4 Components of a Man's Personal Style - Basic Fashion Advice for Men
Hi, Iím Antonio Centeno, the founder of Real Men Real Style.
Today Iím going to be talking about the four components of individual style.
All right, component number one is your physical build.
Component number two, is both your physical and your social environment.
Component number three, are your resources.
And this is both time and money.
And component number four, these are your personal wants.
Okay.
So, let me go ahead and go and do over a little bit of detail about each of them.
Component number one ñ your physical build.
Now, this is what you were born with ñ how big you are, how tall you are, how wide you
are.
There are certain things that you can control and do fluctuate throughout your life.
Usually, your weight, in terms of how wide youíre going to get.
Some of us are skinny because we were born that way and we eat, we take care of our bodies.
There are some of us, in fact, many, in this country that were just a little bit bigger.
And in that case, you need to choose clothing which complements your build.
Now when it comes to height, whether youíre short or whether youíre taller than average,
you want to look for clothing that, in some cases, you want it to make you look taller.
Other times, youíre really tall and you donít necessarily want to look shorter, but you
want to look more proportioned.
And thatís probably the key point ñ is making sure you choose clothing, which makes you
look more proportional.
And thatís all about balance.
Thatís about you understanding that if youíre tall and really skinny, you donít want clothing
thatís going to make you look any taller and skinnier.
You want clothing that is going to, in a sense, give you a little bit of weight, cut you down
the size, and make you look more proportional.
Make you look more normal.
If youíre short and stout, you know, there isnít anything out there that is going to
make you taller and thin.
But you can choose clothing, which isnít going to make you look fat.
And thatís where you go from monochromatic looks, or you go for combinations that donít
cut you in half and draw attention to your midsection.
Okay.
Component number two, this is your physical and social environment.
So, your individual style, oftentimes, is determined ñ and weíll start with the social
because this is something youíve got to look at where youíre at in your life, who you
hang out with, and what social circles you run in.
Now, I live in rural Wisconsin.
So, I can tell you Iím pretty much surrounded by farmers.
I have to dress down even though Iím a costume clothier because in order to, not really alienate,
I canít be wearing a suit.
So, I choose to wear raw denim.
I wear Western boots.
I, oftentimes, throw on a sports jacket but I rarely ever wear tie.
And for me, this is my personal style.
And it is influenced by who Iím surrounded by.
I bet, you know, if I lived in New York City, I would have to step up my game quite a bit.
But I donít.
So, thatís how the social circle or the social circles I run in.
In addition to, you know, the physical location, all play into.
And when I was talking more physical, Iím also talking the weather.
So, if youíre in Phoenix, Arizona, you need to choose clothing and go with styles which
are going to be cool and functional in that hot weather.
Now, letís say youíre from Vancouver, Canada.
Totally different environment, you get a lot of wet weather up there.
Itís a lot cooler.
The summers are very mild.
The winters are pretty harsh.
Not as bad though, as I can tell you, letís say youíre in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Those winters are just wow.
Weíre talking negative 20, negative 30 degrees.
And if youíre going to be out, letís say you ñ in the case youíre a Minnesotan, you
need to invest in some really nice outer wear.
Something that is going to, not only be functional and keep you warm, but something that if thatís
what people see you in often ñ and letís move over to a city like Chicago.
Thereís a lot of people in the city of Chicago which commute and use public transportation.
In this city, probably more than Minneapolis, youíre going to want to have clothing that
is great for outer wear.
And itís going to do a good job protecting you.
Again, what Iím getting is, weíre moving from city to city, but you need to pay attention
to the environment.
And thatís going to have an effect because youíre not going to want to add a trench
coat to your wardrobe, if youíre down in the desert and youíre never going to be able
to get anywhere.
And if it doesnít really make sense from protecting you from, you know, a rain shower
or something like that.
But if youíre in an environment, and which suits you, then youíre going to want to add
it to your wardrobe.
So, okay.
And that was paying attention to your both your physical and your social circles that
you run in.
All right, the third component of individual style is your resources.
This really comes down to how much time do you have and how much money.
And Iíll use an extreme example for each.
Students ñ anyone that is going through school or hasnít yet made a career.
Somebody thatís just starting off in life, usually you donít have much when it comes
to money.
And in this case, you want to be looking for items that you can afford.
And Iím not saying to buy cheap items.
Donít buy disposable pieces that youíre going to throw away.
Instead, youíre going to have to look at second-hand stores.
Youíre going to have to really keep your eye out for sales.
And thatís because you have a lot more time than you have money.
Now, letís take a lawyer.
One thatís very successful, one that is incredibly busy, works 80 hours a week.
Now, for this man, he doesnít have time.
And he wants to ñ instead, he would rather trade a bit of money to get exactly what he
wants.
So, in this case, he doesnít mind going in paying full retail, but at the same time,
he doesnít want to waste his money.
So, this man should also be looking at timeless, classic pieces which are going to last him
a long time.
But yet heís probably going to pay a little bit more because he doesnít have weeks, or
months, or years to spend going through thrift stores trying to build up his wardrobe.
The last component of individual style is your personal wants.
Now, notice I said wants not needs.
Oftentimes, you know, donít confuse the two.
These are ñ this is where youíre going to experiment a bit.
This is where you want to incorporate things which are a little bit ñ theyíre not always
within the classic realm.
And these are the things, you know, to have a little bit of fun.
And this is where, I highly advice if youíre young, to experiment.
Go try things.
I mean, who knows?
You know, it may turn into your signature style.
You want to try a hat.
Itís better to try it young than too ñ well, Iím if youíre seven year old and you want
to start wearing a hat, go ahead.
Go for it.
Iím just saying that experiment and go out there and find what you think is going to
ñ what you think is going to compliment you.
And donít be afraid to go out there and try that.
But, you know, when it comes to personal style wants, I did put this at the end.
Because I do believe a man needs to build up a core wardrobe based off the other components
first and heís going to find that by paying attention to those other components, heís
still going to have a wide range of options.
Just because you live down in Arizona, doesnít mean that, you know ñ yes, you probably not
going to need a heavy overcoat.
But there are so many other things that you can look to add in to your personal wardrobe
that may not have been really cold climates canít.
You can start looking at headwear which is functional for the heat.
You can bring in types of safari shirts, or types of linen trousers that those men just
canít pull off but you can wear, you know, 10 months out of the year.
Okay.
So thatís the four components of individual style and I hope you enjoyed it.
Take care and go ahead and check out Real men Real Style.
Look throughout the website.
Hopefully, thereís a lot more information out there and best of luck to you.
Bye-bye.