How To Reinvent Yourself – A New You

how to reinvent yourself

Reinvent Yourself

There comes a time in every man’s life where he decides a change of appearance is much in order. Now may be the perfect time to reinvent yourself. Whether it’s for a new job, new love interest, or even a new year, there is usually some sort of driving force behind it. If you’re thinking about shaking up your signature look, check out our tips to rejuvenate yourself.

Look After Your Skin

Women just love skin products. If you have a woman in your life, you’ll know that their serums, lotions and potions take up most of the space in the bathroom and bedroom. Women are usually one step ahead of us men, they already know that looking and smelling good is feeling good too. We should follow suit and look after our skin too. Our skin can be even more prone to dryness and irritation than women’s. If you don’t want to dip into your other half’s strawberry puree, you could get some Nivea cream for men.

mens nivea cream formula how to reinvent yourself

If you have thicker, dryer skin, you might find that thicker balms and creams are more effective for you and leave your skin feeling softer and more moisturized. My all time favorite cream (after Nivea) would have to be Palmer’s cocoa butter, great smell, great feeling and great value for money.

cocoa butter formula how to reinvent yourself
[Photo Credit: emtalks.co.uk]

Whether you’re on a tight budget at the moment, or not, drink plenty of water and get a good nights sleep. These two things are free, and will work wonders for your skin. You won’t get dark circles and your complexion will look clear and healthy.

Choose Your Products Wisely

In order to change your look, you’ll probably need to change your approach to styling and that means trying new products.

There’s a myriad of skin and hair products for men, but choose wisely; sometimes cheaper products are more damaging to skin and do not last as long as the slightly more expensive products. No one’s saying a £50 jar of cream here, but the dubious cream from discount stores is not always worth it.

Quality products generally last longer and actually do what they say on the tin. You can find great ones online, places like Boots, Mankind, and the Body Shop.

Cut Or Restyle Your Hair

What quicker way to reinvent yourself is there other than changing your hairstyle? One of the quickest and most effective ways is to change it to something you’ve never tried before. Even if it was as simple as changing what side you part your hair on, or more drastically shaving off long locks of hair. Believe me, a good trim can make you feel like a new man.

If your hair is short, you could try growing it into a longer style, and if it’s already long, experiment with a few new styles in front of a mirror until you find something you like. You can find inspiration easily on Instagram or even Google images (old school, I know), or ask your barber for suggestions. Look up hairstyles on models who have similar face shapes, hairlines, and hair textures to you. There’s nothing worse than getting a haircut that doesn’t suit you at all.

how to reinvent yourself barber
[Photo Credit: thespa.steigenberger.com]

Wardrobe

Clear out your wardrobe, get rid of those baggy jeans you’ve had since you were fifteen and invest in new ones that will last. You can find designer labels for cheap in places like Tk Maxx and in the sale section of websites and high street stores. A quick way to reinvent your look is by swapping jeans for chinos, and trainers for boots. These two items can be tweaked to look casual or smart depending on your accessories.

Developing a new signature look means not looking like every other guy out there, and bold accessories make it easy to really personalize your style.

Hats, scarves, watches, crazy socks (check out my posts on them) or bold-framed glasses: knock yourself out and make them your own.

crazy socks

Exercise

Getting a new body shape needs a little more work than changing your hair and clothes , but if you feel you need to size down, remind yourself of the old adage – no pain, no gain.

Exercise is free so forget extortionate gym memberships. Go walking, running, swimming or cycling. Whatever you do – stay active. Exercise releases endorphins so you’ll start feeling good and in time you’ll have a body to match.

Learn To Accept Your Body Shape

While you can exercise and slim down, your natural body shape may always remain the same. The solution to this is not to attempt to squeeze yourself into ill-fitting clothes, but identify your body type to pick clothes that compliment your shape and size well.

Find Out What Brands Work Best For You

In order to succeed when reinventing your wardrobe, you need to know what brands suit you. Topman and ASOS favour more slim fitting clothing, whereas stores like House of Fraser and John Lewis are your go-to for more classic men’s clothing.

