How to Improve your Business Casual Clothing - Dressing Sharp at Work for Men Video Guide
Hi.
Iím Antonio Centeno, the founder of Real Men Real Style.
And this video is in support of my article over the art maleness.
And today, Iím going to be talking about how to improve your business casual look.
And this article comes about because ñ I donít know if youíve ever worked in an office
environment.
But if you look around, most men dress the same.
The idea what is business casual, well, itís pretty much a white or a blue dress shirt
with a pair of dark or khaki trousers.
And maybe, some square-toed shoes that are black ñ always black.
And usually, a matching belt.
And that is ñ sometimes a tie and, you know, weíll see kind of a wide variety of ties
there.
And that is the de facto business casual look.
And Iím going to give you five tips how to take that to the next level because you donít
have to look like a corporate drone.
You can stand out a bit and youíll look sharper, youíll look better.
And these five tips are pretty easy to implement.
Iím not talking about going out and spending a fortune on a new wardrobe.
Iím just talking about simple adjustment that can really ñ you can do them all.
You can do them one at a time.
But in any case, if you do any of them, youíre going to find that youíre going to start
to stand out.
And thatís a good thing because you donít want just to get lost in the crown.
I think Nudie Cohn said it best when itís better to be looked over than overlooked.
So, let me go ahead and start off, five steps to improve your business casual look.
Number one, focus on the fit.
So many guys, especially in the United States, we wear our clothing too big, too loose.
Usually, one to two sizes too big.
So, take a step back and look at your clothing.
And if things that donít fit, you probably need to look to phase out, to eventually get
rid of.
But you probably have a lot of clothing which can actually be altered to fit you better.
So, look at your dress shirts.
Can you take them to a tailor?
And can he or she go ahead and dart the shirt, basically bring in some fabric on the sides?
If youíre going to be buying new dress shirts, look to buy ones that fits your body.
And donít be afraid if they fit you a little bit closer.
A lot of manufacturers actually make very slim fit shirts.
So, if youíre a smaller guy, a thinner guy, look for this type of shirts.
Youíre going pay, maybe a little bit more, but you can find them on sale.
If youíre a much larger man, then you may have trouble, you know, finding things.
An option for really hard to fit guys though, is custom.
Thereís a number of online custom clothiers.
I know this because I happen to own one.
And you can find some great deals out there.
My advice is to find a certain company, find a brand, find somebody that make shirts that
fits you and stick with them.
Perhaps, get a local tailor who can make the little adjustments and you can always bring
something down to a certain point.
There were proportion issues but you can usually make ñ if a shirt is too big, you can usually
make it a bit smaller.
They can adjust something as simple as actually moving the button a shirt collar or, you know,
shortening the sleeves, which is very possible.
They can dart the sides, which Iíve already mentioned.
They can even shorten the shirt.
When it comes to trousers ñ youíre going to only want ñ the big thing that you want
to pay attention to is your rise.
And your rise is the distance from the top of the trouser, down to the bottom of your
crotch area.
And if the rise is too big, if theyíre a pair of trousers that were made to fit too
many men, then theyíre going to fit you properly.
And itís very difficult.
Itís almost impossible ñ well, it is impossible in some cases to adjust the rise.
So, always be looking at that area.
You can adjust the thinness of the trouser actually, is going up and down the leg.
You can actually open up the sides of the trouser and you can bring that in a bit.
The height of the trouser, very easy to adjust but itís something many men never even look
to have done.
If youíre going to be buying a pair of jeans, and especially if theyíre a little bit higher
end jeans, youíre going to be paying more than $20 to $30 dollars for them.
Find out, does ñ whoever youíre purchasing it from, do they actually hem them?
Can they bring them up and make sure that they fit you properly when you take them out
of the store.
You know a lot of this you can get paid for.
So, pay attention to fit.
Easily ñ probably the most important thing that any man can do.
To have his clothing adjusted to fit him, heís going to look a lot better.
All right.
The second thing is to improve and introduce some new colors.
So, I made kind of a joke with the blue and white dress shirt.
Well, there are reasons why most men stick with blue and white dress shirts.
Theyíre very easy to match.
And they have very ñ thereís a good color association with those.
However, anything in a pastel color, which is a light color scheme, is going to work
in dress shirt.
So, something a peach, pink ñ what else do we have?
Yellow, light yellow, tan.
All of these are great colors that will match almost any tie in your wardrobe and are going
to still match almost all of the trousers you currently have.
You just have to go out there and look for clothing thatís ñ well, just take a break
from the blues and the whites.
And I havenít even touched on patterns.
So, you want to look for stripes.
Look for a few checks.
By introducing these into your wardrobe, youíre immediately going to stand out.
Now, be a little bit careful about checks.
They are ultra-casual.
And you may be in an environment in which, you know, is already ultra-casual to begin
with, so itís not really a big deal.
But I like checks, especially for Fridays or an ultra-casual environment because youíre
less likely to have somebody else matching you.
Unless, youíre a really wide or big guy, checks are going to look great on thinner
men.
All right.
The number three point is, avoid cheap clothing.
Now, Iím not saying avoid inexpensive clothing.
Thereís a difference.
Cheap clothing is usually made from fabrics that ñ they just donít have great properties.
