Overcome Your Fashion Achilles Heel: Sameness

It’s been often said that men employ a “one track” approach to problem solving, in which it’s difficult for them to multitask. Women, on the other hand, apparently can take on many different tasks. Could it be that this may explain the variety of choices and options that women employ in their wardrobe, while men are rarely ready to experiment any bit in their clothing choices. Probably not, but the fact still remains. Men don’t experiment when it comes to fashion.

It’s ironic how even when metrosexual surfaced, a woman in a man’s body aesthetic-wise, was defined through a narrow, minimalistic look. Men of that time were expected to wear Gucci, Calvin Klein, Versace, Helmut Lang, and then later on, as the new millennium approached, Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton. While these labels offer a plethora of options for women their offerings for men typically fit into very limited lines that employ a few choice options. Everyone wants that Prada windbreaker, those Dior t-shirts or those Vuitton ensembles but they are pretty much the same every time, all the time. The only real variety was coming form avant-garde, or, if you will, kitsch labels such as D&G, or Comme des Garçons.

Men want to experiment with fashion, and take on different looks but it takes a while before we can truly think outside of the box and work fashion the way it was truly intended; the way women take for granted from teenage years. Men eventually come into their own, when they least expect it, when they’ve stopped dressing for that job, their peers, and the women in their life and their true personality starts to come through. Once you realize that your look is you choice, a mere reflection of how you feel at that time, you’re open to trying out different looks at different times. Fashion isn’t about employing a plethora of rules that need to be followed out explicitly in order to look your best; it is about finding creative ways to express yourself and your individuality. You can look great without designer fashion, and find ways to create an interesting look out of store labels that can be found anywhere, if you so desire. There is nothing wrong with taking items borrowed from thrift stores and mixing them with more expensive items to create your distinctive look.

There is something fun and liberating about creating a unique look that sets you apart from the other guys. Try something different, find new ways to impart your own personality into attire you normally wouldn’t wear; if a sweater vest isn’t your thing, or you hate button down shirts because you don’t like the collar around your neck, try out a few different variations, in materials that are both different and vary in weight, and see what works out for you. You may find out that you truly do hate certain things, and now realize exactly why, or you may find something new that can expand the look that you have already created for yourself. You just need to experiment.

- Chris Kendalls