Build Your Self Esteem

Having high self esteem affects how you see yourself and how others see you. People are drawn to charismatic, confident people. Work on your posture, slouching suggests a lack of self confidence whereas walking with straight open shoulders rather than hunched ones says a lot about you. Also, change the way you think about yourself if need be, from negative to positive. Being positive and confident is the best way to pull off great new looks.

Ask The Ladies

You can find plenty of inspiration online for a new look, but the women who matter the most in your life – your mum, wife, or sister know you and will always have some helpful, unsolicited advice on how you look, eat, dress, sleep, breathe… you get my drift!

Do your homework and see what’s trending, there’s some great free advice and product reviews all over the internet. Experiment with different looks, get creative, be active and in no time you will have reinvented your look without breaking the bank.

Reinvent yourself now and you’ll be glad you did.

how to reinvent yourself - a new you
[Photo Credit: grafhamwalbancke.com]
[Photo Credit For Featured Image: 123rf.com]

Get The Look #8 – MusikaFrere

Get The Look #8 - MusikaFrere cover photo

There aren’t many people on Instagram better dressed than Davidson Petit-Frère. Combined with his partner, David runs his company; MusikaFrere. You only have to be on their site for three seconds to realize they have unique talents and following them on Instagram is a must. A lot of my style is influenced heavily by men I see online that have amazing fashion sense and David is one of them.

Get The Look #8 - MusikaFrere 2

I had a choice of many different outfits from David but ultimately the majority of his outfits are unique and will cost you quite a bit of cash to look that good. Plus you’d pretty much have to go to David in NYC to get them. Therefore I decided to opt for an outfit that is easily copyable but still looks amazing. The look I’ve picked is both smart and casual, while being perfect for both winter and spring. Should you buy this outfit, it’s pretty much an all time classic that you can wear all year round.

The Outfit

The outfit is extremely basic, starting with a black slim-fitted turtle neck, a wide lapeled burgundy blazer, slim fitted black trouser and a pair of plain black trainers. Simple right? Simplicity is always the best, especially if you can make it look natural – almost as if you got dressed in five minutes.

Where Would You Wear It?

Sometimes we find ourselves with an outfit that we are unable to wear often. Either it is too casual or it is too loud – which is annoying. Doubt you’ll have a problem with this one.

Wearing it on a night out is the obvious choice, whatever you choose to do with your night, the turtle-neck shows people you are willing to chill a little, while the blazer let’s people know you’re classy guy. Dinners are perfect for this kind of outfit, especially if you’re going out to eat at a decent place where you know others will be dressed smartly.

Any sort of event, ranging from a work-do or a sporting event to a family baby shower, this look will surely have the colleagues and family admiring you. Whether they say anything to you or not will depend on how often they see you well dressed. If you find that the event is too casual hang your blazer on a chair and show off the fitted turtle-neck.

Blazer

The blazer is an elegant burgundy colour, a nice dark dull colour. Not often do you compliment a dull colour, but with winter coming round, you don’t want to be wearing those bright colours. Dark colours are great for many reasons, whether it’s to create a serious/professional persona or to blend in and not stand out like a lollipop lady.

Turtle Neck

A good fitted turtle-neck can get you far in this world and is essential for a man with a thing for fashion. They can be worn in a range of different ways. The most common is as a casual/smart look, usually by the older gent. This is combined usually with chinos, a jacket and driving shoes – this is my favourite way of wearing them. Combining it with a suit jacket is the most stylish way, as seen in this look.

Trousers

David here has kept it simple, a slim fitted black pair of trousers. Whether the trousers are a chino or a dark pair of jeans it doesn’t matter much. For the smart/formal nights, I’d always opt for the chino. Zara do some amazing fantastic quality chinos for £40. On the more casual night out, I’d definitely go for jeans, especially if you’re likely to be jumping around or spilling things. If that’s the type of night you’re intending to have, I’d probably leave the blazer behind.

Trainers

I was surprised to see David wearing trainers, it’s not a common sight on his Instagram page. Both trainers and shoes work well with this look. Which one to wear, depends on the day/night you intend on having. As with the chinos/jeans, follow accordingly (jeans with trainers and chinos with shoes.)

