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Need Adivce!!! Completly clueless!!!

runner05

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Hey guys, I was hoping you all could help me. I will be starting my second year in college and I want to kind of have a makeover (I guess that's what I should say?). Basically, I just want to find out what style is right for me, how I should dress.

A little about me.
I'm a 19 year-old college track and field distance runner, so naturally I'm skinny. I am 6'4, 160 pounds. Basically, in the summer I wear cacky shorts with a pair of nice Nike running shoes or leather flip flops and a t-shirt (usally an old running t-shirt that I got for free at some road race). In the winter I wear jeans (my fav) and a long sleeve running shirt. Also, I usually wear my fav red hat...backwards.

Here's the problem. I feel that I have no style and when I go dancing in the clubs I don't stand out(I usually just wear a button up dress shirt from hollister with the sleeves rolled up a little with jeans).

I don't know what type of jeans to buy...baggy or skinny ones, (I HATE the bootcut ones....def not an option).

I don't know what type of shirts to buy...polo, button up, tshirts or what?

I don't know what type of shoes to buy, nice dress ones or what?

I need all of this for everyday wearing around while going to class, the store, out to the clubs, etc. Money isn't much of a problem. I come from a wealthy family so I can pretty much afford whatever clothes are reccommened. I really want to figure out what size and style of clothes to buy before I head back to school in 2 months, so any help is GREATLY appericated.

Thanks in advance!
 

sho'nuff

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ooh, nice.
money no problem from a wealthy family, i envy you.
start off with your shoes first.
but since you are still young and in college still , there is no need to go too far of a sartorial makeover. i like the casual style of college, keep that up, but for going out and dating,
make sure your shoes are nice dress shoes, good quality ones.
start off with allen edmonds, as you may already know, you can always get them at discount; each one may run you up to around 160 dollars each. the newer styles are 295 retail.
crocket & jones , edward green, and john lobb
are all excellent English shoe choices, but if you are in the states, these may be a little harder to get than italian shoes like
borgioli, santoni, ferragamo, or even high end labels like gucci (which produces a very respectable and stylish shoe).

for allen edmonds: you can go to the local nordstrom Racks. for the discounted ones. also go to allenedmonds , com . ebay as well.

for edward green and john lobb: you can go to ebay for some seconds that sell often there. or you can go to ralph lauren polo for the edward green.

for crocket & jones: most people have a great experience ordering from plal,com. or pediwear, com. these have the best prices for c&j and great customer service.

for borgioli: you can go to francos,com. they also have a selection of martegani, and gravati, two very respectable italian shoe makers (mid level) and very good prices (between 300-400 dollars)

for santoni: go to your nearest nordstrom, most nordstrom do not maintain a selection of santoni, some dont even carry, but you can always ask them for a catalog and they can order for you.
santonis will run you anywhere from 300 to over one thousand dollars. i have one of their top line Fam models that is a thousand dollars and i treasure it.

ferragamo can be had at nordstrom as well. the only respectable line of ferragamo is the tramezza handmade. they run around 600 dollars but can be had at discount for around 200-300 on ebay and at select outlets.
i own one of their lower lines (studio) but to tell you the truth, it is not bad. but certainly in a different ballpark than my santoni fam.


gucci can be ordered online or at their boutiques.

maybe someone else can give you more info or info about other apparel items other than shoes.



oh , and dress shoe choice maybe moot if you are just going to clubs where all the guys where jeans. then find a nice dressier canvass shoe. lot of the above brands have a line of canvass shoes as well that are real stylish.

if you are looking to go to more dressy clubs and chicer popular hangouts at night, i recommend investing in several pairs of dress pants. lot of different shades of grey, charcoal, black , and navy are all good choices and should be made of wool or some combination.
make sure you get a matching dress belt as well , should match the color of your shoes as close as possible.
dress socks should match your dress pant color basically. and once you get more advanced in color coordination, you can mix and match shoe, sock, and pant color depending on what you wear and what situation. but always have your belt match your belt.
 

sho'nuff

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jeans right now for guys are more the darker rinsed, some sort of a harder denim that is Straight Legged. and a little bit longer than usual so the bottom crumbles around your ankles but still fitting. shouldnot be really baggy or loose, nor skin tight, but a good relaxed fit straight leg that fits well.

the boot leg cut is an obsolete style that was popular maybe 2 years ago. i dont like it too. but it seems to be a style still in for women, with lighter colored denims, and softer and maybe thinner in material with alot of needlework, embroidery , little designs .
 

