• Substack

How to Stick to Your Style Resolutions This Year

We’re officially through the first month of the New Year and some folks have already given up on their resolutions, while others are starting to struggle with them. Whether it’s a pledge to be healthier, stress less, be more organized, exercise more often or drink less alcohol, we stick to some of these promises while others quickly fall by the wayside.

But when it comes to style resolutions, it is just unthinkable for a style-conscious man to break them. Now promises like perfecting your business-casual look, investing in bold colors, patterns, and prints or creating the perfect capsule wardrobe are a lot less tedious than hitting the gym thrice a week. Nevertheless it is challenging for many to remain true to their style-related promises, especially for the beginners.

If your New Year’s resolution was to upgrade or perfect your look this year, this is the guide to take you through the fundamentals to becoming a more sartorially advanced, style-conscious man.

De-Clutter Your Closet

closet

If you haven’t done this already, start throwing out clothes that are outdated or outgrown. This will help in keeping your closet less cluttered. To upgrade your wardrobe you will need to buy a few items and for that you need more space. So give a head start to your annual spring cleaning this year.

Throw out all those items that you haven’t worn during the last year– if it’s been this long, you aren’t going to miss them. Once you’ve done that, make of list of items you want to buy this year as a part of your style resolutions. For example, every man can use some dress shirts, suits, blazers, and a few accessories to go with them to enhance their business-casual look.

Now this can be easy for men who don’t need a lot of choices. All they need is the right choice. The rule here is to ‘buy less, but buy better’. In fact, this is the New Year resolution of many Fashionista editors and you can very well follow the examples.

Buy as high quality clothing as your budget permits and then spend some more. Stick to classic, versatile and fuss-free pieces like grey wool trousers, navy blazers, raw denim jeans, and well-cut tee shirts. You can hardly go wrong with the basics.

This should be an ongoing process. Remove any garment that isn’t worth storing and keep buying fewer things of better quality.

Get a Good Tailor

If your resolution is to become more stylish in an affordable way there are lots of DIY projects to take up. For instance, you can shorten your long-sleeved shirts and make them look brand new without burning a hole in your pocket. Similarly, you can customize the collar of a well-worn shirt to give it an entirely new look or convert your favourite pair of jean or chinos into shorts. Now, it is possible to do them on your own, but a good tailor can help you be more experimental and create dramatic (yet good) results.

Track down a good tailor and make him your best friend. If you are creative and bold enough and are on first name basis with your tailor, you can redefine your style statement.  A good tailor can not only revolutionize your wardrobe and the way your clothes fit, but also help in your upcycling efforts.

For many buyers, however, tailoring is out of reach as it can get expensive and experienced tailors are not always available locally or immediately. This is especially applicable if you want high-quality tailored-made suits and shirts to flaunt a perfect business look.

A good alternative here is to find an online retailer offering custom tailored suits. For example, you can refer to online tailors like Combatant Gentlemen to buy custom men’s suits and dress shirts at reasonable rates.

Rediscover Denim

Loren Boutique in Williamsburg Brooklyn, NY

These are trusty wardrobe staples for both men and women. During the upcoming spring and summer months denim pieces will be once again taking center stage. The best part of jeans is that you can wear them any way you would like to come up with.

Let’s take some inspiration from the runways at Prada and Dior Homme. Invest in some washed and paint-splattered denim and exaggerated jeans stitching to make an impression. Combine them with blazers, pea coats or even full suits to make them the focal point of your attire.

In the previous seasons slightly more relaxed cuts dominated the market; however, anything between slim and straight fit is more where you want to find yourself for 2015.

Accessorize

Want to adhere to a bold style statement? Have you always wanted to experiment with colors, patterns and prints but never had enough courage to wear a bold hue like bright orange or a jungle print?

If your style resolution was to step out of your comfort zone, we have some tips for you. Begin with your neck piece. Whatever you call them – neckerchiefs, cravats or scarves are a great way to dramatically enhance your casual wear. Choose from wild, bold prints to solid colors to brilliantly set off your looks this year.

If you think neckerchiefs are reserved to wear with your tailoring, try them with tees, casual shirts and knitwear. You will style up your image in no time, just make sure it is tied and placed correctly and looks totally effort-free.

Other legitimately wearable accessories you should consider investing in are textured wool, knitted silk, and tweed ties, pocket squares, a pair of buttery soft leather gloves, and so on.

A Final Word

Style is something that you own and it should reflect your persona. This is where many men go wrong, including some style-conscious folks. To remain true to your style resolution this year, don’t be a slave to fast fashion trends. Fashion is usually self-contradictory and cyclical; trying to keep up with trends is more likely to break your bank, not to mention leaving you tired and exhausted.

Do what you know works best for you and then pick something from the season’s trends that compliments your style. Never choose anything that’s worlds apart from your personal taste; after all your resolution was to upgrade or perfect your look, not to change it completely.

Editorial Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Lifetailored has partnered with Creditcards.com for our coverage of credit card products. Lifetailored and Creditcards.com may receive a commission from card issuers Additional Disclosure: This site has affiliate links. We may be compensated when users make a purchase or register to a third party website. For more details read our privacy policy.

More in Apparel