor or almost touch the floor when you're not wearing shoes. They also shouldn't have pleats 'cos whoever told you they're slimming lied... obviously. But if you insist on pleats, just one on each side is enough and no more! Cuffs are optional, but they seem to look better on casuals with younger men (a current trend).

4) If you wear long sleeves, they shouldn't be too short or too long. Rule of thumb; the sleeve should end just between your wrist and the beginning of your palm. 

5) Pay attention to your shoes. Just so you know, that's one of the first things we judge you with. If your shoes look hungry, you can forget about making any headway with us. On that note, good luck if you're trying to get a job and a woman is the decision maker. Also, dress shoes shouldn't be worn with casual trousers. For example, if you want to go business-casual with jeans to work - say on a Friday - wear a dress shirt, jeans and loafers. You can also add a jacket if you want.

6) Your belt should match your shoes. They don't have to be the exact same shade but they should identify as one colour. Black belt, black shoes. Brown belt, brown shoes...

7) Pay attention to detail. Your tie has to be properly knotted, your clothes should be pressed without a shine in them especially for suits. Always carry a clean, pressed handkerchief(preferably white and perfumed). We love when you give them to us when we are feeling blue :)

Bonus - Never go shopping alone. Ask the lady in your life to accompany you... since she's the one that faces the shame, if you shop and dress all by yourself and get it wrong.



DRESSING UP (OFFICE & BLACK TIE)


1) If you have to wear suits to work, the rule of thumb is to own at least 3 suits(black, grey and blue) and 10 shirts(the basics are plain, striped and checked in white and blue). That way you can comfortably look different for 2weeks before you begin repetition. Think of Harvey Spectre when making choices and ensure you get the right fit for your size and height.

2) Try to own at least one white tuxedo shirt for black tie events - No, the regular work shirts are not the same kind of shirts you wear for black tie events.

3) If you decide to wear ties, your tie should match your suit and be in contrast with your shirt. If you wear a striped/checked shirt, wear a plain tie and vice versa. Also, the tie should end just where your belt begins - not shorter, not longer. If you decide that you're uncomfortable with your tie... take it off! Don't unbutton your collar and wear the tie hanging loose - that's so uncool. If you're not slim with flat abs, don't even bother attempting slim ties, just stick to the regular ones and you'll be fine.

4) Always, always wear socks with shoes! Your socks should preferably match your trousers. At worst, they should match your shoes. When you're unsure... wear black (colourful socks are in vogue now but we've told you to avoid trends) Never ever, wear white socks with a suit. They are for casual/sports only! Also, the socks must be long enough to cover your legs from showing when you sit and your trousers ride up.

5) We already told you your belt should match your shoes.... and always stick to black, brown or grey for dressy wear. Your shoes should ideally be the same colour or darker than your trousers eg - you can wear brown trousers and black shoes but not black trousers and brown shoes. Unsure? You guessed it: wear black!

6) If your jacket has two or three buttons, never button the bottom one. The top one is optional. To be suave like Harvey(you looked him up, didn't you?) get jackets with just two buttons and only use the top one. Open it just before you take a seat and do it up again once you stand. Soooo sexy!

7) To go from business to casual, take off the jacket and tie, open the collar button of your shirt and roll up 1/3 of your sleeves. Take a look at Obama and you'll understand. Soooo cool! You can also keep the jacket on and wear the shirt without a tie.

PS - Please don't ever open more than two buttons of your shirt unless you're going to  a gay club. To open the collar button is cool, to open a second button is acceptable but three or more will land you in Girlfriends fashion jail. It's not even as if you have a cleavage to show off. *tsk tsk*




DRESSING DOWN (CASUAL & SPORTS)

1) One colour outfits in bright colours are definitely not for you at all - unless you're playing tennis then all white is fine - and neither is colour-blocking, unless you're a celebrity trying to get attention(*side eye* at Ibo boys). Feel free to mix and match colours but never wear more than 3 colours at the same time. eg - Blue jeans, shirt of any colour, black belt and black shoes. Get the drift? 
Also, green, yellow, purple, red or other weird colour shoes should have no space in your wardrobe or your life. Stick to basic black, grey and brown casual/sports shoes. You can spice it up with blue and white sneakers, but that's about it.

2) Please stop hanging around in your boxers. Do we have to tell you that they have slits? You must have noticed that they do when you were buying/putting them on *rolling eyes from Kano to Toronto*

3) Please stay away from pink shirts and pink anything else. We know you mean well, but somehow y'all just don't pull it off right and you make us assume you're gay and that's how you end up in the friend zone :)

4) Never ever wear shorts that are above your knees! Although if it's sports or swimwear, then that's okay.

5) We already told you to avoid trends, but if you want to wear distressed jeans, click here 

6) Things like distressed jeans look better with age but never t-shirts! ...especially the white ones. Once it starts slacking or the colour starts fading, throw it out!

7) Your t-shirts should never go below your hips. If they do, tuck them in.

8) Please don't do denim on denim. Some girls can't even pull this off, not to talk of you. Stick to one denim item at a time(we hope you choose trousers) and forget about the rest.

9) Whether you're gay or straight, never, ever, ever wear a tank top! No discrimination there. Eek! 

Take these tips, chew them, swallow them and digest them.

xoxo...

Girlfriends

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