Spencer Young

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Solid advice from diorshoe. Just a few things to add, having graduated from college less than two months ago.

In my experience, the prime contributing factor to college students looking badly (beyond just not trying) is fit. The American brands they frequently purchase (A&F, Gap, BR, etc) look off, especially on thinner guys like yourself. I believe Hollister is a bit more fitted, but all of their dress shirts I've seen have a distinctive cheap beach bum look. If you're trying to subtly stand out, I'd recommend getting higher quality dress shirts and tailoring them when necessary... I'll yield to other members for recommendations since I just binge on Jantzen.

For dress pants, you'll want a more fitted brand given your size. I have some pants by Theory and Incotex, both of which are more apt for thin guys relative to the dress pants I've found at regular department stores. Check the buying & selling forum here for some good deals (or if you can afford it, don't check and leave it to those who have to scrounge!). Stay away from pleats.

Most jeans advice you'll find here will send you towards the straighter/skinnier legged cuts. Check out the streetware forum, read about some of the different brands, then check out stores in your area and try them on. More popular brands are APC, Rag & Bone, and Earnest Sewn. Personally I'd stay away from more heavily marketed/trendy brands like 7 For All Mankind and True Religion because you can usually do better for the money and are a bit too overtly trend conscious for my taste. On campus I always feel sorry for guys I see wearing those two brands because you know they're trying really hard without knowing what they're doing.

In the winter, you can step up your dressing a bit by putting a vneck cashmere sweater over a dress shirt; it's easy to dress up with a blazer, or dress down with jeans.

The best advice I can give is to just read topics on the forum that interest you. It's much more valuable to have an innate, general sense of style from reading the forums over time than to have a list of things other people recommend.
 

thinman

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I'm 6'3" and 160 lbs., but a little older than you (OK, I'm a college professor and a lot older than you) so I share some of your fit issues.

Polo shirts are an easy way to dress better than everyone who wears a tee shirt every day and it's pretty easy for me to find polos that fit. Save your tee-shirts for an occasional day when you want to say something about your personality and interests.

If you plan to buy any OTR shirts and trousers, I recommend finding a good alterations tailor and treating him/her very well. I used to buy all my dress shirts to fit in the sleeves and then I had the body taken in. Now, I wear MTM dress shirts from Lands' End (requires measuring myself and going through several iterations to get the size right, >$49 each), Individualized Shirts (available through some menswear stores, $139 each), and Brooks Brothers ($120-150 each). I mention these 3 because I suspect that, like me, you don't have the time or inclination to iron your shirts and prefer non-iron dress shirts. Brooks has the largest selection of non-iron fabrics that I've found.

For shoes, I'd recommend a nice pair of boots such as chelsea boots for clubbing. Loafers are nice casual shoes that you could use as an upgrade over your running shoes or flip-flops for everyday wear.

In the Fall/Winter, sweaters are a great option because they are made with longer sleeves than most shirts. So I can wear most sweaters in small sizes because they fit in the body, yet their sleeves are long enough, whereas I would need medium-tall shirts by the same maker (to get long enough sleeves). I would also recommend at least one sportscoat/blazer for dressing up. And don't give up on boot cut jeans. Even though they're out of style, they give my legs some shape and visually shorten them, a nice feature since my legs are very long.

Finally, some "rules" I find useful to give me the illusion of bulk:
1) I avoid vertical stripes. Wide horizontal stripes are good and so are checks, plaids, and tattersalls.
2) I layer whenever possible: sweaters in winter (heavier sweaters are better than light), tee shirts and turtlenecks under my button-up shirts, etc.
3) Textured clothing is my friend, so I wear corduroy and tweed jackets, cable-knit sweaters, etc.

