Pros and Cons of Belts Wearing

Lots of men consider belts to be an integral part of their image. In most cases it is really so, but it is also true, that more often or not, you may avoid wearing belts all together.

Those men, who are used to wearing braces, consider belts to be absolutely useless. Moreover, they claim that with the belts you are likely to have more inconvenience than convenience having to hike up your trousers several times during a day. This belief can be easily neglected taking into account the fact, that the majority of young men wear their trousers on their waists, thus avoiding the problem of trousers slipping down. The hips – that gap just below the first ridge of your hipbones – provide a fairly stable location for the waist of your trousers. The swell of bone above and below stops them moving.

Another way to make your trousers fit you perfectly is to choose the right belt. Make sure it fits you perfectly! The best way to do this is to have a belt cut to your waist size and punctured with holes at your precise measurements, with perhaps one either side to be safe.

If you are eager to create a smart and stylish image, you may avoid wearing a belt – thus, nothing will distract attention from your ideally chosen suit and colors. This is especially topical, if you have a necktie or a handkerchief. In case, you don’t have any accessory, belt will be a nice addition to your image. It is also a natural accessory for a casual outfit – with odd jackets, with tweed, cotton or linen.

Be sure to take care of your belt! It will get worn and fray over time, but this can be mitigated with cleaning and an occasional polish. Wearing a frayed belt is akin to wearing unpolished shoes – no matter how much of a favorite they might be, it just looks scruffy.

What about a white suit?

There appear moments in every man’s life, when he would like to wear a white suit. Sure thing, when a person is dressed in white, he/she attracts much more attention and it is quite normal – all the details, including plusses and minuses, are evident to everybody. If you are going to wear a white suit, you should know some dos and don’ts.

1. Choose appropriate season and appropriate weather. You are unlikely to look your best at a rainy day, wearing your best white suit.

2. The white suit is a fashion suit, so look for one that's a slim fit with two buttons, and also tailored to your shoulders and tapered at the waist.

3. Pair your suit with appropriate colors:

Dress shirts: To prove you know how to wear a white suit, opt for dress shirts in soft pastels (light blues, lilacs) or white with a pinpoint collar. A button-down collar is too conservative and a broad or cutaway collar is much too formal. Also, forget about any embroidery or patterns on the shirt. Keep it extremely simple.

Shoes: Experiment with a brown or black oxford or loafer. If you opt for a black loafer, by all means stay away from anything adorned with a piece of metal. That fashion ship has sailed and we all hope it remains lost at sea. Also, feel free to go sockless.

Ties: Keep your tie as simple as possible. A solid black tie will always work.

4. Apart from classical basics, you are free to wear your white suit by pairing the jacket with a distressed pair of jeans, black loafers and a black or white dress shirt. This look is best suited for the evening and can be pulled off into early fall.

5. As for the choice of the suit, it’s completely up to you – you likes and dislikes, your clothes budget etc. Do not try to save on quality and quantity – you’ll have to pay twice!

Fashion Tips for Fat Men

As well as skinny men, men with overweight also want to look their best and there is nothing strange here. To improve your looks and self-esteem you are to work more at your own figure, keep to diets or choose some other weight loss programs which are acceptable for you. Anyway you don’t have to wait that long to look and feel your best. The correct chosen clothes and these pieces of advice will help you.

Do not wear too tight clothes
Your clothes should fit perfectly. Too loose clothes will make you look like a large mountain and garments that are too tight will reveal all the lumps and bumps you’d rather hide. Take care when shopping to choose pieces that skim over your body and smooth out its surface.

Avoid tops with sloped shoulders
Tops with naturally sloped shoulders are likely to draw the eye down to your midsection. Instead, check to make sure that all your tops have slightly squared shoulders as these will concentrate others’ attention on your body to your chest and face.

Wear low-rise bottoms
Low-rise trousers have a shorter distance between the top of the waistband and the crotch of your pants than regular trousers. Also, ensure that the waistband of your pants is large enough to accommodate your midsection so that your belly does not stick out over your pants. A stomach that protrudes over your pants lengthens your torso and shortens your legs -- not exactly the most attractive combination. Rotund individuals should also avoid pants with pleats as they will make your pelvic area look bigger.

Avoid baggage in your pockets
Emptying your pockets of unnecessary items like bulky cell phones, overstuffed wallets and electronic devices will take the focus off a large midsection. On your pants, have any bulky side pockets sewn shut or removed by a good tailor. Doing so won’t cost much and it will make your hips appear smaller.

Don’t wear bold patterns
Avoid loud or bold patterns as they will make you stand out drawing attention to the upper half of your body. You should, however, wear pattern with vertical lines as they create optical continuity and will help elongate the look of your body. Dark, solid colors are also your new best friend as they are an instant figure fixer and will make you seem 10 pounds thinner.