Don’t forget to follow David on Instagram;

Davidson_Frere

Winter Coats – What To Wear This Winter?

what to wear this winter

All of those blessed enough to live in hot countries, can get away with wearing their blazers throughout the year. Those of us that have to grow our hair for a few months just to have some extra insulation, know all about wrapping up this time of the year. The cold in the UK is no joke, and wrapping up is essential, but so is looking good.

TinieTempahstreetstyle

The Perfect Winter Coat

Most of us don’t give a monkey’s about comfort, we just want to look great. With winter in full effect, and every other day the rain beating down on my hairless head, there shouldn’t be a doubt in anyone’s mind that for you to look great this season it’s all about the coat you wear. There are many different types, some will suit you perfectly and others you may look out of place. Regardless of the type of coat, the most important thing you need to get right is the combination of three;

– Fit
– Warmth
– Style

Fit

Having a coat that fits, is imperative. Its the same with all outer garments. When out shopping we sometimes fall too deeply in love with something and are willing to sacrifice how well it fits. This is pretty much always a bad idea. If you’ve tried on both the Medium & Small and they’re not quite working for you, as much as it hurts – move on. We’ve all been there, trying to force our way into an item we love, then a week later we end up hating it. Be patient.

Warmth

Now the coat fits, you need to make sure it’s actually worth wearing. No point wearing a thin layered coat that won’t keep you warm or dry. Get yourself a nice thick jacket that will be your saviour on that rainy day, so when you get back in from lunch you won’t have to sit at your desk dripping wet. Not only that but who wants to get ill?

Style

Realistically, we are all here to look good, if the jacket keeps you warm and dry and fits well but looks like it belonged to your grandmother – eww. I recommend two coats this winter; the bomber jacket and the trench coat.

Undoubtedly trench coats are the way forward this season. They cover your top-half as well as most of your bottom, so if you ever get caught in the rain, your coat will bear the brunt of it. The wool trench coats will keep you warm from the blistering winds, plus most come with added fur for that extra softness. They go perfectly well with the office look and will set you levels above the rest. A good trench coat should cost around £100, while the more designer ones are upwards of £500.

Bomber jackets are fantastic for the casual look, the days I wear chinos and a shirt, I usually complete the look with one of my Zara bomber jackets. Most bomber jackets will keep you dry through light rain but once the amazon showers start, you’re likely to get soaked. You’ll pick up a good bomber jacket for around £50.

A great winter coat, should keep you dry, warm and make you look fantastic. Don’t compromise, spend a little more, you’ll thank yourself in February when you’re standing in the snow.

Reiss Unstructured Wool Overcoat

ASOS Double Breasted Overcoat In Black Boucle

Two Fashion Mistakes Some People ACTUALLY Make

business men in shorts - fashion mistakes

You cannot make a mistake when it comes to style, style is who you are and what you choose to do with your clothes, so feel free to express yourself in anyway you see fit. However, when it comes to fashion there are MANY mistakes and I mean MANY. Some of the well known “fashion mistakes” I disagree with and this is evident in my own style. There are on the other hand some mistakes you can’t afford to make.

Two of which I have seen today and want to try and hopefully prevent you from doing them.

bad fit suit

1. Badly Fitted Clothes

Badly fitted suits are horrible, whether they’re too baggy or too tight. Clothes should make you feel comfortable and look good. If you’re uncomfortable, your clothes are probably too tight. If you feel like you’re in bed, your clothes are way to big.

I saw some incredibly baggy clothes today. They looked like they were handed down through the generations. I remember when I went to my first interview, I wore my dad’s suit and oh my God, I looked horrible and everyone could tell.

If you find it difficult finding clothes that fit you properly, then either branch out of your comfort zone and try out new stores or build a great relationship with your nearest tailor. You’ll be surprised what tailor’s can do.

2. Short Sleeves With A Tie

Fast food restaurants want their managers to look the part so they ask them to wear ties. Obviously they can’t wear a tie without a shirt so they get them to wear a shirt. The problem arises when you have someone wearing a shirt, getting sauce and oil all over their sleeves. Which obviously leads to this short sleeve/tie combo we see today.

short sleeve shirt with tie

Now unless you’re a manager in a fast food restaurant, why would you ever wear a short sleeve shirt with a tie? Please don’t. The short sleeve/tie combo is associated with low paying jobs and unless that’s the look you’re going for, avoid it.

