Category: blog

As we move further into the year, the season of Spring beckons us with a lot of hope, promise and excitement, and invites us to come out and see life afresh. Spring is a season when men’s dress becomes colorful, bold and less restricted by the conventional do’s and don’ts. Collar workers hit the office wearing hoodies and streetwear, whilst designers reimagine tailoring: change is permanent and everywhere. Spring infuses a new sense of life and color into style, and here is what I recommend men to wear this season:

Tailoring is here to stay:
Just when you thought tailoring is all over, it comes back right in. Wear a suit and you’ll be tagged as a C-suite executive or someone wanting to rock your first date or may be both. But there is always space for the unassuming two-piece, as tailoring takes the innovative route with oversized cuts (rather than form-fitted), daring and bold pastels and creams replacing navy and grey, and the tie ditched (for all the good reasons). What’s more encouraging is the shift of attention to print and embroidered floral pattern on bright colored shirts. The suit is making a comeback, but not the way we thought it would be.

For starters, the term ‘Bleisure’ is an intersection of two sub-sets: business and leisure. At this crossroad, more popular at the corporate and enterprise level, a new realm of fashion is calling out to you. Corporate business travelers fancy leisure as a form of motivation to stay focused on the goals and strategies to increasing client relationship and enhancing business prospects. And as such ‘Bleisure, as a concept, is managed by individual company policies that clearly state what attire to wear if you aren’t so sure which type of meeting you’re heading into: a business casual or more formal meeting.

There’s a lot of confusion around Blesiure wear. Only a fine line separates business and bleisure, and it is important to figure out what is acceptable wear for business and what you should probably leave at home. In another sense, it simply means how you’d replace one uniform (the suit) with another much less formal.
Take blazer, for instance—it is less formal than full suit when worn as a separate. However, it is to be noted that a double-breasted, gold-buttoned number is still not something to be tagged as smart-casual. Go for something that is more free-flowing and unstructured, that is, sans padding in the shoulder.

A trait of a good unstructured blazer is softness, made from pliable fabric stuff such as boiled or Merino wool—that’s essentially a cardigan, and actually some versions are knitted, or may be in jersey. They are undoubtedly more casual still, yet nonetheless comparatively smarter than a hoodie.

We are well into 2021; the previous year devastated the opportunities of wearing a full suit to the workplace, owing to the outbreak of the pandemic that dominated the headlines in 2020. The good news is that formal wear is no longer the not so-fitting well stripes and checks of our pop’s time. Formal shirts can be linen, cotton blends, upmarket silks, with ties more of a collector’s piece. The ‘business casual look’ is on…

In most workplaces, it is super-formal from Monday through Thursday. In other words, the rule of the thumb is wearing full sleeves, trousers, button-down shirts with collars (ideally, no flashy colors and no prints), ties and leather shoes. Fridays can get bit lenient when you ditch the tie, try out with different prints, and perhaps go for khakis or chinos. This traditional mold is being fast replaced by more relaxed dress codes for employees to express themselves more freely, and create a work environment that is the best fit with the brand identity of the company. This said there are many HR Managers that still frown at the sight of executives wearing sleeveless attire, open-toed shoes and pants straying too far above the knee.

The workspace at all other times is a place to create and reflect your personal brand. Do you want to be tagged as the easy-to-go guy or the solemn guy or somewhere between the two extremities of the scale? You need to dress accordingly more often than not. There is also a growing school of thought that dressing casually effuses a sense of informality that can also easily relate to the mood of your team, thereby enhancing the quality of work delivered.

The new year has popped out with a lot of promises and hope to behold. Men’s fashion has evolved a lot since 2020, a year that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Men’s suit trends too have been changing year on year, and I promise to give you the best of men’s suiting trends in this blog as I consciously do for all my clients, day in and out. From formal to more laid back, I’ll walk you through the range of choices. I’m sure you’ll be wanting to be dressed to the nines, and savor every minute of it. From sleek black dinner suits that gave many a Hollywood stars a run for their money to the more intricate, there’re no strings attached!

