How To Look Classy As A Man
[0:00:01] So there you are having
dinner at a fancy restaurant with some people you want to impress. Maybe it's your girlfriend and
her parents. Maybe it's your wife, and you're out with your boss and his wife. In any case,
to come off as a man of elegance, a man of class, make sure to chew your food at least 20 times.
Oh, and when you're chewing your food, chew with your mouth shut. Now, hold up. I know
you may be thinking "Antonio, what in the world does chewing have to do with elegance?"
Guys, it's all about slowing down. So many times we go out to eat we fall into the
default mode of scarfing down that food and gulping down our drinks. Seriously,
it was only a few minutes since our last beer. And as soon as a new one hits the table,
we grab it and slam half of it. Now, back in college with your fraternity brothers,
that may have been proper etiquette. In the military, you had literally minutes
to sit down and eat in boot camp. Guess what, guys? You're not in that situation anymore.
You wanna take a step back. You wanna show "Hey, I understand I've got time. I'm going to enjoy
what is put in front of me. And I'm gonna slow down and eat my food, savor it, and taste it.
In today's video, gents, I'm sharing with you tips how to be a more elegant man,
how to be a man of class. So, starting things off, let's first talk about why elegance matters.
Why do you wanna be a man of class? When you think about the word "elegance", its cousins,
strength and power, that's really what a lot of guys are going after with their look,
with their image, with their presentation so that they could come off as more confident
and more attractive. So, strength and power, a man that's in that position, he isn't rushed.
He isn't pushed. He slows things down. He actually has an air about him. And that's what
we're talking about in today's video so that you can have that air, so that you command respect.
The next tip to be a man of class, a man of elegance is to have situational awareness. This
is when you understand you are paying attention to what's going on around you. Because when you're
aware that that woman needs help getting in— It's not about opening doors for women. It's about
saying "Hey, this person, whether it's a man or a woman, needs help and you are a man who gets up,
who offers someone that needs a seat your seat." And this is the key with mannerisms and manners.
We look at the way people behave when they're looking out for others. Again,
across societies, I've seen this in multiple countries, when people look out for others,
they look out for the elderly, they look out for those that cannot take care of themselves,
this is something that signals class in any society.
Now, this next trip to be more elegant is represented by a mathematical equation. Here it is
right here. Does anyone actually understand this? Well, let me break it out for you in simple terms.
Gentlemen, this is known as the Lindy effect. It's a theorized phenomenon in which the future
life expectancy of an item is related to how long it's actually been around. As an example,
let's take a piece of clothing, the modern suit. Yes, there have been a few changes in lapel width,
colors, fabrics, makeup, material. But in general, the silhouette,
the style of the suit hasn't changed much in the last 100 years. Knowing that,
we can assume that in the next 100 years, it's not gonna see many changes either.
So why does this matter? Well, when it comes to elegance,
your wardrobe, your presentation, the items that you carry with you when you travel,
this matters. You wanna make sure that you put your best foot forward and that when you're
spending money, you're spending money on items that are not gonna go out of style. For example,
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There are many companies out there that have something similar, but they use a soft shell
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To make your packing even more elegant especially when you're living out of your suitcase for a week
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[0:05:03] And down in the
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Now, this next tip to be a man of a class is easier said than done especially whenever
you are the one that's upset. Somebody says something and it triggers you. You're like "Oh,
my." You literally wanna knock that guy off his feet, but here's the thing. You
don't wanna get a lawsuit. But more importantly, you wanna maintain your
composure. You wanna keep your cool. Be that guy that can just take a step back,
and breathe, and understand this person is probably trying to get a reaction from you.
Maybe they said something and they're incompetent. They didn't understand what they were saying.
Instead of taking action, getting in their face, one thing to do is to simply— If you
watched that movie, Infinity War— I'm a huge Marvel fan— Whenever the Ancient One and the
Hulk were having a disagreement, the Ancient One pushes the Hulk right out of his body and
slows down the conversation because the Hulk was gonna use his muscle and try to, you know,
make things happen. Don't just jump in there and try to use your muscle. Take a step back. Do they
understand what they're talking about? Maybe ask for clarifying questions. Let this fool further
make a fool of themselves by trying to explain something they have no understanding of. And
you realize what you're dealing with, that it's not worth your time, it's not worth your effort.
