Starting from scratch - 19YO male wardrobe.

Hollister11

Hi
I'm looking to build a brand new wardrobe. All my clothes are either raggy looking, or I look sloppy in because there two big after loosing weight.
I'm just looking for recomendations on what I should buy and what's in style at the moment. I need help from everything hats to jackets to shoes. I have a fair chuck of money to spend (1K). And I want to buy good quality clothes that will last me a few years.
Thanks

lizzyman

Check out http://www.reddit.com/r/malefashionadvice/

A lot of sites online that talk about clothes tend to be aimed at an older demographic and have a very, very American trad idea of what looks good. That's all well and good but as a 19 yo you're not likely to need wool slacks and sports coats any time soon. Reddit seems to be mostly aimed at 19-35 year olds. Read the fit guides, download any pics that you like the look of in the inspiration albums and try to get an idea of what you like. Think about your lifestyle and where you are going to wear the clothes. Try stuff on and don't be afraid to return stuff if you don't like it. Find an excellent tailor. Don't dive into it without doing a lot of thinking and research, 1K can get you a great wardrobe but you can also waste it very easily on stuff that doesn't work for you.

Twee.

Is there anything you don't like/absolutely won't wear? Any celebs you like? I think Zac Efron's day to day wear is a great place to start. He wears really simple outfits, and has staple like decent jeans, nice plain tees, fitted shirts, fashion runners, leather boots. Personally, I really don't like the overly branded stuff, like Superdry etc.

Mid price range, Selected Homme, Penguin, Levi's are all decent brands to have a look at. Good jeans are an absolute must, I wouldn't bother with Topman/River Island. American Apparel and Marks & Spencer are good for t-shirts that will wash well, won't go out of shape.

lizzyman

Never tried M&S but I can recommend Tesco F&F tshirts. I have about 10 of them that I wear around the house or under a light jacket if I'm out and about.

TrustedApple

Tk maxx is also a great place to start for looking for new stuff. Go straight to the discount rails and have a look on them as you can pick up some really good bargains on them.

Another fashion to look at is your fave singers and bands and see what there wearing and basically use them as ideas.

Then sales in the likes of river island are perfect for jeans as i mostly wear river island jeans for every day wear as there cheap and long lasting for mens skinny jeans. But try if you have the money invest in a good pair of jeans for going out as you be shocked how comfy they are.

Selected stuff EG there shirts are really nice and can be picked up cheap on Asos and the likes. I wear them mostly for work myself.

Also get your self even at 19 a well fitted blazer as its the handiest thing you will have as you can wear it as a jacket on a night out and then you can wear it to events and so on as well.

Go to ASOS and go to the outlet it will be your new friend as you can pick up loads of bargains on it once you get used to know what brands are good and bad. As Twee said stay away from Topman there stuff is shocking overpriced for what it is. But there shoes are fairly ok and cheap.

For footwear i am not a wearer of runners or trainers at all at 23 years old i rather wear a pair of chessa boots, desert boots and so on as i think it looks better but thats my view. But having a pair of something like that is perfect for dressing up and down a outfit as you should always have a lest one good pair of shoes for going out.

Bored_lad

The first thing you need to do is decided what your personal style is and take it from there. I would advise you look at inspiration albums you'll find loads of them on the internet and also look at fashion and syle bloggers and instagram.

One thing you make sure you don't do is go out and spend all the money in one go as you will most likely end up with clothes you don't want or need.

As mentioned above the malefashionadvice subreddit is a good place to start and to look for advice however don't take the guides in the sidebar there as some sort of must follow bible as this has lead to almost a uniform of such been worn by the majority of the sub.

There are loads of good shops you can look at one line to find inspiration from such as BT, BT2, Ted Baker, Mr Porter, Asos etc.

Another thing I would recommend is that you buy good quality clothes and look for quality over quantity.

il gatto

Buy what you will get use out of. If you go out a lot, especially to more trendy bars, a blazer/sports coat is fine. If not, it'll hang in your wardrobe taking up space.
I used to buy stuff for going out, but I rarely go out nowadays so I buy stuff I like to wear all the time.
Main thing is make sure it fits. Amazing how many people buy clothes far to big. Also, avoid trends. At the moment it's all skinny/tapered jeans and v-neck t-shirts. People will look back in 5-10 years and cringe at the pictures. Stick to the classics and if you look after it, you can wear the same stuff in years to come and never look "wrong".
Imo that means straight/bootcut jeans, plain/checked shirts, crew neck t-shirts, wool jumpers (crew and v neck), plain shoes and boots etc.
Jackets make or break an outfit. No point wearing the right gear and covering it with a North Face/Superdry waterproof (unless it's actually raining). For cold weather, I love my peacoat, wet weather a black waxed coat. Otherwise, I love my leather jackets. Some people don't like the look/feel but if you do, buy a decent one and it'll last you decades. Black looks "cooler" to most people and brown more casual and I suppose less "try hard". I have both and wear whichever I feel like on a day.
Hats wise, avoid felt hats. At your age they look terrible. Stick to wooly/beanie hats, military/castro style caps and my favourite, flat caps:cool:.

jaymcg91

All of that advice is good, except bootcut jeans. Absolutely vile :P. I want to rip them off men and burn them .

il gatto

jaymcg91 wrote: »

All of that advice is good, except bootcut jeans. Absolutely vile :P. I want to rip them off men and burn them .

You female? Yet another reason to wear bootcut jeans

Crazy_Fool

All good advice there, the one thing I try and stick to when clothes shopping is when you try it on, if you don't love it straight away don't bother with it. All the himming and hawing rarely results in something I really want to wear in the end.

mailforkev

Crazy_Fool wrote: »

All good advice there, the one thing I try and stick to when clothes shopping is when you try it on, if you don't love it straight away don't bother with it. All the himming and hawing rarely results in something I really want to wear in the end.

This is good advice. If you don't look in the mirror and think it's perfect then don't buy it or send it back.

You can fall out of love with an item but you won't fall in love with one.

A decent coat or jacket is also a great purchase. A good coat can last years. Same goes for good quality shoes.

I buy quality over quantity, I've learned over the years that this works out best for me. But quality doesn't have to mean expensive, Cos is a great example of good value.

And always keep an eye on sales in higher end stores or websites like Mr Porter, I've gotten some excellent bargains over the last couple of years, from great basics like APC tshirts for 35 quid to a grand off a Moncler coat.