We all wish we could look like James Bond but let’s be honest. Most of us cannot afford to drop a yearly salary on a suit. Do not fear, just because you aren’t David Beckham or 007, doesn’t mean you can’t look good. Here are some easy style tips for the common man on a budget.
Shop Smart
The pitfalls of most common man’s wardrobe isn’t the lack of money or variety, it is the lack of thought. Try and think of the last 4 times you went out. What shirt did you wear? What pants? What shoes? Why did you wear this outfit? If the answer is “it was clean,” “it was the closest,” or “I don’t know;” you are doing it wrong. If you want to look good, you need to put a little effort into it. This goes for dressing and buying. Your wardrobe should consist of clothes you picked for a reason, not t-shirts you’ve collected from various 5ks and pub crawls. So make sure you are making conscience choices when shopping and when dressing.
Buy a Suit
Even if you don’t work in an environment that requires a suit, you should have one good suit. There will likely be several occasions each year that you have been “getting by” in jeans and and a wrinkly dress shirt. Instead of doing the bare minimum at the next wedding or funeral, wouldn’t you rather have a sharp suit hanging in your closet and ready to go. If you invest in one good suit you will not regret. Going out to dinner with your girlfriend, impress her and put on your suit, see the look on her face. There are very few situations were you will regret wearing a suit and also don’t forgot it versatility. You can easily wear only the suit jacket or the only the suit pants to class up any ordinary outfit. So make the investment and have a suit tailored to you, as long as you choose a flexible style it will last you for years.
Good Shoes
“The Shoes Make the Man” or so they say. There is definitely truth in this idiom. Any stylish man will have a closet with at least half a dozen pairs of shoes. It is important to know what shoes go when. You shouldn’t be wearing the same pair of shoes to the gym that you do out to dinner. Under no circumstances are you wearing your dancing shoes to work. Shoes can also make the outfit, if you want to make your suit more casual, rock a pair of classic tennis shoes. If you want to make your jeans classier, put on some leather wingtips. If you want to go with a more rugged look, then consider pairing a square toe cowboy boot with your jeans. Remember you can never have too many shoes.
I hope these easy style tips for common man inspired you to go out of you comfort zone and make some simple choices to up your style game. This small suggestions can pay off in a major way.