In close to a decade of working with men and evaluating their closets, I've come to recognize the characteristics of those who have good style and those who don't.

One of those characteristics is the quantity of different brands hanging up in their closet.

When I get on a Style Strategy Call with a guy, one of the things I ask is "What brands do you currently get your clothing from?"

Many guys will say things like, "Oh, I don't know - it's sort of a hodgepodge of stuff I've just accumulated / stuff I've been gifted / junk a subscription box sent to me".

Sometimes, the amount of different brands they have in their closet is staggering. Honestly, it could rival a department store in terms of selection. Many of the guys can't even remember or name half of the brands they own.

The thing I've noticed is - The more brands in the guy's closet, the less stylish the guy is.

Fewer Brands = More Style.


Why is that?

In general, shopping at the same brand makes pairing stuff easy.

A brand will have a cohesive look and feel they've spent time cultivating.

Their clothing is all made the same way in the same style and trying to appeal to the same target audience.

Of course, it would pair together.

Let's think about this from an interior design perspective.

We're going to take a field trip to two different stores.

The first is Restoration Hardware. When searching on Google, this is one of the first photos to come up...

Second, we're headed over to Pottery Barn.

Have a look at the photo below.

Two different aesthetics.

There is a noticeable difference between these two brands, their styles, and thus who their target customer is.

I want you to notice how the items in each brand's photo pair together seamlessly. It doesn't take much effort. The brand has an aesthetic, and it sticks to it, so all of its stuff naturally is going to look good together.

I also want you to think about how difficult it would be to take both of those photos and try to pair together the items from each. Something would feel off if you tried to mash those photos together.

Sure, you could manage to piece together a few elements, but it would take a lot of work and a keen eye.

But what if you just bought items from the same brand? How easy would it be for the items to work together?

Most of us instinctively know this with furniture, and it's why we typically buy most of our home decor from just a few brands. But for some reason, guys throw this thinking out the window when it comes to clothing.

One of the most effortless cheat codes to good style is minimizing the number of brands you shop from.

You should find a handful of quality brands that align with your personal style and fit your body and budget; then exclusively buy from those few brands.

"But Patrick, it can't be that easy! I NEED more brands!"

Why?

It is the height of stupidity to diversify for the sake of diversity.

There is no nobility in diversifying among different brands if you have found the perfect stuff. The grass is very rarely greener. Trust me, I know.

I've dressed myself and my clients in likely somewhere close to a hundred different brands, probably more. I've seen it all. And, there's a lot of great stuff out there. However...

Personally, I know that, for me, there are only a handful of brands I want to buy from - because they work for me.

I know those brands I buy from are making clothing in the style I like, so I don't have to worry if it's going to pair with my other stuff; I know it's within my price range so I can get everything I need; and I know pretty much everything is going to fit because they're building for a target customer with my body type.

What more do I need?

I'd recommend adopting similar thinking if you want style simplicity.

You should have impeccable standards about the clothing you like, find just a few brands that meet those standards, and then hang on for dear life. Doing so means everything will pair together, and shopping becomes a breeze.

If you have found a brand whose clothing works well for you, do everything you can to buy more. You've hit gold, and you must keep digging.

A miner certainly doesn't stop digging to change spots once he's finally found a gold vein. You should explore that brand until you feel you've mined every ounce of precious metal that you needed.

Which brings us to PIVOT Maxim #234372...

Buy more of what works. Buy less of what doesn't.



Shopping from a few brands can help you shortcut that. Don't get bogged down buying from the abundance of stores out there. Your style needn't be so complicated.

Hope that helps.

x Patrick