Men’s Fashion & Style

above the ankles mens fashion

I’m not much of a traveller really. Apart from the fact I’ve been all over the UK, I have only really had the pleasure of going to Rome, Barcelona, Tenerife, Marrakech, Amsterdam and Lagos. Not many places right. However I am a massive internet user and I’m constantly on some sort of social media and with over 1,600 Instagram posts I’ve seen many outfits from around the world. One thing I’ve noticed is the fact fashion is so different everywhere in the world. I just came back from Marrakech, and you would be insane to wear a three piece suit in that heat. We can look at one another’s pictures and want to emulate that for ourselves but ultimately it’s not what you wear at all, you need to create your own style.

mens fashion differs style is you

Style is how you wear it, do you wear a great pin stripe suit and look like your going to a wedding or do you look like you wear a blue pin stripe all the time? Wait go back again and re-read that. Seriously the clothes you wear, how do they look on you. Fashion are the individual items you’re wearing, style is how you put it all together and carry it.

Here’s a silly example, those gangsters around the world that carry/wear bandanna’s and walk around with their boxers on show to the world. If you dressed like them, would you fit right in or would you look like Justin Bieber? If you do look natural wearing an XXL white wife-beater vest and tracksuits hanging down your backside, then you probably don’t look natural in a suit, not saying Bieber does either by the way.

Things to consider when trying to look natural and make sure the suit, suits you;

Grooming

Whatever hair you keep or remove, whether it’s your beard, your moustache or your nose hair. Have you removed it all properly, does it look good and the hair that remains, is it looked after? How do you walk and talk? Can people understand you, do you speak clearly and are you polite to people? Are you a mature person?

Budget/Lifestyle

Are you shopping way above your budget and lifestyle? Can you afford to replace those battered year old shoes? Or are you spending all your hard earned money on useless stuff? Do you wash and iron your clothes properly and regularly? When’s the last time you went to the dry cleaners to pick up one of your suits?

There’s two types of suit wearers in this world;

1. “Ooo look at you looking all smart and dapper, where you going today/tonight?”

2. “Where do you get your outfits from? Do you think you could help me pick some stuff?”

Which one are you?

Create The Illusion You Have More Suits Than You Actually Do

headlights

Many people used to ask me how I have so many suits and how they all look so new – not a question I’m asked much these days. Unfortunately I have outgrown most of my suits and I need to spend some well needed time in the gym. Shopping was easier when I was slim, I would buy a new suit every three to five months. Finding off the rack suits that fit me perfectly was a piece of apple pie. Nowadays I have to spend a lot more money and look a lot harder to get that perfect fit. I’ve come up with a trick to create the illusion I have more outfits than I actually do and it also saves me a lot of cash as well.

shirt and trousers no tie

We all love change and wearing different outfits will definitely make you stand out amongst the others. Suits are expensive so we can’t always afford to buy a suit regularly, I simply buy nice trousers and forget all about the blazer. Trousers usually cost a third of the price of the suit, so if you buy two different trousers you’re still in pocket.

Combine your new trousers with a good quality shirt and people won’t notice your suit jacket missing from the back of your chair. Usually when I do this I end up with a enough compliments about my shirt to make my head explode.

Warning: don’t cheap out on badly made trousers. Leaving the suit jacket puts more attention on your trousers so you better make sure they are quality.

Not only does having more options when you get dressed in the morning help you look great, it increases the lifespan of your outfits, since you’re not wearing that suit you love three times a week anymore.

My Top Picks – Jumpers

list of jumpers

I have received a lot of direct messages from you guys on Instagram and Twitter asking me about the different jumpers I would recommend. I’m glad you all liked my post and it was great to see some pictures of you in your jumpers and suits. So continuing from that I have decided to compile a list of jumpers from ASOS that are a priced very reasonably under £40.

