Belts and Shoes
Posted on July 21, 2008
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One of the more overlooked areas of stylish dressing is the relationship between belts and shoes. The first point to make regarding belts and shoes is that you should not actually match them, they should compliment each other. They should work together visually but not match so closely that it looks like you purchased them as a set!
A simple rule to keep in mind is that you should wear a brown belt with brown shoes and a black belt with black shoes. We will also cover tone, dress vs casual, and bright colors.
Tone will mostly apply to brown, as there are so many shades to choose from. The darker the shoe is the darker the belt should be. It is not advisable to wear chocolate brown shoes with a light brown belt. You will need to find something closer in tone. You want to create harmony in the tones of leather not conflict. Again, you want them to compliment each other.
The next point to consider is if your outfit is dressy or casual. We will look at three elements when determining this, buckle, leather type, and width. A nice, trim, shiny belt buckle says dressy. If you are wearing a suit with nice leather soled shoes this is the direction to go. If you have a belt with a buckle that looks like it was forged by a blacksmith in the Middle Ages you will want to consider wearing this with a more casual outfit like jeans. Choose your leather in much the same way as your buckle. Smooth and shiny leathers tend to be more dressy and rough or textured leathers are more casual. You also need to consider width. Generally dress belts are thinner than casual ones but be careful here as the size or width of the belt loops should also play a part in determining the width of your belt. You don’t want to put a narrow belt with a pair of pants that have wide belt loops. Your belt should fit comfortably in the loops.
The last area I want to touch on is how to select a belt when wearing shoes in bright colors like red or green. Wearing a belt in the same color will often seem like too much of a good thing. If you are wearing red shoes I can pretty much guarantee that your shoes are the focal point of your outfit and a red belt would only serve to knock your look right over the edge. Consider a brown that has some red tone to it like a caramel color or such. If your brightly colored shoes have a dark sole you may choose a belt that compliments the tones there instead of the upper.
Finally, belts are a very important but often overlooked part of a man’s wardrobe. They are another example of the attention to detail that a man must consider if he wants to be truly well dressed.
Brown Shoes
Posted on June 10, 2008
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I love to wear brown shoes. I own black ones, but tend to always gravitate toward some shade of brown. Brown shoes always warm up an outfit and add depth to it. When wearing grey or blue, most guys will choose black shoes as they think black goes with everything, but brown really adds some flair.
There are many different shades of brown, from chocolate to carmel and everything in between. In the winter you may want to go with darker shades while light browns work best in the summertime. Every man should have a few pairs of shoes in his professional wardrobe and at least one should be brown.
Dressing up or dressing well
Posted on June 7, 2008
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Dressing up and dressing well are two different things. Most people confuse the two. Dressing well or dressing with style means that whatever you choose to wear, you wear it well. By this I mean, If you are a jeans and tee-shirt kind of guy, you wear jeans that fit, jeans that don’t have a bunch of silly pocket details and contrasting stitching on them. You wear a clean, new, tee-shirt with no logo’s that make you look like your still trying to be 20 years old. ( unless you are 20 years old and reading this, then it’s OK, I guess.)
Dressing with style is not about going out and spending too much money on a bunch you see in ads in Details magazine. It’s about wearing nice, clean, well fitting clothing you feel good in. Clothing that fits your personality.
Another hallmark of dressing well is dressing appropriately. Don’t wear a suit to a barbecue. I don’t care how nice it is, You will stick out like a sore thumb and you will be referred to as “the guy in the suit” for the rest of the afternoon. A man who dresses with style flies under the radar, so to speak. The way you put your clothes together needs to look effortless, it needs to fit your persona. Again, If you are a jeans and tee-shirt kind of guy, be proud of it! Revel in it! but spend a little time on it and do it right.
Remember, You wear the clothes, The clothes don’t wear you.
The Navy Blue Sportcoat
Posted on June 6, 2008
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One item every man should have in his closet is a Navy Blue Sport-Coat or Blazer. The Navy Blue Sport-Coat or Blazer is the foundation of the professional man’s wardrobe because it goes with practically everything. It can be dressy or casual and is equally appropriate with a shirt and tie or jeans and a tee.
The great thing about the Navy Blue Blazer is it dresses you put with it and finishes off any outfit. In other words, it makes you look PUT TOGETHER.
Classic Blue Blazers generally come with gold buttons. If this seems too old fashioned, feel free to ask the tailor to switch them out for a more subtle blue, like you find on a suit. Combine this with a trim, modern cut and you’ll look very contemporary.
Finally, Treat your Blazer like an outerwear piece and throw it over the top of whatever you happen to be wearing. You will be appropriately dressy for just about anything or you can take it off and still look good in a nice shirt and trousers.
A Word On Shoes
Posted on June 5, 2008
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Today I’m going to talk a little bit about shoes and shoe care. The experts all say a man’s shoes are really important and they are right! Shoes are a really easy way to inject some style into whatever your wearing. Jeans and a tee shirt are two super classic wardrobe items. When you put them with a great pair of shoes you look fantastic! put them with crappy, white tennis shoes or some type of sport sandals with lots of straps and you look like a tourist.
People will tell you a good pair of shoes should last a long time and this is true, but you must help them along. The single most important thing you must do if you want your shoes to last is PUT SHOE TREES IN THEM! Cedar shoe tress should be in your shoes whenever they are not on your feet.
As you wear your shoes, your feet sweat and this is absorbed by both the upper and the sole (if it’s leather) You also pound the hell out of them every time you take a step. When you take your shoes of throw them in the closet at the end of the day they begin to dry out and curl. That’s right, CURL! The upper of the shoe will shrink and as it does it will pull up the toe of the shoe. When this happens the toes of your shoes will begin to resemble a ski ramp. There is no way to reverse this and it can happen very quickly.
I always look at shoes, and I’m not looking to see if they are the latest super cool styles from the Milan fashion shows. I’m looking to see if the guy uses shoe trees! It’s easy to tell, Just look for the ski ramp!
Welcome!
Posted on June 4, 2008
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Good morning everyone and welcome to my blog, Men’s Style Tips. This is the first post of what I hope will be many. I am a men’s wardrobe consultant living in the San Francisco Bay Area and this blog will be dedicated to my observations on men’s style and answering questions from readers about men’s clothing. If you want to read about my philosophy on dressing well, check out my web site at www.gallostyle.com.
The basic idea is that less is more. Guys don’t need a lot of clothing to look good. They just need a few of the right pieces and an understanding of how to wear them. It’s really pretty simple!
I specialize in professional wardrobes. So, if you have a question about what to wear in the workplace or want to know how to take care of it so it will last you a long time. If you are a man trying to dress better or a woman who has inherited the responsibility of dressing her husband or boyfriend, let me know and I’ll try and answer it for you.