Friday, March 29, 2024

Men’s Styling

Getting Your Mojo into Your Style

Now that 2023 is in full swing and the days are getting colder, it’s time to think about revitalising your wardrobe. Rather than wheeling out another endless list of wardrobe essentials for you, we’re presenting another way to freshen up your look. If you want to inject your mojo into your style, some of the sharpest menswear advisors in the business of men’s fashion styling share what to consider when freshening up your wardrobe.

Desired Aesthetic

“I always suggest determining your POV or what you want to look like and then start with the foundations of that look.”

-Ethan M Wong

You can’t know what you need until you know what you want, and to figure that out, you should think about what your desired aesthetic is. You don’t have to put a name on it, just find out what it is you want to prioritise. Establishing your style ‘POV’, or desired aesthetic, and then running with the foundations of that style is one of the best ways to develop your style and wardrobe, says Ethan M. Wong – vintage-menswear-head and writer for ‘a little bit of rest’. The benefit of building your wardrobe around a specific style you like is that this will naturally lead to your outfits being intentional, which is essential to being able to consistently build good outfits.        

Fit

Joshua Reyes on Men Fashion Style
Joshua Reyes measuring up for Oscar Hunt. Image: Samuel Preston

“No matter how expensive or cheap your clothes are, if they are well fitted, it looks so good and so put together.”

– Joshua Reyes

It’s no surprise that tailor and outfitter at Oscar Hunt, Joshua Reyes, places utmost value on the ‘fit’ of clothing. Fit can make or break an outfit, with even the finest pieces looking sloppy if not fitted to you, says Josh. However, ‘fit’ is also an avenue of expression, and the fit of your clothes and the silhouette they produce can dictate the mood your outfit gives off. Think clean lines versus baggy. Composed versus relaxed. But aside from that, fit is an essential factor to clothing that can elevate an outfit far beyond the material cost of each item, and overall contribute to making you look like you know what you’re doing.

Jamie Azzopardi
Image Credit: @jamieazzopardi

“Be free, be comfortable and be bold!”

– Jamie Azzopardi

Fit is, notably, VERY trend sensitive. A quick flick through the decades will show you how true that is, with suits getting slimmer and slimmer. So you should be purchasing clothes that are as timeless and trend-neutral as possible…. right? Well, not necessarily…

Trends can define aesthetics, so the fact that certain pieces will scream a certain era based on the way they fit can be used to your advantage. As for current trends, it pays to be wary of them and how you do or don’t want to align with them. Jamie Azzopardi, celebrity stylist and blogger, recommends seeing what trends work for you, “because trends come and go and you are left with pieces that aren’t transferable”.

In line with desired aesthetic, Jamie also recommends thinking about your lifestyle habits – the ‘things you do’ and the ‘places you go’ – when figuring out what your wardrobe needs. It can pay off to find a union between versatility and your intended aesthetic.

Modernising

men fashion style by @workandwear
Image Credit: @workandwar

So what about the idea of ‘modernising’ styles? While this is often cited by those wanting to tap into older aesthetics without looking out of place, the act of modernising is a careful process that can betray that intentionality we’re striving for in exchange for ‘fitting in’.

So here’s one way to think about it. Split a style or aesthetic into its defining elements: Fit, colour, common pieces, materials, and so on. Now choose only one of those things to dial to modern standards. Here’s an example: a ‘50s youth inspired outfit can get away with trading a leather jacket for something less overt (and perhaps costumey), but untuck your shirt and wear sneakers, and the modernisation of the outfit starts to obscure its inspiration.

The things we tend to remember and value from the ‘good ‘ol days’ are the best of that era – anything that didn’t age well is forgotten. So before you go modernising a look, think about if you need to, and what you’ll get from it.

Keep in mind to:

  1. Think about the fundamental ideas behind what you want to wear. Strip it back to the basics of that style, things that you can build upon and wear in a variety of outfits.
  2. Prioritise fit. Fit, in many cases, outweighs the importance of the quality of your clothing, so if you’re thinking on a budget, a few well fitting and versatile pieces will take you a long way.
  3. Think about what elements of your style are important to you. You don’t need to stick to a single aesthetic. Feel free to to be flexible if you know there’s something you’re more comfortable with, such as baggy or oversized clothing.
  4. Trends are a tool, not something to dominate your style. Honing in on the trends of an era will let you express your vision all that much more clearly, but knowingly casting aside trends and focusing on what you personally prefer is practically a rite of passage for anyone who loves fashion.


    Featured Image of Joshua Reyes by Lo Vinh @vinpixel_

About the Author:

Samuel Preston

Samuel Preston is a 3rd year
University of Adelaide under-
graduate studying a Bachelor
of Commerce majoring in
Marketing. With a keen inter-
est in menswear, his time at
Cocktail Revolution is his first
foray into a career as a creative
in fashion marketing.

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