TIPS FOR MEN ON HOW TO BUY BETTER CLOTHES
Starting in the late 1990s, people started caring more about what they put into their bodies than ever before. Many folks became very concerned with pesticides, additives, etc. and we saw a massive shift in the way people eat.
Restaurants started boasting about their "farm-to-table" offerings. Farmer's markets are busier than ever. Fast food joints vowed to remove additives and other mysterious chemicals from their burgers.
Shortly after the concerns about food came the ones about drinks. People stopped ordering the cocktails with blue food coloring and a neon cherry.
Instead, they opted for more thoughtful choices made by small local breweries and wineries. Well-made liquor started replacing the rubbing alcohol in plastic bottles and many beverage brands started adding "Gluten-Free" and "Organic" to their labels to appeal to a more discerning crowd.
In short, people started giving a damn about what they put into their bodies.
They want to know where it's made and see a picture of the family that made it. They want to know how their meat was raised and how it was finished. They want to know where the vegetables were grown and "yes, we'll pay more for the organic ones".
What's funny is those same people who care so much about what they put in their bodies rarely care about what they put on their bodies.
They'll buy crappy fast fashion and buy too much of it. They won't care about the workers who constructed it or the person who designed it. They won't care about the fabric - where it's from, how it was made, and what chemicals were used in making it.
They're perfectly fine to dine out wearing a poorly designed shirt thrown together by minors in Guatemala – A shirt made with trashy chemicals and altered synthetic fabric, all the while asking their waiter "what here was grown organically from farms in the area". They'll say they like to support local.
The world is starting to wake up and give a damn about the quality of what they wear, but for men, it's a slow turning of the corner. Most guys don't care about clothing in general, so understandably they care far less about who made it.
I felt this way far longer than I'd like to admit. But, much like caring about what I put in to my body, I started caring about what I put on to my body.
Once you start caring about your stuff, your style improves drastically. You'll purchase better clothing that you'll be proud to own and to showcase.
The moment I stopped cheaping out and instead started caring about what I buy (and caring for it after I bought it), my style improved drastically. I promise you that if you do the same, yours will too.
Here are a couple of thoughts to help get you started:
Stop buying fast fashion for at least 6 months. Most guys have an addiction to quickly finding cheap products to serve a need, then hating them only a month or two later. Stop altogether for a bit. Give your closet a breather.
Tailor your existing clothing. Go to your closet and find ten items that are nearly perfect but just fit a bit off. You likely have items that are just one alteration away from being awesome. We'll save a ton of waste and money by doing this.
Start calling your clothing items "pieces." This sounds silly, but you'll notice that designers and higher-end stores will describe a clothing item as a "piece," like a piece of art. You'll start to respect your clothing more, and it will help you remember that someone spent time designing it. I’ve worked with guys who have terrible style and guys who have incredible style and who just wanted some fine tuning. The guys who look the best always respected their clothing - folded it nicer, stored it nicer, etc. I could always tell who would have good style just based on seeing a single photo of their closet and how they store their clothing.
Buy wooden hangers for all of your clothing. It will help your clothing last longer, and your closet will look much better. If you bought a piece of good art, you wouldn't put it in a plastic frame.
Get shoe trees for all of your leather shoes. This one tip alone has prolonged the life of my shoes at least 2-3x. These will helps retain shape and absorb moisture.
Change your laundry habits. (Read my guide to men’s laundry.) Stop boiling your clothing - cold water, low heat dry, or air dry. And get a steamer; you'll never iron again.
Start spending a bit more on items than you think you should. You likely have no idea how much clothing should realistically cost because you're surrounded by fast fashion pricing. It's like only ever having a burger from Mcdonalds, so you think all burgers should cost a dollar, regardless of what goes into them. Aim to raise what you spend by 25%, but decrease the amount of clothing you buy by 25-50%. It will even out, and you'll have a streamlined closet of what you love rather than an overstuffed closet of things you hate.
Buy only stuff you love. It's a lot easier to respect your clothing when you love it. Most guys shop for a lot of items they could care less about. Instead, shop for only a handful of items you care a lot about. If you're on the fence about something, don't buy it. And when you do decide to buy…
Buy the best you can afford. Please, spend the money. You will not remember the extra bit of money you spent on an item when purchasing it, but you will remember every time you put an item on where you cheaped out. As with everything in life, you get what you pay for.
Much love,
Patrick
