Personal Touches to Your Personal Style

When it comes to really setting yourself apart from the crowd it’s those little things that make the difference. Today, it seems as though exclusivity itself is no longer exclusive; so taking some time to focus on the personal things that you find special will indeed pay off in the end.

They can range from expensive wardrobe additions to simple touches. The point is not to break the bank because as you should know by now, money does not buy style. On the other hand, money well spent can be a smart long term investment.

So, here are a few things to think about. By no means a comprehensive list, these are just a couple of ways you can bring some more personality to your personal style.

Custom clothes: Let’s start big and get this out of the way. If you can afford to do so, investing in custom made clothes is a wonderful way to add flair to your wardrobe and overall appearance. Handmade suits, jackets and shirts will fit you like nothing else and will simply look better than off the rack clothing.

Remember that assembling a working custom wardrobe can cost a small fortune and take a while to pull together. Additionally, even if you stick to traditional cuts and fabrics, styles do change and your clothes won’t be the height of fashion forever. Regardless, well thought out and designed purchases will stand the test of time better than trying to be just another fashion plate.

A good place to start is with a few custom shirts. There is usually a minimum quantity for your first order, but you’ll get a nice variety of fabrics and several options when it comes to collars and cuffs.

Move on to suits, sport coats and trousers as your interest and income dictate.

Good shoes: The next rung on the high-end investment ladder is a pair of good shoes. There are many makers of fine footwear from which to choose. Most are English, but some American makers like Alden and Allen Edmunds are well known in their own right. Look for leather uppers and Goodyear welted leather soles. The leather adapts to your foot’s shape and Goodyear welting allows soles to be replaced, adding years of service.

If you have cash to spare, custom footwear is the ne plus ultra of bespoke. Feet are the real workhorses of your body and deserve respect. Custom shoes will be molded to each foot and hand assembled by skilled craftsmen. It can take a while to get them to you, but when you finally slip on those custom brogues or oxfords, your feet will never feel the same.

In addition to just looking different than most mass produced footwear, handmade shoes will last a very long time due to the quality of materials and level of craftsmanship employed. They many even outlast you.

Monograms: Here we get into a less expensive but nonetheless high impact sartorial tool: the monogram. Formally the purview of upper-classes, modern technology has brought monogramming to the masses. While this option is now available almost anywhere – from shirts to socks, golf clubs to toothpicks – limiting its usage can increase the cool factor.

Though shirt cuffs, handkerchiefs and signet rings are great locations for the well placed monogram, try not to overdo it. Your initials in small gold lettering on a leather briefcase is a nice touch but a monogrammed baseball hat is a bit tacky. Be conservative with all the branding or it will look silly, not sharp.

What most people want to achieve with monogramming is a hint of the patrician life; for someone to think that, just maybe, you have a butler laundering your shirts every other day. I mean, why else would you need your boxer shorts monogrammed?

One-of-a-kinds: These are the really unique items that speak to your own interests, hobbies or collections. I know people who collect vintage leather briefcases, fountain pens, mechanical watches and Tiffany desk sets.

Whatever your interests, don’t be afraid of integrating them into your day to day life. Use a leather journal to keep your schedule, trade in your old dress shirts for new ones with French cuffs and put your dad’s old cufflinks to work, wear that fedora you’ve always coveted.

More than anything else these are the things that make you unique and individual. Ever been to New York and seen the naked cowboy in Times Square? You’ll never look at a cowboy hat the same way; but you’ll also never forget his get-up – or lack thereof – again. Is he nuts? Perhaps; but he also makes a good living and sure seems to enjoy his work.

However you choose to approach defining your personal style just don’t be a drone. Don’t go through life towing the sartorial line because you are afraid of taking a stand and standing out a bit.

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What’s In Your Pocket?

Most men are superstitious to some extent. We have our lucky shirt or favorite pair of shoes, a certain tie; maybe even a particular driving route to the office. Likely Republican presidential nominee John McCain has a host of lucky objects that travel with him on the campaign trail, one of which is a favorite coin.

This, I can relate to. I have a lucky coin as well – or, to be more precise, some lucky coins. I carry at least one of them wherever I go. It’s not like I must have it with me to leave the house, it’s just that I’m used to carrying one. Usually, it’s a large 50 Franc piece; a memento brought back by my brother from a trip across Europe in the 1970s.

