You’re no Don Draper. It’s hot outside and most guys don’t know how to dress for the heat.
Here are some tips and tricks to help you stay cool & semi-fashionable.
- Make sure your khaki pants are light & breathable. There’s nothing worse than a guy wearing dark pants and sweating in very inappropriate places.
- If you have a good pair of summer pants that you like, buy two. We know you’re not a fashion guru. Buy and wear multiple pairs. When you wash your clothes, you degrade the material. Multiple pairs will lengthen the life of your wardrobe. You’ll look fresher and cleaner, too.
- The same advice can be applied to your shirts. You found a polo at the mall? Buy a few in different colors. Same thing for button-down shirts.
- Beware logos on golf shirts. If the logo is bigger than a plum, don’t wear the shirt.
- Pop the collar when you hang your shirt on hangars. It’s the best way I know to avoid that worn-in line.
- Never wear a short-sleeved shirt and a tie. You aren’t ironic enough to pull it off.
- It’s time to retire that braided belt. I know, I know. This one is controversial. Your belt feels good and has a summery look. Yeah, summer 1992.
- No matter how much you think you don’t sweat or smell, you do. Your shirts will hold on to those odors. It’s important to add deodorant and anti-perspiration to your wardrobe. As I mentioned before, I really like WIN laundry detergent.
Summer clothes are notorious for wrinkles. I want you to learn how to iron, but that’s nuts. Who irons in 2010? If you find yourself traveling and you need to iron, wait until the iron heats up before using it. If you try to use the steam setting before the iron is hot enough, the stupid thing will leak.
Wet spots on your mens ties or clothes? Not fashionable. Ever.
{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }
You can also apply tip #2 to shoes. Buy two pair.
Now I’m off to go buy me a short sleeved seersucker big pony polo shirt. I make that look goooood!
It’s like the Joseph A Banks school of fashion.
Buy two, get the second dress shirt 70% off.
One suit, two shirts, one blazer, and a pair of slacks for $199.
OMG, those commercials crack me up.
Men should NEVER wear flip flops anywhere other then the beach or a communal shower…mens feet are just gross and I’d rather not be looking at beastly hairy toe knucles while eatting dinner in a nice restaurant….yuck!
Totally agree!
Agree x2
Nice list – and thanks for the tip on polo shirt collars. Granted, it may make them incline to pop up when you’re wearing them – little Hot Tub Time Machine action when you least expect it. All I’d need then would be tassled loafers with no socks. That or boat shoes.
don’t be hatin’ on boat shoes!
OMG boat shoes. Please.
Marge: Homer, I don’t think you should wear a short-sleeve shirt with a tie.
Homer: Ohhh, but Sipowicz does it.
Marge: If Detective Sipowicz jumped off a cliff, would you do that too?
Homer: (as he walks away) Ohhh, I wish I was Sipowicz.
hilarious!
I am thinking of bring you on board as my stylist and personal brand mgr!
M
Ken wants me to remind everyone that I wrote that post in a t-shirt and pajama pants from Target. Not fashionable but it was comfy.
I know, I know. Physician, heal thyself!
Ironing is just a pain. I do it anyway, but I try to avoid it. Many people I know just take their clothes to the dry cleaners. Others just put on wrinkle free clothes (I’ve heard good things like Van Heusen, though I haven’t tried them myself.) If you hate ironing, stay away from fabrics that wrinkle easily like cotton (or at least 100% cotton). “Permanent press” should be a setting you become familiar with on your dryer.
*about Van Heusen, not like Van Heusen. I’m on vacation so I’m not on the ball as much as usual…
I would never know how to spell it.
“Ironing” a polo shirt can be done, with no iron. First, make sure there are folding and stacking areas. Never overfill the dryer. Leave room for tumbling without wrinkles. Remove the shirts when they are nearly dry, just ever so slightly damp. Lay the polo shirt flat, buttons down. Keep the collar popped as detailed above. If the sleeves are curled, uncurl them. Carefully smooth out any wrinkles after you have blocked the shirt — all seams flat and pulled tight. Make sure the seams are straight on the outside. Place the next shirt on top of the first, again blocking it smooth. When all shirts are out of the dryer, it is time to fold. Begin by folding the sleeve on one side so the outer corner of the sleeve is about even with the seam on the opposite side (about 1/3rd the shirt width). Make the fold on the other side match that distance. Fold the shirt in half and start the stack, buttons up. Make sure there are no wrinkles in the half fold. Repeat. Reading this process, maybe ironing is easier.