Dinner suit for weddings:
Dinner suits for weddings don’t always have to be black or midnight blue, the de facto suit colors of the wedding season. If it’s a monochromatic wedding (Black and white), I always recommend going for a black dinner suit. But if it’s a late afternoon or early evening wedding, then I suggest a midnight blue suit for an exceptional look. Alternatively, I also recommend emerald green or deep burgundy colored suits or you can ditch your dinner jacket for a smoking jacket.

The new year is on, and even as we are approaching the end of January of this year already, let’s play out the cards in the form of three outfit styles. Forget the new year eve celebration, there is more to what these three unique style can do in terms of real style and substance. In terms of dress code—casual or formal, what have you planned to wear? No worries; this blog will have you literally covered with a few recommendations on how to welcome the fresh year and impress onlookers with a greater sense of panache and elegance.

Let the new year open up with different patterns, and an overcheck fabric comes as a default choice. You can mix and match your dress shirt and trouser’s opaque hues. If you feel a red suit is more overstated, why not try pairing a two-button burgundy suit instead with a shirt in saturated tones and accessories that are contrasting. Undoubtedly, the stylish and chicest way to welcome the new year!

If you think pyjamas represent only informal boundaries, think again. Here is a casual outfit for you to enjoy when spending time at the pool or evening fire lounge area with your best pals and a bottle of Brule wine: a soft flannel shirt teamed up with a casual blazer or cozy pull jacket, the most preferred item for the more relaxed and laid back folk. And if you don’t want to come out of your comfort zone, you can go for a soft and classic cable-knit sweater. You can pick between a pair of chinos, jeans or soft velvet trousers to wear underneath.

One of the most effective outwears for the winter is a heavier wool sport coat. When it comes to sport coats, I view them as jackets instead of “half a suit”. This makes them an easy-to-go outfit with the rest. They will definitely give you a sharper look even if the outfit comes with a lot of casual elements such as white leather sneakers or denim.

If you’re looking for an extra bit of warmth, go for sports coat in tweed or winter-weight wool. For an even smarter and sharper casual look, use a down vest or V-neck sweater for layering your outfit. Under extremely cold climatic conditions, you may have to layer with multiple outwear that can provide you a decent coverage and insulation. If you stay in a more temperate area, it will suffice if you just wear a quilted jacket or pea coat (plus layers in addition). On transitional days, or just when you’re looking for added warmth over a lightweight sweater, a denim jacket offers a superb classic look. Try to keep it casual or even wear a tie with your denim, if you style your outfit the right way.

Finally, the winters have arrived, and you need to know about dressing to nicety and sporting a sharp and smart style even in the bitingly chilly cold. Let’s start off with colors—darker and richer tones including navy, camel, charcoal, eggplant purple, burgundy, forest green are the default choice. When it comes to fabrics, a heavier weight and more texture material is preferable. As for the fitting, clothes should start out slim and gradually turn more capacious.

Winter fashion for men play out in the form of a wide range of wools, heavier cottons, thicker knits, woven shirts, etc. Apparently, all layers generally are thicker to keep one warm and comfy and ward off the cold.

Generally, the fitting is no way different from every other season. However, I suggest slim and fitted style, but not overly tight. There should be enough for you to move around. There’s a catch however here: in winter, we tend to layer our outfit—underwear, sweater, button-up shirt, coat and think thermal underwear—therefore, the fit and thickness of every layer must be pretty much strategic. On top of it, outermost layer usually lends a relaxed fit, so that you can have rooms for the layers underneath. Who would want to wear a peacoat so slim such that you won’t be able to put on anything more than a button-up shirt underneath?

Winter Pants:
Go with denim if you want to wear it casually pairing it with sneakers and a T-shirt, and more formally teamed up with a sport coat, dress shirt and loafers throughout the winter season.

Winter Mid-layers:
During the winters, go for a mid-layer made of light coat or jack, alternating one heavy coat. Two warm layers enable better regulation of temperature than just wearing a shirt and a thick, heavy coat. If it gets too cold and chilly outside, you’re left with only one option, and that is to wear a coat with no mid-layer. Aesthetically, you can create a more interesting look using multiple layers. This means sweaters and vests are good at not only regulating body temperate better, but add an extra layer of oomph to your winter outfit.