T H E E SSE NTIA L

M AN
Rule No. 1: Always Buy
Clothes That Fit Properly
Rule No. 2: Stop Wearing
COMMON
Pants That Are Too Big!
Rule No. 3: Chasing Trends
is Exhausting and
(AND HOW TO FIX THEM)
Expensive
Rule No. 5: You Get What
You Give

STYLE

MISTAKES
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WE ALL MAKE
MISTAKES.
What matters is what we do next.
Dressing well isnt some talent youre
born with, its a skill. And you can only
get better if you put the right concepts
into practice.
Guys who still have trouble dressing well
like to assume that it requires so much
time and money to look good. But youd
be surprised how very little thought it
takes me now to shop and get dressed.

YOU TOO, CAN LOOK THIS COOL

Compare your first experience with your

s m a r t p h o n e v e r s u s n o w. I t w a s
intimidating. You werent used to touch
screens. You had to figure out how to
text, send images, download apps.
Now youre Instagramming while walking
while listening to podcasts while drinking
our coffee. (Don't lie. I know, cause I do it
too.)
Ill show you how to get to that effortless
level with your style. It all starts with
addressing the most common style
mistakes Ive seen men make over the last
decade working in mens fashion.

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AS LONG AS YOU RESIST THIS

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MISTAK E #1

WEARING CLOT HE S THAT D ON T

FIT
Do a quick Google search of style rules for men. Youll find one rule making an appearance
on every single one of them.
Wear clothes that fit properly.
Its not your fault. Men arent really taught how clothes should really fit when were young.
Guys resort to clothes that are too big for them because it feels comfortable. And clothes that
are too big make you look fatter (because theyre too big), shorter (cause theyre too long),
and sloppier (because you look like you dont care).
I tell my clients this: Buying clothes that fit properly will solve 90% of your problems.
Think about it, whats the most important thing when youre buying shoes? How it fits. After
you figure out how a particular shoe style fits, figuring out what style and color to get is the
easy part.

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T H E F I X Most guides on how clothes should fit are too long and complicated. Its not
that hard to learn how clothes should fit you.
I have a simple trick I teach my clients to quickly learn how something should fit on them,
its called The Clues are in the Construction. It takes 10 mins to learn, and 1 second to
execute.
All you need to know about how clothes should fit you can be seen by looking at how its
put together.
For example, if you want to know how a top should fit, take a look at the shoulder seams.
Where the sleeve and shoulder connect on, say, a t-shirt, should line up with where your
arm and shoulder connect.
Lets take a look at 2 quick examples:
The Adam Sandler (left) example
INSTANTLY tells you that the
shirt is too big for him.
The shoulder seam of Chris Pratts
(right) t-shirt lines up with where
his arm and shoulder actually
connect, making a much better fit.
This trick applies to ANY top tshirts, dress shirts, plaid shirts,
jackets and blazers.
For sleeve length, hit at the wrist.
For pant length, end right where
your ankles are. Your pant waist
should be tight enough where you
can comfortably button them up,
but not require you to suck your
gut in to put them on.
If you need a belt more than a notch or two, they're too big.
Want more? Ive created a Clues are in the Construction Cheatsheet for you on the
next page. Print it out and study it. It shouldnt take you more than 10 minutes to
remember.

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THE FIT CHEATSHEET

THE CLUES ARE IN THE CONSTRUCTION
By aligning how clothes are constructed to our body anatomy, you can quickly
figure out if youre wearing the right size.

TH E SH OUL DER SEA M

(ALL TOPS)

Sleeve seam should follow where

your arm and body connect. The
top of the shoulder seam should sit
as close to the top of your actual
shoulder as possible.