Edit: Welcome to the forum!
 

Edward Appleby

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Well, he cross posted, so I will too

My advice would be to stick around here for a while and read the Streetwear subforum. Check out the "Post pics of what you're wearing" thread. You'll get an idea of the various directions to go in, so that you can choose what style suits you best.

Where are you? If you're near to a larger city we can give you an idea of some places to shop around. If you can afford it, I probably wouldn't shop at Hollister, AF, AE, and such.

A more quick and dirty answer:

Quote:
I don't know what type of jeans to buy...baggy or skinny ones, (I HATE the bootcut ones....def not an option).

I don't know what type of shirts to buy...polo, button up, tshirts or what?

I don't know what type of shoes to buy, nice dress ones or what?


1. Skinny (ish)

2. All of the above. Just make sure the damn things fit

3. There are essentially four routes to go here: boots, dress shoes, Chuck Taylors, and Y-3 type sneakers. In other words nix the running shoes unless you're working out.

For club wear, I'd go with some slim dark jeans (e.g. APC) or dark wool pants (e.g. Incotex), a dress shirt- not from Hollister, ideally, and black dress shoes (not square toe).
 

Matt

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at 6'4 and skinny youre going to have shirt problems where shirts that fit you in length (ie are long enough to go the distance down your body and arms) are really loose fitting and blousy. so you may want to look at MTM (made to measure) options. There are numerous within student budget, notably Jantzen which is pretty popular in these parts.
 

runner05

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Thanks for all of the advice! I live just north of Houston, Texas so I guess I'm in a good area?
 

sho'nuff

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Runner, also another thing, if any of your friends want to dress sharp as well, but who may have a tight budget, you can also do great shopping at the following:

Marshalls
Ross
Nordstrom Rack
Saks outlet
Last Call
TJMaxx
etc.

a little smart shopping you can get alot of good stuff and when coordinated correctly , one will look better and sharper than 99% of the population of guys out there.
 

runner05

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Thanks! I really appericate it. They have most of those stores at our local mall, along with ones like Aldo Shoes, Anthropologie, Banana Republic, Buckle, Express for Men, Fashion Leather & Buckle, Jarman Shoes, and New York & Company, but I've only been in about 2 of those.

So, what I've learned....so far.

Get nice leather shoes (no square toe) with a matching belt

Get nice button up shirts and have them altered

Get strait leg jeans (the darker ones are in right now)

Is this pretty much on? I want to dress nice without being too flashy and preppy like the guys I see with a silver spoon up their ass and you KNOW they are trying SO hard!

Also, I'm not sure what to do with my hair. Currently it's only slightly longer than a buzz, (about an inch long). It's long enough to spike, mo-hawk or something. But I dunno, I usually just dry it with a towel and thats it, or put a hat on.
 

atalante

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all good advice on basics. i wish i'd gotten some of it when i was still in school, although i did ok on my own.

check out streetwear forum, and remember that since you're still in school you might have fun with sneakers too.

new, well designed sneakers (like from nikeiD--build it yourself) or Y-3 could inject youth and style into a lot of the looks that were well recommended to you.

dress well, but try and find your own voice. it sounds like you're well on your way.
 

Edward Appleby

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Originally Posted by runner05

Also, I'm not sure what to do with my hair. Currently it's only slightly longer than a buzz, (about an inch long). It's long enough to spike, mo-hawk or something. But I dunno, I usually just dry it with a towel and thats it, or put a hat on.

I would neither spike nor mohawk.
 

whoopee

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If money really isn't an issue, buy bespoke. No way anything decent off the rack will fit your body. If there isn't anyone good nearby (not familiar with Houston), take a couple summer trips to New York.

I think chukka and chelsea boots from Crockett & Jones, Edward Green, and/or John Lobb are excellent choices for a young guy to dress up or down. Harolds in the Heights sell Gravati, and they are qualit shoes, too. Things like Aldo aren't worth buying.
 

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