Next tip to come off as more elegant is simple. Roll the shoulders back. This is very practical
whether you're seated, whether you are standing and walking across a room. You wanna look like
you're confident. And for men, one of the easiest ways to do this is to put the chest out. You do
that by rolling those shoulders back. And so many of us, because our phones, were used to
hunching over. We're looking down. Whenever your head's down, whenever your shoulders are hunched,
this makes you look weak. You wanna change this up by rolling those shoulders back.
Very simple. Very practical. And it has a profound effect on how people perceive you.
The next tip to come off as a more elegant man is to slow down the conversation. And
I'm not talking about slowing it down so much that people think you have
something wrong up here. No. What I'm talking about is letting your mouth catch
up with what's going on up here. Many times, we default and we fall into these crutch words:
like, um, uh. You know what I'm talking about. And if you think you have an issue, record yourself
and see how many times you say these things. Most likely, you say them 2-3 times more than what you
think. When you speak too fast, when you speak with tons of crutch words, it makes
you come off as somebody that can't formulate their thoughts, as somebody that's not calm,
collected. And those are all related to a man of class, to a man of elegance, to a man of power.
You wanna be someone that sets the tempo, somebody that when they're speaking, others listen.
Now, earlier in the video, I talked about the power of the suit, that it's classic. It's
been around for 100 years. It will be around for another 100 years. But another thing I love about
the suit is how simple it is. A single color. Wear it with a white shirt. Tom Ford has made this
his uniform. He wears this almost all the time. And it comes off as simple, classic, elegant. You
wanna find a uniform. You wanna find a look that works for you. Maybe it's gonna be a black T-shirt
with dark denim, with some dark black boots. Yes, an all-black monochromatic look. But if it's you,
if you've thought through it, if it represents who you are, that's the key with a uniform. You wanna
think through "Who am I? What message do I wanna send the world with my image, with my clothing?"
You know, you've had guys with Karl Lagerfeld, the late great designer.
He had a very distinctive look. Again, not for 99.9% of you, but is it something that maybe a
sports jacket with jeans or are you gonna tone it down? You're gonna go with a more casual shirt,
a button down, with maybe some performance pants. You've got that combination that
works for you. I know for me, I have a dark blue polo short-sleeve shirt I wear
with performance pants and nice loafers during the summer. This is pretty much my default go-to look.
It works for my needs. Find what works for you. There's nothing wrong with having multiple items,
multiples of the same item, and wearing them again and again. Just, yeah, make sure to wash them.
The next sign of a man of class, a man of elegance is he doesn't bad mouth other people. Other people
may be gossiping about others. He doesn't join in. He chooses maybe to change the topic, to
discuss other things. Occasionally, somebody may say something that comes off as insulting, that
comes off as trying to belittle him. He throws it under. He realizes "Hey, they can't hurt me.
Things that they say honestly don't matter coming from somebody that I don't respect."
[0:10:03] It goes back to keeping
your cool. There are ways. And I do think if you are really great with dry humor that you can
have a little bit of fun and be able to throw things back. One of my favorite insults, you see,
this goes back with Winston Churchill, and there was a woman that said, basically, "If
I were your wife, I would poison you." He replied back "If you were my wife,
I would drink the poison." It's funny. You know, I think that they did this actually in written word,
not necessarily in person. But if you've got a sharp wit, that is another great way to show that
you're a man of class to have a little bit of fun, leave it open to interpretation and for it to fly
by maybe some people. But for those in the know, they get it and they give a quick little smile.
Now, this one is often forgotten, but I think a man of elegance,
a man of class, he's very good when it comes to communication. If you're gonna be late,
text, send a quick message. "Hey, I'm gonna be 15 minutes late. I apologize." If you have a
great time, you spent time at somebody's house as a guest, send them a written letter. This is
very rare. Send them a very well thought out thank you about what you enjoyed. If you're gonna give
compliments to people, you know, give compliments to people based off of their abilities. Women all
the time are complimented on their beauty. But if you know, wow, she was amazing in terms of
the way that she spoke, of how she presented herself, of the way that she carried herself,
this is a perfectly fine compliment and something a lot of women, a lot of men don't receive. And a
man is generous, especially a gentleman, with his compliments. He realizes that he may not
get them very often himself, but he gives them out freely, especially when they're deserved.
So what video to watch next? How about how to efficiently and effectively pack a bag? In this
video, I explain how to get more outfits out of less clothing. Guys, check out this video right
here. I break out how to pack in interchangeable wardrobe, how to get the most out of your travel
bag whenever, yeah, you're hitting the road. Guys, great video. Check it out right here.
[0:11:58] End of Audio