How to Dress Better for Guys (Style Rules to Follow in 2023)
This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. Learn More. Why should guys want to dress better?
Everyone should have the desire to dress better whether it be for their professional life, spouse, family or for their own self-confidence and image.
Dressing well helps you feel confident and I’m not talking about being arrogant or cocky but rather a feeling of having self-respect and value in yourself and your abilities.
Most article/blog ‘guides’ on how guys can dress better just list a bunch of items that they want you to purchase. Buying a bunch of random items will never improve your style, because style is personal, it’s not something that you share universally with everyone.
Moreover, these guides don’t give you anything concrete that you can apply to discover and develop your personal style. So instead of just listing a bunch of items, I wrote this style guide with the intention of giving you all the information you need to understand how to start dressing well.
How to Dress Better for Guys: Style Tips
Concentrate on Fit
You’ve probably heard that the fit of your clothes is the most important factor in you looking well dressed. That is completely true. You could be wearing a $10,000 Brioni suit but if it doesn’t fit your body, you’ll look badly dressed.
The suit I am wearing in this photo cost less than $200, but since it fits well, it looks more expensive than it really is. Again, the point is to concentrate on fit rather than just focusing on the brand.
The key to getting a great fit in your clothes is dependent on two things. The first is understanding your body proportions. The second is understanding what is good versus bad fit.
Understanding your body proportions shouldn’t be too difficult. All you need to do is look at look at yourself closely in the mirror. Consider your shoulders, your chest, your torso and your legs. Each of these body features could play an incredibly important role in helping you understand which clothes fit and which don’t.
For example, I figured out quite early on that I have a short torso and longer legs. So most jackets be it denim, leather or any other kind tend to be too long for my body. Now I know that whenever I am looking for a new outerwear piece or jacket, I should get one with a slightly shorter length to balance out my top and bottom half.
You might discover the opposite, where your torso is long and your legs are short. In that case, you would want to wear medium to high rise jeans so that you can make your legs look longer which would be a better look than wearing low rise jeans.
Read Fit Guides
The next step is to read well written and detailed men’s fit guides on jeans, suits, jackets, pants et cetera. The best guides go into enough detail for you to figure out if a particular garment fits well or not.
We have a whole collection of men’s fit guides to help you out.
Discover Your Personal Style
This is something you have to do yourself. You can’t gain this knowledge by watching tones of Youtube style/fashion videos or reading style blogs. The reason for this is that the people you are watching and reading about are different people with different lives and style. They aren’t you.
I’ve worked and talked to many men who convinced themselves that they needed to invest in luxury sneakers which can cost between $200 and up to $700. How did they come to this conclusion? By watching Youtube videos and reading blogs (sometimes sponsored) telling them that a leather sneaker is a men’s style must have.
Once they spent hundreds of dollars on a luxury sneaker, they finally realized it spent less time on their feet and more in their closet. The reason for this is that many men have a preference to dress more formal and sneakers don’t work well in this style. Even if they wear these sneakers occasionally on the weekends, the amount of money they spent, and number of times they wear the sneakers results in a poor value investment.
Again, there is nothing wrong with premium leather sneakers, but you need to really think about whether they suit your personal style.
You should not spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on clothing items be it jackets, suits, shoes or anything else without first testing out if they would suit your style.
So how can you do that? The first way is to think about it objectively and ask yourself whether you will wear this item enough to justify it’s cost. The second and more practical way is to buy a cheaper version of a particular item. I know the quality, finish and feel won’t be the same, but at least you’ll get an idea of whether it suits your style and works in your wardrobe.
Once you’ve determined by being objective and rational (and not emotional), that it would suit your style, then go ahead and invest in a higher quality version.
Stick to the Classics
This is important for pretty much anyone who wants to look well dressed and timeless regardless of whether you just started improving your style or if you are a fashion designer.
Think navy suit, black dress shoes, white dress shirt, dark wash jeans, a well fitting leather jacket and the list goes on. These are just some of the items that are timeless. In other words, these items have withstood the test of time and will always look good.
James Bond is a great example of timeless style. If you watch Bond movies, you pretty much know that 007 generally wears similar suit colors in every movie (dark gray, medium gray, navy etc.) but looks great because these colors always look good. This is because these are menswear classics and they always enhance your look.
This doesn’t make his style boring, it ensures that he universally looks well dressed. So instead of investing in trendy items which are typically expensive (since they are in trend), opt for more classic and well made pieces which will look good today and tomorrow.
Be Unique and Stand Out
You don’t need to start wearing red leather jackets for this.
Instead, this could be as easy as wearing a henley instead of a t-shirt. Most men wear t-shirts, so wearing a henley helps you stand out.
For a more formal look consider different suit colors. Again, don’t go over board and wear a bold color or pattern. You can stick to the classics and still stand out.
For example, not a lot of men wear medium gray suits, most stick to either navy, dark gray or black. So wearing a medium gray suit will help you stand out.
Another easy way to stand out is to wear a suede jacket instead of a leather jacket. Most men have leather jackets. Most men wear leather jackets that don’t fit their body well, and even those that have well fitting jackets, they primarily stick to leather jackets.
So wearing a suede jacket will help you stand out. Just make sure it fits well and is in a classic neutral color.
You might not have the budget to invest in a leather or suede jacket. If that’s the case, then go for a denim jacket in unique colors like dark green, brown or burgundy. This will set you apart from all the other men wearing light/dark blue and black denim jackets.
There are many items and ways that help you look unique. The key is to observe what most men are wearing and then choose a classic item that is rarely worn and stick with it.
Final Thoughts
I hope you found these tips helpful on how guys can dress better. I can’t list each and every item that could potentially help you look well dressed and stand out. The point is to help you get a general idea of how to apply these style tips in your personal style and wardrobe.