ASOS Jumpers

River Island Duffield Jumper

River Island Duffield Jumper
River Island Duffield Jumper 4
River Island Duffield Jumper 3
River Island Duffield Jumper 2

A Lightweight, soft-touch knit and ribbed texture crew neck jumper. It is cut slim fit to make sure you don’t get that weird baggy jumper look. This beautiful purple 100% cotton jumper from River Island is priced nicely at £26.

River Island Duffield Jumper

United Colors Of Benetton Jumper With V Neck

United Colors Of Benetton Jumper With V Neck 2
United Colors Of Benetton Jumper With V Neck 3
United Colors Of Benetton Jumper With V Neck

This lightweight knitted V-neck navy blue jumper is made from 100% Acrylic. This jumper is very light and will appear kind of see through. The V-neck is great when combined with a tie. It comes in a regular fit so you may get a bit of leeway in terms of extra material. Priced at only £20, its a bargain!

United Colors Of Benetton Jumper With V Neck

ASOS Merino Crew Neck Jumper

ASOS Merino Crew Neck Jumper 2
ASOS Merino Crew Neck Jumper 3
ASOS Merino Crew Neck Jumper 4
ASOS Merino Crew Neck Jumper

This soft merino wool jumper designed by ASOS is one of the most ridiculously comfortable jumpers. As the jumper is regular fit it’s comfortable and not tight, yet because it is 100% merino wool it won’t stretch out and lose it’s shape. With a regular crew neck it will fit perfectly with a nice slim tie. Priced at only £30 it’s well worth it for a wool jumper.

Also available in grey..

ASOS Merino Crew Neck Jumper

ASOS Lambswool Rich Crew Neck Jumper with Elbow Patches

ASOS Lambswool Rich Crew Neck Jumper with Elbow Patches
ASOS Lambswool Rich Crew Neck Jumper with Elbow Patches 3
ASOS Lambswool Rich Crew Neck Jumper with Elbow Patches 2

Have you ever had a lambswool jumper? If you have then you will know that they are super comfy. This sharp blue jumper looks and feels soft, yet still looks formal. Being 80$ lambswool and 20% nylon it is guaranteed to keep you warm. The contrast brown elbow patches suit the smart casual week look you want but can also be hidden by your suit jacket to look like an expensive part of your suit. Grab this bad boy for £34.

Super soft-touch knit
Crew neck
raglan sleeves
Contrast elbow patches
Ribbed cuffs and hem
Machine wash
80% lambswool, 20% nylon

ASOS Lambswool Rich Crew Neck Jumper with Elbow Patches

Only & Sons Knitted Waffle Jumper With Raglan Sleeves

Only & Sons Knitted Waffle Jumper With Raglan Sleeves
Only & Sons Knitted Waffle Jumper With Raglan Sleeves 3
Only & Sons Knitted Waffle Jumper With Raglan Sleeves 2
Only & Sons Knitted Waffle Jumper With Raglan Sleeves 4

This slim fit body hugging jumper is great for all of you who are in shape and want others to be able to see it. It’s waffle textured knit look, looks superb both paired with a suit and worn by itself. When wearing it with a shirt; make sure it’s a single cuffed shirt, double cuffed shirts won’t work with the slim fit sleeves and ribbed cuffs. Only & Sons (The designers) are a Danish brand known for using high quality materials in their jumpers so I’d say this 100% cotton jumper is well worth the price tag of £30.

Only & Sons Knitted Waffle Jumper With Raglan Sleeves

French Connection Cotton Crew Neck Knitted Jumper

French Connection Cotton Crew Neck Knitted Jumper
French Connection Cotton Crew Neck Knitted Jumper 2
French Connection Cotton Crew Neck Knitted Jumper 3
French Connection Cotton Crew Neck Knitted Jumper 4

We all know and love FCUK and this jumper is no different. Made from 100% cotton and made in regular fit it’s perfect for wearing over your double cuffed shirt. The cuffs on the jumper are ribbed which is fine because you are still able to roll up the sleeves with ease so you can show off your shirt and cufflinks under your suit. Priced slightly higher than the other jumpers at £40, I don’t really think it’s worth it but if you like designers then I guess you’re paying for the logo.

French Connection Cotton Crew Neck Knitted Jumper