Men's Fashion Advice

delta36

Hey all,
hoping I can get some good tips here or be pointed to useful resources-
I currently have two styles of clothes: shirts with nice trousers and shoes (my going out gear), or t-shirts with..well, nice trousers and shoes.
I've recently started work after finishing college, and the dress code there is semi casual, which means I'm wearing a shirt and jeans/slacks every day, but I'm now at a loss as to what I can wear on nights out etc. that's nice, not super formal and isn't the same thing I wear at work all day!
In addition, I'm starting to feel a bit sloppy at weekends when I'm out anywhere just wearing a t-shirt, so want to update my wardrobe a bit in that regard as well.

TL;dr: I'm looking for advice on something to wear casually that is somewhere between a hoodie and tshirt, and a shirt. I'd also take advice on what to wear on nights out that isn't just what I wear at work.

Thanks in advance, I've kinda hit a wall here on where to go for information!

Seanf999

Go onto sites like asos and have a gander, just google mens clothing for sale and wen if you dot buy anything just look at what they're wearing, for instance if you go onto asos you can find 'outfit of the week' or something along the lines of that, and you may not like everything you see but you surely pick out some nice bits you like.

You can also go with jeans boots or dress down formal shoes (like formal shoes that aren't shiny basically)
And grandad shirts or vintage t's and polos, v neck sweaters etc.

A good haircut that you can change between slightly formal and not formal will completely change how you look too!

Best of luck

miss-p

What about wearing shirts with a pattern for going out? So I assume you're wearing a fairly plain shirt for work, but for going out you could wear some nice patterened shirts or colours something like one of these maybe. One, two, three or four. I know in general 'shirts' seem like they mean one thing but I really think the cut, colour and style of them can change the ocassion.

Betty Bloggs

For casual but smart, what about some tops like these?


http://ie.nextdirect.com/en/men/knitwear-collection/heavyweight-knits/3
http://ie.nextdirect.com/en/men/knitwear-collection/heavyweight-knits/2
(last link could be layered with other clothing)

- with some nice jeans and boots or converse?

This type of jacket can go with a lot of things too and can be got in different colors. This is a nice grey one:


Sweatshirts and Mens Knitwear are some of the categories you could look at on websites like river island, and next or many others. (instead of hoodies and t-shirts if you want something different)

If you do a google search either for men's fashion 2014 or "smart casual men's" you might get a few ideas.

Some examples:














Not really sure what type of fashion you might like or hate, so just throwing a few ideas out there!

delta36

Thanks for all the advice so far peeps, it's been really useful and I very much appreciate it!

Bawnmore

It depends on what type of shirts you're wearing to work currently. Are they leaning more on the formal side? E.g. pointed collar or a shirt that you'd wear with a suit maybe?

Something that didn't click with me until later than I'd like to admit was different formalities of shirts. I didn't like wearing shirts out as they always felt too formal. Examples of less formal shirts that work both in a smart casual setting (sleeves down/up and tucked into nice jeans/smart chinos) and a casual setting like out for dinner or drinks is an oxford shirt. Every major retail store would carry a version - I have a few of Next's one like here and really like the fit and quality.

It's been mentioned above too, but patterns and materials make a big difference too, so something like a gingham or denim shirts might be a good place to start.

Check out casual shirts here for a start on ideas.

Also - for smart casual - Pennies do great V neck sweaters that are handy for layering at work, and only 8 quid!

hfallada

If you look at fashion instagrams plenty of people are wearing plain t-shirts. There is nothing wrong with tshirts. They are better than most cheap shirts.

delta36

Awesome, thanks again everyone for your help!

Laois6556

I need help like the op. I want to dress better but I don't want to look like a ponse. By ponse I mean some of those lads in the photos earlier in the thread. I wear mostly jeans and a hoodie. I don't like shirts as in suit shirts. I usually wear runners. I usually don't spend alot on clothes, pennies, dunnes stores and the likes is where I pick up a couple of things. So I'm looking for ideas for nice clothes that don't make me look like a ponse and aren't too expensive. Thanks and sorry for hijacking your thread op.

thenashlegend

Glad I've stumbled on this actually, not long in from a day in Galway with the other half. Came home feeling pi55 poor having visited most men's shops and didn't pick up a thing! Has anyone else found prices (and styles) to be ridiculous lately?

Jeans are tagged around the 100 mark with sport jackets and blazers anywhere from 120 to 200!

I appreciate the picture above as I'd be into that kind of look but with the stuff I seen available today you'd be talking 400 for just one outfit.

Any pair of jeans with a t-shirt, blazer and shoes would be easily 400.

Where else do guys shop? As I'm always wary of going online, especially with sizing of blazers and the likes.

Seanf999

Pinterest is another good spot to look for some inspiration!

eviltimeban

thenashlegend wrote: »

Glad I've stumbled on this actually, not long in from a day in Galway with the other half. Came home feeling pi55 poor having visited most men's shops and didn't pick up a thing! Has anyone else found prices (and styles) to be ridiculous lately?

Jeans are tagged around the 100 mark with sport jackets and blazers anywhere from 120 to 200!

I appreciate the picture above as I'd be into that kind of look but with the stuff I seen available today you'd be talking 400 for just one outfit.

Any pair of jeans with a t-shirt, blazer and shoes would be easily 400.

Where else do guys shop? As I'm always wary of going online, especially with sizing of blazers and the likes.

It takes a while to get a decent wardrobe together, but it can be done if you invest wisely in a few pieces and get cheaper stuff to round it out.

Your most expensive outlay is going to be jeans, shoes / boots, and a coat.

However, you can offset that by getting slightly cheaper jeans. I've found that Gap jeans are pretty good and only €45. They are sturdy and look good. So you could look into that.

For footwear you could look at trying outlet stores, or getting things like Converse or vans, which aren't that expensive. The Kildare Outlet has a few decent places for knitwear, also I find TK Max pretty good too - you could get some nice chunky jumpers / cardigans for about €30 - €40. Topman do nice 100% cotton sweaters for €30.

You could also try eBay for some nearly-new items; coats hold up pretty well, so you could look there and get something decent for about half the price.

As for plain t-shirts, I find you can't go wrong with H&M's range - 100% cotton for €5 a pop. Now, they don't really last beyond 3 or 4 washes but they are so cheap you can just restock.

If you are starting from scratch, it might take you a good 3 - 6 months to build up a decent wardrobe; try thinking micro at first; IOW, stuff you can mix and match with to create several outfits using a small number of pieces.