Apart from the coin, I may carry some cash in a lovely sterling silver money clip that was a gift from my wife; otherwise I like to keep my pockets fairly empty. It’s a personal thing – I just don’t like the bulk of having keys or a cell phone jammed into my pockets. If I actually have to take stuff out to comfortably sit down, it’s too much.

What a man carries around in his pockets everyday is definitely telling. Is he a hoarder or a minimalist? What does he consider the necessities of life? This ties in of course with my own penchant for bags, a more logical way of carrying things around.

With dress pants in particular having more than a few small items in your pockets just looks bad. The line of the trousers is thrown off and an odd bulkiness of stretched fabric ensues. Key chains are a big offender. Why on earth someone would feel the need to lug around a ring of sharp, heavy keys in their front pocket escapes me. How is that comfortable?

Some men like to carry a small pocketknife, which can be very handy as long as you’re not rushing to catch a plane. A nice little monogrammed pen knife is a wonderful accessory and a nice heirloom to boot.

A pocket full of change is to me one of those annoying things – as are the people who feel the need to jingle said coins incessantly. Here’s a better idea: get a nice handmade English change case and throw it in your bag.

When it comes to pants pockets, wallets are a major issue. I have no problem carrying mine in a back pocket when it makes more sense than lugging a bag around. Sturdier pants like jeans, khakis and cords are best suited for wallets.

Some men like to keep their wallet in a front pocket. Whether for security or comfort – sitting with a wallet in your back pocket can cause all sorts of spinal issues – just make sure it is a small, thin one. Card cases can be a good alternative to the bulk of a traditional wallet. Dress and suit pants are often not constructed for overstuffed or bulky wallets – let alone a heavy key ring. So give your pants a break.

When getting dressed up, pare down your pocket accessories to a minimum. For example, I have a very nice slim calfskin wallet that I use for formal events. I’ll take my license, credit and bank cards and some business cards; leaving everything else in the main wallet. The lucky coin goes up front and that’s pretty much it. If I’m wearing a jacket, the cell phone goes in an inside pocket. So does the wallet.

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Managing Your Message: Execution of Personal Style

You’ve heard it many times before, “details matter.” It’s true; details are the finishing touches of personal expression. They are often what separate average guys from truly interesting men. Whether big or small, exuberant or subtle, details drive the messages we use to define ourselves to others.

My fellow MensFlair contributor, Winston Chesterfield, recently posted an excellent essay on the core of personal style. His argument that style is akin to art, that an artist must paint or that a sculptor must liberate the form inside a block of granite, is particularly insightful. This is the kind of drive and attention to detail that marks a truly stylish man.

The execution of personal style, not surprisingly, varies from person to person and involves more than just clothes. You can manage this message if you want; building up a personal presence that reflects who you are, what you want and what you’re all about.

There are many examples of people who consciously developed their style around specific details. Tom Wolfe is one; with his trademark white suit and hat, the writer is instantly recognizable. Whether you like or loath his persona, Wolfe is a very smart man who understands the benefit of being unique and standing out in a crowded field.

Of course he backs up the stylish eccentricity with darn good writing. Details won’t get you too far if there is no substance behind the flash. There is one guy though, a big guy with a lot of substance who has fascinated me for quite a while.

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is a virtual tactician when it comes to designing and executing his own personal marketing plan. From the custom suits which both highlight his well known bulk – and by extension make his polished executive appearance all the more pronounced – to the custom cowboy boots emblazoned with his adopted home state’s seal. Schwarzenegger has always been meticulous about packaging himself for the task at hand.

By capitalizing on his early niche “Pumping Iron” fame, he launched himself into action hero celebrity and then made an even more remarkable transition to political powerhouse. Schwarzenegger always takes the time to manage his public persona and adjust his presentation when needed. Running through it though has been a consistent core image: a cigar smoking, Hummer driving, independent thinking, business minded big man with a toothy smile.

