5 Tips For A Man Child To Man Makeover
October 1, 2011 by Arash Mazinani
Filed under All Content, Gentlemen, Style Tips
In order to write this post I had to cast my mind back 10 years. Just writing that makes me feel old. Anyway I digress, the concept for the post came from a friend who contacted me on twitter. He wanted me to write a post that would help someone transition from a man child to a man in the style stakes. I wanted to do another video post, something I’ve only ever dabbled with on one occasion, but I didn’t really have time so thought I’d do an introduction to a man child to man makeover. Some guys tend to carry their style from their teens into their early early twenties.. then into their mid twenties never really changing it nor realising that fashion changes. What’s cool when you’re a teen may be a faux paux when you’re in your twenties.
Goodbye Baggy Pants
Baggy pants tend to be one symptom of a man child. I know, I used to have the baggy pants look on lock down. Common associates of baggy pants are baggy tees and baggy hoodies. If you’ve read any of my style posts before you’ll know that I’m always stressing that getting the right fit is one of the biggest factors in transforming your style. So if you’re still rocking the man child look your first step is to invest in some clothes that actually fit your body shape properly.
Labels
Another tell tale sign of a man child is their love of labels. I mean don’t get me wrong I’m a lover of some big designer labels, but the key difference between man and man child is overly branded clothes. See you buy into a label because of the quality and design not to tell the world what you’re wearing. So clothes that have logos all over them are best left on the shelf you want a clean sleek look, you don’t want to look like a Forumla 1 racing car.
I used to own these
Trainers
Potentially controversial I know. But I think this is a big difference between a man and man child. When I think back to my younger days I lived in trainers. The only time I wore shoes were during my part time job. It’s almost like your school years tarnish the reputation of shoes. So as soon as you leave school and you can wear what you want you jump into trainers. Then they stick and guys wear them to death with every outfit. While I still do wear trainers on the occasion (a fresh pair of all white converse) I think shoes are the footwear of choice for any man.
Classic
Classic is an overused word, no doubt about it. However, the man child doesn’t appreciate nor comprehend the word classic. When you’re younger or still have that mentality you buy things because they’re ‘cool’ not because they’ll last or are sound investments. This is the way you need to start thinking to start dressing more stylish. Rather than buying something because it’s cool, is it going to last? Is it an investment in your wardrobe? The amount of fads I bought into when I was younger that were a waste of money… which leads onto…
The Wardrobe
Rather than buying pieces as individual items start to think of your wardrobe as a collection. It all needs to work together so you can mix and match pieces and create outfits from them. Invest in pieces that enhance your collection rather than ones that don’t work and flow with the overall vibe of your clothes
As always let me know what you think by leaving a comment below.
LOL, Formula 1 race car! I actually never understood the baggy pants-syndrome, things that fit is simply nicer period! I agree about the labels part, good quality is key, however being able to express your independent style is also an essential element as well… Therefore, our clothing should be like a good book, each item we choose to wear is (telling) the story of our style, and who are per se, so choose wisely. Definitely a trait that I feel we all learn as we grow in our fashion-wisdom & choice of dressing. Interesting post.
yeah we certainly do get better with age. Lol I just thought a Formula 1 race car was a good example lol.
I think great style definitely says a lot about a man. My ex had the worst style – I’m talking basketball jerseys and baggy jeans, Ed Hardy (shudder) and sneakers, every. single. day. And from what I’ve seen, that style has not evolved much at all; then again, there are lots of good reasons he’s my ex. I think growing out of the man child phase of dressing has a lot to do with maturing and growing into yourself as a man. Thankfully, my boyfriend now has great style. Due to his height and build he’s adamant about having things tailored, he’d rather invest in quality pieces that will fit well and stand the test of time, and the only time I’ll catch him in sports gear is when he’s actually going to play sports.
Yeah that’s good to hear that you ditched that man child and upgraded to a man!