WAIST
(ALL BOTTOMS)

B o tt o m s s h o u l d s i t r i g h t a b o u t t h e
h a l f w ay p oi nt of you r b o dy. The p ant
waist shou ld b e ju st w ide enoug h to
button comfor t ably. Its to o t ig ht if its
hard to button . If you ne e d a b elt w it h
more t han 2 notche s , p ants are to o l arge.
G e tt i ng t he r i g ht s iz e w i l l ma ke sure t he
c rotch of t he p ant is as clos e to your
natu r a l crotch as p o ss ibl e. O t her w is e,
t he p ant c rotch w i l l b e to o low, ma k ing
you r l e gs l o ok shor t . Pant s t hat are to o
t i g ht w i l l su f fo c ate d your b oys!
CUFFS
(ALL SLEEVED TOPS)

E nd c u f f rig ht w here t he w ri st end s and

hand star ts. For j a cke t s , its ok i f its
sli g ht ly less ( as ab ove) or more. If you
c a n s e e f o r e a r m , t o o s h o r t . I f i t s
e xtending into t he m id d l e of you r hand
or cover ing your k nuck l es , its to o l ong .

PANT HEM
(ALL PANTS)

End right where the leg stops and foot

begins, around or on the ankles. Too
long, excesses fabric will bunch up and
pants will drag on the floor. Too short and
the pants will look shrunken.

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MISTAK E #2

W EARI NG PANT S
THAT AR E TO O
L ONG & W I DE
Speaking of fit, the worst fit oense a man
can make? Wearing pants that are too long,
too wide, and too baggy.
Wearing pants that are too big and too long
gives o a bellbottom look, making your
feet look tiny.
Strange stacking fabric stacking and
bunching, called breaks, occur as well.
Getting pants that fit properly is like getting
a fresh haircut. Youll look completely
dierent and people will notice. Then youll
wonder what the hell took you so long!

T H E F I X Buy pants that properly fit your waist. Follow the clue are in the construction - it
should be the same width as your waist. It should be easy enough to button and zip. You
shouldnt be able to pull down your pants when theyre buttoned up. Nor should you need to
hold your breath be suocating when you button them up. Think of it like getting a pair of
gloves. It should fit just enough - not be blood cutting tight, nor should your hand slip right out
without eort.
The length - get them hemmed to hit just about where your leg ends and foot starts, right around
your ankle. The pant leg should be clean or have the smallest of breaks.
To avoid the bellbottom eect, avoid boot cut and certain straight leg styles. Go for regular,
tapered or slim, depending on your body type. For larger guys, brands like Levis and J.Crew
have athletic cut pants, with a bit more room in the thigh, tapering in the calf for a better
silhouette.
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MISTAK E #3

BUY I NG TO O M ANY TRENDY

CL OTHE S
A classic style can sometimes feel a little plain. In this case, trends are a great way to make your
style interesting and fresh.
Most men, however, overdo it. They get their fashion advice from magazines, which benefit from
promoting the latest and newest.
How else do you get people to continually buy magazines? By making sure what they just got is
obsolete in a few months!
Jumping from trend to trend not only gets really expensive, it makes you look like youre trying
way to hard. Its like youre trying to impress people with the fact that you just got that shiny
new thing everyone wants. (See photos above)

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T H E F I X Focus on building a core wardrobe of classic essentials in neutral pieces.

Menswear changes much slower than womens wear, making it easy to look good year in and year
out, as long as you stick to a few essential styles.
Neutral colors (black, white, beige, navy/blue, olives) mix infinitely with one another, and work
well with nearly every other color. Its dead simple to create styles and mix colors without even
thinking. Once you built your core wardrobe, feel free to dabble a bit in trends.
I recommend a wardrobe ratio of 75% classics and 25% trends, so you dont waste money or find
yourself with a closet that expires in a few months.
Need some ideas on building a wardrobe? Check out my ongoing The Essentials series on the
website.

