Beginners HELP!

Dingle_berry

This may seem ridiculous but anyway...
I feel the need to update my wardrobe/fashion/appearance. The problem is that I am completely ignorant of not only fashion, but any sense of style or even clothing knowledge!
I've looked at a few threads on the gentlemans club forum, looked at blogs and sites mentioned there but even these mention things I'm not sure I know of!

Like pants. To me, for men, there are pants or jeans. But then I hear or read of chinos, slacks, khakis, etc and I haven't a clue what the diff is! A concencus that I've found says stay away from pleats.... Pleats? Breaks?
Then there are shirts. Button up v button down? They can't be that picky about which direction you do your own buttons? Oxford? Gingham? Plaid? Wtf?!!
Shoes.... what makes a loafer different from a boatman, brogue, etc
There really is an entire fashion language out there. Does anyone know of any dictionaries?

Then there's buying the above, trying to decide does it fit (which to me is a balance between tight or loose!) and does it "go"....
I've tried looking at mens magazines but not only do they use the above terminology, they seem to advertise ridiculously expensive clothes (€2K for a shirt?!!) and highlight details, like jacket length, that I would never notice!

baby and crumble

Dingle_berry wrote: »

This may seem ridiculous but anyway...
I feel the need to update my wardrobe/fashion/appearance. The problem is that I am completely ignorant of not only fashion, but any sense of style or even clothing knowledge!
I've looked at a few threads on the gentlemans club forum, looked at blogs and sites mentioned there but even these mention things I'm not sure I know of!

Like pants. To me, for men, there are pants or jeans. But then I hear or read of chinos, slacks, khakis, etc and I haven't a clue what the diff is! A concencus that I've found says stay away from pleats.... Pleats? Breaks?
Then there are shirts. Button up v button down? They can't be that picky about which direction you do your own buttons? Oxford? Gingham? Plaid? Wtf?!!
Shoes.... what makes a loafer different from a boatman, brogue, etc
There really is an entire fashion language out there. Does anyone know of any dictionaries?

Then there's buying the above, trying to decide does it fit (which to me is a balance between tight or loose!) and does it "go"....
I've tried looking at mens magazines but not only do they use the above terminology, they seem to advertise ridiculously expensive clothes (€2K for a shirt?!!) and highlight details, like jacket length, that I would never notice!

You're right, there is a whole language, but it's not that hard to figure it out. There are a couple of sites that I'd recommend to someone like yourself- the main one is an online magazine called "Primer". It's basically a magazine for young college grad men who are transitioning from student to worker. So money is tight an they acknowledge that. It's a great site and in their style section they go through a lot of basics- you might need to dig a bit to find them though.

http://www.primermagazine.com/

sashafierce

This post has been deleted.

Dingle_berry

Found the style/fashion stuff on primer, and found almost 100 articles on a site called fashionbeans - the only issue I'd have with these is that they assume that I know what a pleat, break, etc is and that they are American based so all their recommendations/samples are from American shops! That's just me being lazy though. Ill have to suck it up and try to navigate dundrum or blanchardstown some evening...

I have looked at ASOS, MandM, etc but I'm wary of buying online - what if it doesn't fit or is a different colour in real life? I'm stuck with a credit note I don't want!

I was in Kildare village recently. Anything I saw that I thought I liked (some pretty weird sh!t there!) had a weird fit - pants just barely too tight or way too long, shirts that fit my torso but my arms were lost in - is the only solution to spend more money getting someone to alter these?

sashafierce

This post has been deleted.

il gatto

Loafers are slip on shoes with a moccasin front (ie stitched ridge around front). Brogues are shoes with holes pieced into outer leather.
Khaki is a colour. Chinos are cotton trousers, often khaki (beige) coloured.
A pleat is an integral fold in cloth, designed to expand giving more freedom of movement. Often found on the back of jackets. Avoid them in trousers as they make the trouser sort of billow out at the front. Good if you are quite overweight though. Look for trousers which say "flat fronted".
Button down means little buttons which hold the collar down. More casual but worn with suits in the States a lot.
Oxford, gingham and plaid are just types of weave or patterns.

Avoid anything too trendy. They just keep changing stuff to get people buying tat. Men's clothes is going like women's. Cheap rubbish to be thrown out every 6 months.
Buy stuff that is comfortable and fits well. Avoid baggy or anything too tight. Avoid patterns outside of shirts and ties.
Avoid pointy shoes. Avoid skinny jeans. Avoid skinny ties.

Basically decide what look you want, spend a day in town looking for stuff to get that look. Work from there. Movies can be a good place to get ideas. Steve McQueen in the Thomas Crown Affair, Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception, Daisy Duke. Whatever. Just make up your own mind.

Frito

If you're really struggling you could always use a personal shopper, most department stores have them.