Men's Clothing

By Henry De Guzman

The Impossible Male
Some men already have everything. When birthdays, holidays, and Father’s Days roll around, you can usually find large groups of women standing around men’s clothing stores looking like they want to pull out their hair. These women have an “impossible male” in their life – a man that already seems to have everything, including good clothes.
When it comes to men’s clothing, where can you find great clothes, at bargain prices, for all the impossible men in your life?

The Secret about Men’s Clothing
The truth about men’s clothing is that most men care about how they look almost as much as, and sometimes even more than, women do. Men want to look good, too, and like women they want clothes that fit well, look great, and feel comfortable.

The first step is easy. What is the man you are shopping for into? Sports – which sports? Which teams? Do they like fishing, golf, basketball? T-shirts and golf shirts can be purchased very cheaply at most shops across the country. Even discount and bargain stores usually have a rack or two of L, XL, and XXL Ts and polos that even the most discriminating male wouldn’t mind wearing.

But if you don’t trust yourself to buy the right kind of shirt, there are still plenty of other men’s clothing items that you can buy. Men are always in need of new underwear and socks, for instance, and they’ll be more than happy to receive a large package of plain white T-shirts, socks, or undies that you can find in any discount store or department store in the nation.
Depending on the region where you live, and the man you’re buying for, longjohns are another good gift idea when it comes to men’s clothing. For the man who works outside, longjohns can be the best article of men’s clothing you could possibly buy.

All men also love hats. We see them everywhere. Baseball caps are the most popular, but you can find fishing caps and knit caps everywhere – even gas stations. Men love them, women hate them, but if you buy them then he’ll be happy.

Other Men’s Clothing Gift Ideas
Suppose you have to shop for a man with a strange sense of taste, a man you can’t really get a handle on. You don’t want to purchase the wrong thing. In this case, your best bet is going to be in the gift card. Go to any male clothing store, get a gift card, and let him do his own shopping for a change. Sporting goods gift cards are great, too, because there’s always a huge selection of sports-related clothing and gear for men to choose from, and they’ll feel like a kid in a candy store with their fresh gift card that allows them to purchase anything they want.

Ties are not a good idea. Throughout history, the tie has been considered a standard gift for men – but it is not really a good one. Men’s clothing is about a lot more than ties, and for the most part men don’t like receiving them. Even a belt is much more useful, and better gift idea for men’s clothing items.

In men’s clothing, it’s actually a lot hard to go wrong than you might think. As long as you choose your gift with time and care, any man in your life will be happy with your choice. Men’s clothing is hard to pick out and seems confusing to buy, but they’ll be happy that you tried to make the effort for them.

Tips For Men's Clothing

By Victor Epand

So many guys have no idea how to dress, so kudos to you for taking the initiative! Being shy can be tough, but you can get yourself out of your shell a bit simply by dressing confidently.

You are 100% correct about everything fashionable not working for everyone. I don't think you should go down the "trendy" route per say. Go for classic cuts that flatter your body type. Some basics you should start with: a pair of dark-wash straight-leg jeans, a pair of black dress pants, tan dress pants, dark colored button-up shirts, a nice fitted sweater (NO, not the tight turtleneck ones--opt for a looser version), and some everyday shoes like brown dress boots.

When you walk into a store, look around before you do anything else. If you look at clothes and think: these aren't for me, then move on. American eagle is a great store for basics that are a little more casual. They have nice khaki pants and jeans, and a few fun buttons up shirts. Express Men's is another store I recommend. There, you will find dressier stuff, like black and tan dress pants, and some dressier tops.

Don't be afraid to ask sales people for help--that's their job and you will probably save them the boredom of standing around with nothing to do. First, look around the entire store. If you find something you might like, try it on, or ask a sales person if they think it would work well for you, and what to wear with it. They will be glad to help, I promise.

And the most important rule is to try everything on! Make sure that it fits properly before you buy it (ask a trusted friend or a salesperson).

For basic everyday wear, I always love guys in nice fitting jeans (not too short or too tight and something with a dark wash). Steer clear of really light wash Levis. They are not flattering on anyone. For dressier pants, a nice khaki pant is always good. For these, it is worth it to spend a little money because you will get more wear out of them. So they should fit really well.

You can actually find nice ones at the gap or men's express. For casual-wear, t shirts are always good. I'm a fan of the ones that have a bit of a vintage feel. Just make sure that the shirt is fitted. Most guys buy shirts way too big and the end result is that they look sloppy. It shouldn't be ridiculously skin-tight, but it should lay against the skin a bit. For dressier shirts, I LOVE express for men. I promise they aren't paying me to tell you this, but that store is great for guys.

They have really nice button up shirts for $25 and they fit really well, because they have a bit of stretch in them. They have so many different colors. Do yourself a favor and stay away from pink and purple. Not many guys can pull it off and it's too tricky. Go for a blue shirt to match your eyes. Probably any darker color would go well with your hair...dark green, burgundy, etc. So those are all the basics. Get yourself a good pair of jeans, a nice pair of khakis, a few fitted t-shirts, and a couple button down shirts and you should be good to go.

Men's Fashion Coordination: Colors and Pattern Matching

By Leroy Fong

It is common for most men to face dilemma in mens fashion coordination. Our typical questions are:

How to match colors for mens dress shirts and mens dress pants?
How to coordinate checks with stripes?
What are the colors suitable between my suits and ties?
Are the colors and patterns matching my suits and ties?
These questions kept popping up because men generally has a poorer power of visualization than women. Men can not imagine the way things look like based on the colors and patterns through imagination. So there is a strong reliance for pictures to provide guidance for men's dressing.

Therefore, I will attempt to address these concerns and provide the fundamental information necessary to achieve the best coordination. When we look at color coordination, there are two aspects to focus on: Coordinating mens clothing against our complexion and creating color harmony between different hues and shades.

For dealing with colors involving our complexion, we would not want to wear colors that brings out the negative aspect of our complexion. For example, if you are very fair with light colored hair, then you should not be wearing pale colored shirts like yellow or white that will wash out your facial complexion further. Instead choose earthy colors to warm up the face with vibrancy.
Color combination between clothing would require the understanding of hues and tones. It is the similarity and contrasting criteria of hues and tones that brings the harmony when combining these colors. We must learn how to use the vivid colors against the dull and light colors to accentuate different parts of your men's clothing. It catches attention and yet not steal the focus away from your face.

For mixing pattern, there is coordination between pattern of same design and patterns of different designs. The ultimate challenge is mixing three or four patterns together but not looking ridiculous at all. The fundamental art of working with patterns is the understanding of scales and sizes of patterns so that you can merge them together without creating tension or strong clashing vibration.

Overall, the aim of coordination for colors and patterns is to achieve naturalness as well as bringing out the best blend that brightens up the man’s overall look.

In order to learn the art of achieving the best coordination, we would have to play around with our clothing to realize the concept. Thereafter, mixing and matching colors and patterns would just come as a natural flow in you. It is through the consistent trial and error that we build up our knowledge of what goes with what and how we can best coordinate them.