The Most Important Things

Style is a funny thing. I wrote, a couple blogs ago, about creating or buying style. But there’s more to both of those theories. For me, when it comes to style, FIT is king. If the clothes don’t fit, I won’t even bother looking at it no matter how “stylish” it is. To be in style, I think you should look good as opposed to looking trendy.

To understand fit, you must understand your body type. (Since I think anything can be broken down into sets of threes) Here are the three main body types I see in the world. (Note: this blog is not about what fit you are, so much as an observation. I don’t care what shape you are or are not.)

1) Hip to be Square. AKA the box cut. Most large box retailers (macy’s, jcpenny, etc) this is the cut that stocks their floor. It’s great for older people (men especially). When you hold up the shirt and it could fit over packing box, you know it’s a “box cut”. This is Tommy Bahamas bread and butter, drape this over your body and let the cool breezes flow!

2) I am in shape, round is a shape. The nice thing about the box cut is that it can fit over round people as well. You don’t need to have broad shoulders to wear the box cut. If you have sloping shoulders, it will drape just fine. Again, no shame what shape you are. I am just saying, if you are round or square; stay away from clothes that say, “modern fit” or “slim fit”. It just won’t make you look the best. And that’s what style is supposed to do, make you look your best. Not make you look “trendy”.

3) The elongated square. The rectangle is the shape a lot of younger clothiers tailor to. Think H&M, some GAP, etc. These are all companies that create for the rectangle shape. If you are not a skinny rail, shop with caution! If you fall into square or round, it will be harder to find clothes that will make you look good in those types of stores. (Note: i am not saying you can’t, just that it will be like a treasure hunt. Happy hunting!)

The next time you go shopping look for clothes that will make you look good. Not clothes that are trendy or the latest in style. Go for a combo, style and fit. I was at the beach and around town this past 4th of July weekend, too many people wearing clothes to small. And I am not just talking about beachwear. Don’t wear what the store tells you to wear! Wear what makes you look and feel good. If the clothes fit, wear it. Unless it’s really ugly!

According to my brain, there are three types of categories of people in the world. These categories are: people that create, people that buy and people that just don’t care.

Don’t believe me? Let me give you an example, fashion. Let’s apply the categories to this example. There are people who create fashion. They set trends, they set style and materials; they create fashion. There are people who buy fashion. They buy it for their stores or customers or themselves. Then there are the people who don’t care. They just put on whatever is in their (or somebody else’s closet). This all happens on the macro scale as well as a micro scale. On the macro scale, you actually have people creating what we wear. You have people buying stuff for us to buy (like GAP, JCrew, etc). And then you have people who don’t care.

This also happens on a micro scale. There are people who create style. They don’t necessarily buy the “best” (read: most expensive) brands. They don’t have to. They take what they have and what the world has to offer and create style. There are people who just go and buy style. They walk into Nordstroms, Neiman Marcus, wherever and purchase expensive, trendy outfits. (side note: this is an observation, not a judgment of anyone who does any of these) Lastly, you have the people who don’t care. They buy whatever keeps them covered, where whatever keeps them comfy and live life in an uncaring bliss. Make sense?

Now try in any other field. Say, media. People who create (original) media. People who buy it (from freelancers, studios, etc). People who don’t care about media, they have no TV, no internet, nothing. Anyway, what areas can you put those categories in? Let me know.