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MISTAKE #4

DRESSING TO O
CASUA L
Some guys love telling me how much they
dont care about style when they find out
Im a Personal Stylist.
(I know, people are weird. Its like telling a
Doctor I dont care about sick people.)
They always love to resort to this:
It shouldnt matter what you look like.
Of course, in an ideal world, yes, looks
shouldnt matter. But we dont live in an
ideal world.
My favorite way to respond is to ask them
to close their eyes and imagine their
perfect, ideal girl. What do you think the
#1 most common trait is?
Its that shes hot! (Of course she is!)
We do people often think theyre exceptions?
Theres nothing wrong with wanting someone thats attractive. But we get what we give. Show
me where in life we get rewarded for caring and doing less?
It doesnt take any longer to buy clothes that fit properly and look good than it does ill fitting,
ugly clothes. I dont take any longer to get dressed than the next guy. In fact, I probably get
dressed faster because I took the time to build a great wardrobe and learn what to do.
T H E F I X Start with a small upgrade. Instead of a t-shirt, wear a button up collared shirt, like
a chambray shirt. Swap out your sneakers for boots. Your jeans for chinos. These three swaps
take you from 20-something slacker to respectable man.

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MISTAK E #5

TO O M ANY
GR APHICS & E MBE LLISHMENT S
Graphics, prints, overly stitched and embellished clothes scream 3 things:
1. 19 year old guys drinking Mountain Dew
2. 40 year old guys at UFC events
3. Guy Fieri
None of the 3 are good looks for you. Theres a saying in marketing: the shittier the product,
the bigger the marketing budget. Embellishments, graphics, logos, etc are the same thing.
Theyre compensating for lack of style (think of obnoxious rapper jewelry and their head to toe
Gucci prints.)
T H E F I X Great style is subtle. Sticking to solid neutral colors achieves this, and makes you
look a lot more mature and refined.

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MISTAK E #6

WEARING CHE A P, SQUARE TOED

SHOE S
Square toed shoes are still a thing. I know, because I saw a ton of them this morning on the
subway.
Why are these so oensive?
They give you what I love to call duck feet.
They also scream cheap. Square toed style shoes now are usually only done by cheaper
companies. Why? Because it wastes less leather (think cutting rectangles from a piece of
paper vs circles) and it is easier to sew compared to rounded shoes.
Because their popularity with men with less refined taste in footwear, if you ever choose to
buy and wear a pair, youll be lumped with them too.

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If youre still not convinced to throw away those outlet store dress shoes in your closet - just
ask any moderately attractive woman what she thinks about square toed shoes.
I rest my case.

Suit Supply Classic Oxfords, $399 | Thursday Boot Co. Presidents, $199 |
Common Project Chelsea Boots, $515

T H E F I X Easy. Just go out and get some proper rounded toe shoes.
Ill get you started with a few of my favorite staples: (left to right) Suit Supply Oxfords,
Thursday Boot everyday boots, Common Projects Chelsea Boots.

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MISTAKE #7

OVERM ATCH I NG
Men often get matching wrong.
They think it means literally matching
everything.
Yellow tie, yellow pocket square, yellow belt,
yellow socks, yellow shoelaces.
Thats like putting salty gravy on a salty steak,
then topping it o with some salt.
Its overkill.
It comes o like youre trying way too hard.
T H E F I X Matching should really be
thought of as complimenting.
Think back to the food analogy - while we
wouldnt salt something thats salty, putting a
little finishing salt on a cookie actually makes
it sweeter.
Its compliments it.
As I mentioned before, great style is about
subtlety.
When it comes to colors, better to stick to a
overall neutral outfit and utilize colors
subtlety. Check out this post I did on color
blocking and pop colors over at Style
Girlfriend.

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WHAT TO D O NEXT
VI SIT ME AT THE ESS EN TIA L MAN, W H E R E I W R I T E
MORE ST UFF L I KE T HI S .
I share everything Ive learned in the 10 years working in Menswear.
Its where I help some of the most successful entrepreneurs and ambitious men
improve their style, so they can be taken seriously in their work and personal life.
In short, I help guys look really fucking good.

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