10 common beliefs about men’s style that aren’t always true.

1. The slimmer the better!

It was a predictable overreaction to the enormous fits of the 90s. Clothes should skim. Not cling. Nor should passers-by be able to tell whether or not a man has been circumcised, simply by observing the astonishingly precise topography of his denim.

2. Only dress for yourself. Considering what others may think makes you a poser.

Usually said by the same types who claim to have “no regrets”. Look, no one is saying you should dress with the mindset of a middle-schooler desperate to fit into a lunch room clique. But always placing your own personal clothing preferences above the context of social interaction puts far, far too great of an emphasis on clothes and style in terms of the bigger picture. Clothes can be a tool, and they can be a factor in charm. Charm is making people feel genuinely comfortable around you. What do you want? If taking it down a notch, OR, stepping it up a bit, will help improve the perception of you, by others, and that gives you an advantage to achieve something greater than winning an online style poll… then what’s wrong with that?

3. Always pay for quality or you’ll end up certainly regretting it.

Not true. We all made mistakes on the way. Sometimes it’s actually better to pay a little less while you’re still figuring things out (preference in fits, styles, details, etc…) than sink a bunch of money into something you end up hating soon after.

4. Criticism is always helpful, and implicitly requested.

Sometimes an outfit suggestion is just a suggestion, or a WIWT post is just a WIWT post, and thus, no one is asking us armchair stylists for a dissertation on how each item doesn’t work for their tastes, or how they would have worn it, or designed it, or built-it-from-scratch. Does the dissent have value to someone other than the person expressing it? Or, are we all just getting played, convinced by those who need clicks (hi.), that our opinion matters more than it really does?

5. Pleated pants are awful

Depends on the rise of your pants. If you’re wearing a more traditional, higher rise, pleats actually look decent, and more importantly, move better. Just like pleats on the back of a shirt help your (wider) shoulders move better in relation to your waist, a human’s hips are wider than their waist (yes, even on us dudes). That fabric needs to be gathered at the more narrow opening at the waist. Pleats accomplish that in an orderly fashion. Now that rises have rebounded from the pubicishly low level of the early 2000’s, expect pleats to make a limited comeback in suiting. When it comes to more casual pants like chinos? Stick to mid-rise flat fronts.

6. Shoulder divots on a jacket means it’s too big

Nope. See threads user LCDR go over this, with his own experiences on threads over here. See the jacket below. Sizing down isn’t possible due to the laws of the universe of which our physical existence operates under.

7. Getting complimented on my clothes is proof that I. look. AWESOME.

Not necessarily. You just might be standing out more than the rest. Some dig that, sure. But the top of the heap is occupied by those who make it look effortless (probably because it is). Those types might not get as many compliments since it’s the norm for them. Peacocking is sort of like being pregnant. Your appearance will often come up, because it’s hard not to notice.

8. Creasing on leather shoes is a sign of poor quality

This perception seems to be really overblown. Leather is skin. Over time, skin creases. Just look at your forehead. Now, if you pull a pair of cheap shoes out of the box, take them for a spin around your house, and after one wear they end up looking like Magda from There’s Something about Mary, then there might be an issue there.

9. Wool is too warm for spring & summer

Not if it’s a lighter weight tropical wool. Wool breathes well, doesn’t hold moisture like cotton, and won’t wrinkle like linen. It’s just a matter of finding and/or paying for the stuff that’ll move in the slightest breeze, not a heavy blanket-like tweed.

10. There are certain, unbreakable rules of style

Wait, so if this is a list of things that aren’t true, then this ^ is saying there are no hard and fast rules. But isn’t that in and of itself.. a rule? But how could that be?