5 Top Fashion Mistakes Men Make.

Hello my ever faithful stylish readers. Having a lovely day? well guys, today we take the top 5 fashion faux pas a few of you carry out on a daily basis.

I’ve said it before that dressing up as a male in these fashion times is not as easy as it used to be but it is definitely more interesting and fun! There are more options to choose from as compared to the classic blue, black, grey and dark blue of old! There are newer rules to follow and if you want to be taken seriously in the corporate or social world, while you are allowed to, hey, even advised to break all the  rules if you are an entertainer of some sort, in the real world where 95% of us still live, looking sane is still expected. I’ve said it before (I seem to be recalling a lot of stuff I’ve said before…age?) that a person is not necessarily stylish because they wear expensive clothes, they are stylish because of their ability to mix and match outfits and put specific colors together and if a man can do that for himself or invariably find someone who can do that for him, he is on his way to super- styledom!

So let’s get to it, you may not be the man down the street who wears his socks and sandals every day past your house, or the guy next door with his square toe shoes in his short-sleeved shirt and tie, but let’s see how far you’ve gone to keep your look fresh and stylish … and oh, if you score two out five of these, then you already are on the fashion faux pas trail!

1. Over sized Suits: Or over sized anything for that matter! wearing clothes that do not fit you in any way does not say anything positive no matter what you may think! keep it just right- not too loose and not tight no matter how much you want to show off that nicely toned body of yours, wearing clothes that are just right does much more for you than tight clothes will ever do, take it from me. If however you hardly find your fit off the rack, then find a good tailor and keep him on speed dial!

 

2. Bad trouser breaks: This is one mistake men very often make. We get that cuffs on chinos and khakis is an ongoing fad we are not sure we want to see for too long but the normal length you should aim for in your trousers, chinos or khakis should be a slight or quarter break that ends at the top or at most, the middle of your back heel giving you a slight fold in front also. Too short and they tend to look undersized and too long will give you puddles that make you look just bad!

 

3. Not matching your trousers, shoes or socks properly: The rule is to match your socks with your trousers and not with your shoes! The reason it’s important to match socks with your pants is that when you have to take your shoes off or sit down and your socks are exposed, socks that coordinate with your pants make your outfit appear more fluid. On the other hand, socks that don’t match your pants will break up an otherwise awesome ensemble.

Find the socks color that best matches the shade of your trousers for example, black socks should go with black trousers, brown socks with brown trousers.and if you’re going for a monochromatic look, your shoes also;  For other trouser colors, choose carefully but when in doubt, a darker color in a close shade will do. Note that sporty white socks will only go with sporty shoes, nothing else! sorry but I had to make that bold for the style rebels to see 😉 . Also make sure you wear your dress socks with dress trousers not sporty socks. When not dressed formally though, you could mix trendy colors and show off your ability to match colors but be careful when you are trying to pull off this look.

Matching your shoes and pants should be pretty easy- black shoes go with black pants, never brown and vice versa. For other color shoes and pants to match, you could check out   http://www.thefineyounggentleman.com/pants/what-color-shoes-to-wear-with-what-color-pants/, so here’s a little tip, invest in a pair of dark blue shoes and socks as well as your black and brown.

blog. threads.com

Shoe combinations- Fashionbeans.com: Blue trousers = Brown or Black shoes. Grey Trousers= Brown or Black Shoes. Brown Trousers= Brown Shoes. Black Trousers= Black Shoes

4. A fat Wallet: And I don’t mean it in a good way (being able to pay for pricey stuff). A fat wallet is a wallet stuffed with needless business cards, old receipts and other things you have no business carrying about but do anyway. When you stuff all that in your wallet,  it becomes a burden in your trousers for everyone to see! Here are the cons of having a fat wallet in your back pockets: it’s unsightly, it puts a dent to your smooth suave look, sitting on it will give you back ache and do you really need to carry all those business cards and old receipts around?? so let’s see, what are the pros? None!

5. Wearing the wrong belt color:Dress shoes should go with dress belts and casual shoes with casual belts.

 

Added to that, you could match the strap of your watch if it’s leather to your belt if you really want to go all the way, but as a rule of thumb, the tone of your watch strap (not as necessary in my opinion) , your belt and shoes should be the same for formal wear and for smart casual, they should generally be in the same color family and tone as long as it’s not too far off, same goes for texture and shine. If you are dressing down though, you could do something in the same color family but not match- match like chestnut and chocolate or burnt orange and chestnut.

