Gay Eye for the SSA Guy: Clothing, part 1

Clothing makes the man... but the right clothing can make the man fabulous!

I think some men hear clothing and they assume that I am referring to expensive, name-brand clothing. I actually don't care for brand names as mcuh as I care about the right styles, fits, and shapes. A man can look sharply dressed in clothing from Walmart IF he knows the rules.

I don't think fashion requires one to be following all the trends. In fact, I say most trends are not good ideas. I think being timeless and sophisticated is more important than being trendy. Adding a few trendy articles of clothing can really make your outfit special. However, if fashion isn't your thing, then think "timeless" when picking clothing. Choosing darker denims, simple striped dress button down shirts, and some great jackets will go a lot further than spending a lot of time and money on outfits.

Before I write the next blogs which will go into more things about fit and style, I thought I'd list a few things which I see which are Fashion Do's ... but mostly Don'ts.  

General things to avoid:

1) Wearing two kinds of denim at once. I actually DO like denim together but it has to be two different styles of denim. I think a dark denim jacket looks good with medium colored jeans. But I wouldn't wear dark denim with dark denim. For this reason, I say to avoid wearing two styles of denim UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING.

2) Pleated pants. Never found a pair which looked nice. Wear flat-front trousers. They are slimming (as they visually do not add weight or bulk to your waist as do pleats.)

3) Anything you wore in High School. Unless you graduated within the last 5 years, any clothing you wore (short of it being completely timeless) should be avoided. I have met people who wear clothing which they literally wore in High School. I have a single pair of board shorts which I own from those days.

4) Socks with Sandals. I personally hate seeing socks with sandals. It should never happen.

5) Wearing "comfortable" clothes: Sweatpants and pajamas are great lounging clothes. They're great to snuggle up with someone. But outside the house? No thanks. Put on a pair of jeans.

6) Wearing too many trends: Especially if you're 20-30 years older than anyone else wearing the same trendy outfit. I think one trendy thing (such as wearing a bow-tie, interesting sweater, etc.)

7) Holiday Themed Clothing: If it has Santa, reindeer, the Easter Bunny or glows with lights, it is probably a bad idea. Thank your Aunt Myrtle for the present, wear it once when she sees, and then mysteriously lose it in your bag for Deseret Industries.