His sense of style alternates between refined outdoor rugged and polished corner office political leader. Mud smeared, machine gun toting on-screen persona aside, Schwarzenegger is in fact a connoisseur with excellent taste in design, clothes, watches and of course hand rolled cigars. He is well read and a virtual policy wonk when it comes to such complex issues as climate change and trade – both key issues in California. Although legally barred from running for president, he still oversees 12% of the American population. Not bad for a kid from a little town in Austria.

Using Arnold Schwarzenegger as example of how to manage your image through attention to detail and focus may seem a little outsized, but the governator is a brand and he knows it. You and I are no different. What is your brand? Who is your audience? What is your plan? What are the details that define you?

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The Commodity of Luxury

The shiny barrier of luxury that one clearly defined social and cultural classes has fallen by the wayside. Now, even the most average of incomes can support some level of Tiffany, Cartier, Hermes, Asprey, Gucci or Louis Vuitton. Only one generation ago any of these names would conjure up images of drivers waiting outside intimidatingly luxurious store fronts. Such places were exclusive. They were out of bounds for the ordinary consumer. You could walk in of course, but you didn’t really belong there.

How the world has changed. Though many of these companies took generations to become bastions of excellence and good breeding, it took a relatively short period of time to make their products and accessories available to the masses. When once only New York’s privileged scions browsed for the perfect diamond engagement ring, today every other teenage girl has a “Return to Tiffany” chocker wrapped around her neck.

Burberry, that giant of English brands had to hire a new CEO whose first act was to abolish the company’s signature tartan from hundreds of products. In Burberry’s case it was too much of a good thing – that plaid was everywhere and all at once. What had been a cipher for privilege and exclusivity was now the domain of high schoolers.

In their drive to reach the ultimate brass ring of market share, sobriety and tradition gave way to down market sales. Catch them young, the theory goes, let them afford a scarf or a bracelet with the coveted logo on it, and when they grow up and make more money they’ll come back to spend it on a sapphire necklace or an iconic trench coat. And it worked.

At least the first part worked. The problem of course, is that when you have a hot economy and lots of people with a desire for fame and spare cash, the more bling you can sport the better. What began as an effort to ensnare more customers and grown the bottom line quickly twisted into outright brand saturation.

The turning point for venerable Tiffany & Co., apparently came when hordes of cash flushed teens clogging up the “rear salon” – when the sterling silver jewelry and accessories are sold - started to turn off the customers who were coming in to buy the big stuff in the “front salon.” This is where the real action happens; where you might see some fellow drop $50,000 on a charming tennis bracelet for the wife.

These are the customers who really pay the bills and when they start feeling sidelined because Tiffany appears to be catering to a 13 year-old with mom’s credit card, well, watch out. The first half of the down market plan was a success. The problem was that so many people could now afford a piece of the dream and the demand was relentless. So were the sales.

But as this “affordable luxury” trend spread across the luxury market, from entry level Jaguars to entry level Zegna suits, the inevitable started to happen. The truly rich, the top level consumers started to feel not so special.

Because if everyone can be special, than, really, no one is special. And so as the bottom feeders snatched up their logoed iPod cases, key chains, and handbags-of-the-moment, the top feeders started looking for material fulfillment elsewhere. Coincidentally, the financial markets started to stumble around this point and that really didn’t help.

As most economists will tell you, when consumers believe that their financial situation is threatened the first pull back will be in discretionary spending. While this has different meanings to different people, at some point getting that blue velvet Gucci suit just doesn’t seem like a good investment.

This is the conundrum facing a number of large luxury houses as we kick off the New Year: the market they have spent years trying to attract is no long in a spending mood. And the elite customers, who could, with just a few shopping trips set things right, no longer desire your brand because it has been watered down.

The result of this perfect retail storm is equally as fascinating. New designers and real craftsman are starting to make their mark. People both average and wealthy want something new. Those with the means to have pretty much anything they want something no one else has. Average consumers who have money but are now more selective want something unique.

Visionaries like Tom Ford and David Chu saw this coming and acted early. After founding and then selling Nautica for a tidy profit of $100 million, Chu renovated an entire Manhattan townhouse and turned it into a bespoke atelier from which he offers a full range of custom clothing. After leaving Gucci, Ford decided that New York needed a super high-end men’s clothier that felt like a private club.