 

…And other things: A man’s jewelry should be his wristwatch, wedding ring and cuff links only especially for formal attire but unless he’s a rap or rock star, a simple bracelet could be added for casual clothes.

And you know we have to talk about the tie: The size of the tie is really up to you skinny or normal but the length must be long enough so that the tip barely touches the top of your belt buckle…yes Idris Elba! …and finally,If you’re dressed formally, a backpack laptop bag or carrier looks juvenile as against a sling bag which looks mature and appropriate.

So how did you score? no worries, our aim is to make you more stylish so yes, pressure!

Later,

Hugs,

Molekor

 

 

Photos: pinterest.com, askmen.com, justdapper.com, fashionbeans.com , GQ and Google images.

3 Things on my Mind!

Hello out there! OK, I have this category on my blog I call ‘3 things’,  it used to be 5 things but as you may have noticed, I am not one to draw long boring conversations so I decided to cut it down to three- short, catchy and simple conversations!!! these ‘ 3 things’ category is a wild card for me to feature anything from fashion to food to whatever is on my mind that I would like to share with you, my stylish but open-minded readers :). Don’t worry they will be interesting stuff I guarantee you …or well, you could go back to reading my last post – just kidding!!

So for starters , I really must join the millions of TV watchers out there who saw (I used the word saw because I actually couldn’t sit through it all) the opening ceremony of the World Cup to ask…. what was Pitbull thinking!?! I won’t dare to ask who dressed him up because I doubt very much that any stylist would deliberately make our eyes ache staring at him skip all around the stage in those awfully tight, very white pants! with cuffs!!…well, then again… yes we did see them on the runways of Gucci, Armani, Burberry and the like so I’m sure he felt like he was walking the fashion forward line in those pants but…. (I’m thinking of what to say….) and why the high waist? with the Brasil tee-shirt tucked snugly in?! sigh!

Well, thanks to his hit on this trend, high street fashion houses like H&M I hear are stocking up on the double because we just might have a trend hit you guys! and while you’re at it, you could pair them up with loafers like he did but perhaps tone them down with another color of shoes? or perhaps another color of pants?!!

Check out this picture and see what I mean.. move over J-Lo and Leitte!!!

Pitbull’s ‘mankle’ pants

 

So while you’re turning that first bit over in your mind, we all know that Father’s day is on Sunday and if you’ve lost anyone close to you before, you’ll agree with me that celebrating your dad if he still walks the earth is truly an honor. Whether you give a gift or not, calling them up to say how much they mean to you goes a long way and believe me when I say they will appreciate it to no end!

If you do intend to get gifts though, here are a few ideas to get you started:

black and blue tablet case GBP 12

Want-Les-Essential-Messenger-bag form Gifts.Com

Tumi Leather Ipad Case. Gifts.com

North Coast Leather Stitched sandals GBP 45

Tom’s beachmaster sunglasses

Boring suggestions? my polyvore page refused to respond today so I couldn’t flip out my usual cloud of ideas!sorry!!!

And finally, Remember I told you about the fashion competition airing in Lagos? well, the finals was yesterday and the winner is… well, sorry we’ll talk about all that tomorrow, and then some… but my thoughts on the program? good judges, at least the two designers I think do a good job in their field and really do make us proud this side of the continent, but I think it went by pretty fast don’t you think? it was truly a case of ‘ Tighten your bootstraps and impress us, or get on out of here!’ there was little time for learning and growth in the competition but like I said, it seems that was not the motive. I had a few names on my mind but my money is definitely on one of the names I called- Omon. So let’s see if I lost my first bet hm? I liked Elvis’s designs though but well, he’s out! so who are those eyeing the million naira and other perks? see here:

Omon

Oluwatobi

Antoinette

Bisola

 

I like Bisola too as she seems quite intelligent but my prize on creativity goes to…Omon.

So there you have it, the three things on my fashion forward mind.

Let’s talk tomorrow shall we?

hugs

Molekor.

 

 

 

photos: smh.com.au, Gifts.com/pinterest, marksandspencer.com