OMG, please. This is too much work.
The Container Store sells folding boards, like we used to use at Gap when I worked there in college.
Or do all this up to smoothing out the wrinkles, and then hang the shirt up. No folding involved and it works. You can do this with a cotton, button-down shirt as well. Smooth the seams, the collar, the cuffs and the placket. Then hang. Or hang, then smooth. Up to you. I have not ironed my husband’s shirts in years. BTW, he taught me this trick.
I just heard the collective “Yeah, Right!” from every guy around the world—!! LOL
About the ironing or in general??
My darling father favors the short sleeve shirt with a tie. I always think of it as the “suburban lawyer” look. (this as opposed to a “Loop Attorney”, said with a slightly raised nose and snooty tone.) I have seen the phrase “loop attorney” in an obit here and there and it always makes me smile. I wonder what I’d get if I googled it …
More like the “McDonald’s Manager” look.
I know that look. It’s very suburban CHicago. I lived in Palatine for 3 yrs. Know it well.
Don’t forget to put that popped collar back down though! My husband tells me all the time how his entire office walks around with their Polo collars popped up – an entire office of grown men, all with popped collars…
Do they drive IROC-Zs?
Bwa-hahahaha! That would make it even funnier, wouldn’t it? No, certainly no IROC-Zs.
@Laurie Definitely the ironing— …and most guys I know have trouble paying attention, let alone to thier clothes.
BTW-
At least for work there is no such thing as a no iron shirt. Iron it and send it out for God’s sake.
My own personal peeve is cargo shorts. Unless you are Brad Pitt or under 25 wear grown up shorts with a belt….
Also lose the wifebeater tee shirt or save it for the gym.
BTW-
At least for work there is no such thing as a no iron shirt. Iron it or send it out for God’s sake.
My own personal peeve is cargo shorts. Unless you are Brad Pitt or under 25 wear grown up shorts with a belt….
Also lose the wifebeater tee shirt or save it for the gym.
A belt with shorts? No thanks!
IMHO, the fashion rules for shorts are not the same as pants. Shorts are casual. No belts and no tucked in shirts. If you can’t abide, wear pants.
I was talking about ties with short sleeve shits in 2007. http://the-d-rules.com/oh-good-grief/#more-762
Yes people still do it. Yes its still stupid.
Lest we forget: NO wearing of socks + sandals, EVER. Non, Nyet, nein, hell no.
Sandals are meant to be worn by themselves, so get your grooming/pedicure on if necessary and let your feet holla @ the sun properly. Socks are meant to be worn inside covered shoes only.
As an OpsMgr, I like to rock those white pleather disco boots. Oh, and why only “pop the colla” when on hangers? Yeah…groovy!
No more faux hawks. I can’t believe this still needs to be said. Even if you don’t have a faux hawk, try to cut the grease down to a minimum.
You don’t need half a bottle of cologne. Just a couple dabs. If I can smell you long before I see you, that’s a distraction.
Maybe it’s because I’m so close to Miami…..
Oh man. Latin men and cologne. They are like Dallas women and blonde hair dye. Way overdone.
No, no, no! I won’t give up my braided leather belt. It has been loyal to me through three waist sizes as my pot belly swells. Soon I will have no reason to live: When I become a skinny guy with an enormous pot belly, an affront to nature. But my braided belt will be holding it all together.
No, no, no! I won’t give up my braided leather belt — ever. It has been loyal to me through three waist sizes. Soon I will have no reason to live: When I become a skinny guy with an enormous pot belly, an affront to nature. But my braided belt will be holding it all together.
Gillette makes an awesome odor shield body wash – its a must have for keeping away sweaty summer smells!
Did a spit-take on popped-collar polo shirts, then saw it was only for hangers. Do not *wear* a popped collar under any circumstances, unless you prefer to be known as “That Douchebag.”