Wealthier shoppers are moving way from brand name luxury because it simply too common; luxury itself has become a commodity. So, really this was a roundabout way of saying that I believe we will be seeing a shift in the definition of luxury. People will soon realize that the only way to in fact be unique is to disregard labels and logos altogether.

And to me that time cannot come soon enough. Real style is a personal thing and luxury items are the most extreme expression of personal style. So in a sense we are back at the beginning when true luxury did not have a label slapped on it, when a suit was handmade and the man wearing it was an ambassador of style, not the tag.

Personally, I think that those things most meaningful to you should be uncommon and rare; they should come with some sort of price beyond that of just money. Be it an irreplaceable family heirloom or an expensive and unusual watch that was a once-in-a-lifetime purchase. Even if it’s a favorite sweater bought at a discount store; if you cannot bear to lose it, well, then it’s just as valuable as one from some expensive boutique.

When you get down to it, those who have a real understanding of style don’t need labels. They don’t care if you recognize their bag or their tie or their coat. It’s not about impressing you; it’s about standards they set for themselves. That’s luxury.

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New Books on Men’s Style for the New Year

I love books. If my wife would let me line each room of the house them, I would. In my study, I have a wall of bookshelves stuffed with volumes ranging from physics to interior design, presidential biographies to etiquette guides, and poetry to world history. In this New Year, I have added a few titles to my menswear and clothing section so I have a few books to recommend.

Personally, I think every guy should have a few books that can help him get dressed for the day. As an information junky and writer, I have amassed a fairly large collection on menswear including books, guides, magazines and clippings. In fact, I just did a quick count and discovered that I have 37 menswear-specific books.

It’s not a collection just for the sake of having one. To me, each one of those books is a source of inspiration not a rulebook – though some authors seem to think theirs is the only way to dress. Don’t hold fast to any one recommendation or opinion. Take it all in, decide what you like and leave the rest.

With that disclaimer in place, here are some suggestions for your reading pleasure:

Men’s Style: The Thinking Man’s Guide to Dress
This has replaced G. Bruce Boyer’s “Elegance - A Guide to Quality in Menswear” as my hands down favorite menswear book. I never thought the day would come.

Russell Smith is perhaps one of the best menswear writers out there. If you only read the introduction, titled “why bother?” it is worth the purchase price. He succinctly and with great wit explains why you should want to dress well. If you read on, it only gets better.

Smith’s sense of style is classic and his opinions pointed – like how he eviscerated any thoughts I had of ever wearing a white suit a la Tom Wolfe. Oh well – I still have the white bucks.

Overall, it is an excellent book for someone who already has a pretty good handle on his own sense of style and is now ready for the advanced class. Not a lot of images, but the excellent writing takes care of that.

Details Men’s Style Manual: The Ultimate Guide for Making Your Clothes Work for You
One of the best all around resource books I’ve seen in a long time. If you need to figure out where to start – start here. This book is a production of the crew at Details Magazine and they’ve done a fine job. Lots of pictures and sidebars add to the constant flow of sartorial information.

This is good book when you are looking for an all-in-one resource. From suits to jeans, sweaters to formalwear, most every angle is touched on. Several chapter topics are paired with a celebrity style guru offering their personal “Rules of Style.”

Esquire’s Big Black Book
OK, so it’s not really a book, but it’s not really a magazine either. This is the second year that Esquire has produced this style guide and though much of the content is “of the moment” it is a wonderful look book from which to get ideas. It covers all aspects of men’s products and luxuries, from watches to suits, to snazzy hunting duds and essays like the making of cashmere.

Mark your calendar to pick up next year’s copy; it should hit the shelves sometime in early December.

Ralph Lauren
If you are a fan of Mr. Lauren you should get this book if for no other reason than its value as a novelty. It is massive. I am contemplating getting an iron frame stand made for it so that this volume can double as a coffee table.

OK, maybe I’m exaggerating a little bit, but it is an awfully large and expensive book. It’s all for good though, because it literally contains the entire visual history of Ralph Lauren the company. If you can think of a favorite advertising campaign, it’s in there.

I recommend this as style inspiration/resource guide because Lauren is a genius when it comes to tapping the emotional core of style and design. Just leafing through a few pages will give you style ideas to last a month.

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