So, you want to look for shirts that are a hundred percent cotton.
You want to look for dress trousers that are a hundred percent wool, jackets that are a
hundred percent wool or a hundred percent cotton or linen.
Things that are ñ it come from natural materials.
Thatís what you want to look for.
Now, a small percentage of synthetic fiber is okay.
And they often will introduce that, so that it will get the properties which they are
looking for.
They want it to stretch or to hold a certain type of form.
But once you see more than 20%, 30% to 40% polyester, all of a sudden the manufactures,
heís actually taking a cost-cutting approach.
Iíve got a jacket which I just ordered from Wal-Mart to kind of look at a few things on
this.
And yes, it was very inexpensive, $40.
But you know what?
Itís 100% polyester.
And Iím not bashing the jacket because for some men, thatís all they can afford.
But really, that jacket is going to be incredibly uncomfortable.
And if thatís all you can afford, I would advise you go out on thrift.
So, instead of spending $40 for a polyester jacket, go out and do a lot of thrifting.
Go to the Salvation Army or Goodwill and find something thatís much higher quality.
Itís going to take a bit longer but youíre going to get a better product.
Something thatís naturally made because naturally made fibers, like cotton, wools, they just
breathe better.
And they have ñ itís just a better property, a better experience.
Something that after a few dry cleans, you can easily tell if a jacket is polyester.
Itís going to start to have a shine to it.
The fourth point is learn to layer.
So, layering is something thatís learned.
Itís not something that comes naturally and you need to practice.
So, Iím actually layering right here.
You can see I have a white shirt and Iíve got a blue sport jacket.
And I actually got a blazer and I could talk about that in another section.
But Iím doing a bit of layering here.
So, a jacket is easily one of the most versatile pieces to layer on.
In addition, there are a lot of other great properties of a jacket but thatís beyond
this article.
Sweaters are a very under used ñ and Iím not talking those big, heavy, bulky sweaters.
Invest in a very lightweight sweater.
Something thatís not too hot, not too cold.
And it could actually, even be worn under a jacket.
And youíre going to find that a really light weight sweater is a great accessory to have.
Itís something that you can pull over a short sleeve shirt on ñ letís say, youíre out
in a desert, all of sudden it gets cold in the evening.
With a sweater, you can pull it on over the ñ you know, your polo, and itís going to
look great.
And youíre still going to have a little bit of the color peeping out.
If youíre wearing a long-sleeve dress shirt, a sweater can be used as well.
All right.
And the last thing is pay attention to the details and your accessories.
This is easily ñ next to fit, I would say a man should always look to have a very ñ
a great pair of dress shoes.
And thatís where many men can easily improve their entire wardrobe by just introducing
a few extra pairs of really nice ñ and Iím not talking dress shoes in the words of ñ
well, no, Iím not talking Oxfords or Balmoral Oxfords.
Iím talking more dress boots.
Iím talking slip-ons.
These are ñ I think just most men fall down here.
They go with really ultra-casual shoes because they think theyíre more comfortable.
But if you can find a pair of really nice slip-ons that fit you well and theyíre a
bit more delicate in terms of ñ they have a little bit thinner of a sole.
And they just got small details.
They were made from a really fine leather.
Youíre going to find that this is going to easily up your style.
So, when you have something that fits wellÖ I mean, you could go shopping at Target.
And you can find some great items there that are naturally made.
Get them tailored to fit you better and go out and spend, you know, $150, maybe $200
on a really nice pair of Italian moccasins or a tassel loafers and youíre going to look
great.
And thatís easily one of the first things ñ ask any woman.
What does she look at on a man when she meets him?
Iíve a got a friend, she says that many men think that sheís shy because whenever she
shakes their hand, she looks down.
Well, what sheís looking at are their shoes.
And sheís making an instant judgment on how well they take care of their shoes.
And how much money they spend on them.
And Iím not saying that you need to go out and spend a thousand dollars.
But I am saying avoid really cheap shoes that are made from plastic or synthetic leather.
You want something thatís breathable, something thatís quality made, something thatís going
to last decades.
And a quality shoe will do that because you could send it off to get re-soled.
Also pay attention to how you take care of your clothing.
So always make sure youíre clothing is ironed.
Always have an extra set of clothing at work that is ironed, just in case, you know, on
the way up ñ I donít know.
You just have to run out of the house and itís not ready.
Better yet, have your clothing set out before you go to bed at night.
And it will always be ironed.
It will always be pressed.
Because if you go in with scuffed shoes, you go in with non-ironed shirts, the men who
pay attention to those details, theyíre going to notice that you donít pay attention to
those details.
And I can tell you that, at least in my experience.
A man who doesnít pay attention to the details isnít the man I want to trust or I want on
my team at work because he doesnít pay attention to those details.
And Iím going to end up having to pull the slack for him at work.
And thatís not what I want.
The last part, grooming.
Pay attention to, you know, hair thatís coming out of your nose, out of your ears.
Cut your nails.
Pay attention to your hair.
If you use a product in your hair, donít use too much of it.
Never use too much cologne.
For most men, simply using deodorant and showering daily is all they need.
All right.
This has been Antonio.
I hope youíve enjoyed the summary.
Go read the article.
I get into a lot more detail there.
And I will see you later.
Bye-bye.