Wear three-button not bulky blazers
Three-button blazers are just as classic as two-button blazers, but they will elongate your body and make you appear taller, and therefore thinner. As well, always leave the top button on your blazer undone as it will stop your clothes from pulling, particularly in the area around your middle, and consequently, your movement will seem less restricted. Avoiding bulky fabrics means that chunky wool sweaters are a big no-no. To stay warm in the winter, go crazy for cashmere as it provides warmth without adding bulk to your figure. Or, try a dress shirt and V-neck sweater vest combination as the sweater vest will keep you warm while also smoothing out your midsection and love handles. For suits, choose softer wools so that the fabric is as thin as possible. Invest in high-quality, lightweight wool suits if you can afford them as these will be the most flattering suits for your body and you’ll feel and look like a million bucks when you put them on.

Wear pants with a longer hem
Long pants will make you seem taller and thinner. They should hit almost at the ground to really lengthen your body. If you’re wearing shoes with a heel, the bottom of your pants should hit about a quarter to a half inch above the heel, no more.

Fashion tips for skinny men

They say, it's not the gay coat that makes the gentleman. How to become a real gentleman or a hot macho each of us decides for himself. But what we cannot do – we cannot considerably change what the nature has given to us. Some of us are too skinny and some have (no offences!) overweight. But we all want to look our best and to hide drawbacks under the well and correctly chosen clothes.

It is possible to emphasize all the good you have (I mean, figure) with the help of clothes. If you are skinny and find it really difficult to find something appealing to your taste and to your physique, you shouldn’t be down in the mouth – there is always a way out. You may join a gym and start lifting weights, alongside eating more protein and other foods that will add muscle mass to a bony body. If that doesn’t help or if you hate exercises, you may simply choose clothes that will make you look larger than you really are.

No slim fitting shirts
Avoiding slim-fitting dress shirts and T-shirts is an important fashion tip for skinny men. It is recommended that you opt for tops that come away slightly from your midsection as these will hide a small ribcage. However, don't buy your tops too large, as too much extra fabric will make you seem like you’re swimming in your shirt. In addition, avoid clingy fabrics.

Give preference to blazers with small shoulder padding
Purchasing blazers with light shoulder padding will make your body look more muscular. Mind that bigger is not better here, as small shoulder pads will give your back and chest a visual boost, but massive padding will make you seem like a small boy lost in a man's jacket in addition to cheapening your look, even if your blazer is pricey.

Wear jackets at the right length
When it comes to jackets, make sure they all fall right under your buttocks. A shorter jacket will emphasize your height as well as your skinny waist, arms and legs. A longer jacket, on the other hand, can make you look like a blanket-covered stick.

Buy flat-front pants
Wear pants with a classic cut and flat front. You may also wear pants with pleats, cuffs and pockets, as they volume, but do it only when these things are in fashion.

Wear turtlenecks and crewneck
For skinny men turtleneck or crewneck sweaters in chillier weather are quite a nice choice. V-neck sweaters will expose your neck and thin features. Similarly, open-collared shirts won’t flatter you, so button up your dress shirts as much as possible. Pay attention to the collar when you’re buying dress shirts and pick ones that have spread collars as they will make the upper portion of your chest seem wider.

Give preference to bulky fabrics
Thick corduroy, wool and other bulky fabrics, when in fashion, will add you more mass. Whether you’re dressing up or down, always dress in layers as more clothes means you appear to have more mass.

Tips for sweat-proofing your clothes

Another problem, which can spoil the mood of many men in summer, is sweating. It goes without saying that men sweat more than women do, and thus speaking about sweating men usually speak not only about unpleasant sensation, but also about ruining their clothes.

But where is a will there is a way and you can (and you should!) save your image and your clothes from the sweat stains. The first and the most important essential is never to neglect antiperspirant. The market suggests antiperspirants to fit any taste, choose one which protects against bacteria and therefore neutralizes odor from sweat.

If sweating has turned into a real problem for you, consider special products, which can prevent sweating and thus ruining your clothes. These products include sweat block pads, which are cloths that have been presoaked in industrial-strength antiperspirant. It is recommended that you apply these pads to your underarms every seven days to help prevent sweating. Alternately, you may use some underarm sweat pads. These have a sticky side that adheres to your skin, forming a physical barrier between your sweat and clothing.

Buy appropriate shoes. Not wear the same pair every day – try to give your shoes a chance to air out. Although you should avoid wearing the same shoes day after day, do change your socks daily to avoid contracting a fungal infection that thrives in moist, sweaty and bacteria-ridden conditions. Give the inside of your shoes a quick spray with a shoe deodorizer or use an OTC foot powder to help absorb sweat.
Do not buy canvas shoes, because they will make your feet sweat too much and smell will be as unpleasant as your own sensations. Moreover, consider slipping a moisture-absorbing insole into your shoes to further reduce bacteria and odor.

If you sweat a lot during the day, soak your shirt in extremely cold water as soon as you cone back home. In order to get rid of white sweat stains, turn your shirt inside out and apply the stain remover to the inside of your shirt. This works better than applying a stain-removing product to the outside of your shirt because you’re trying to lift the stain out of the fabric, not rub it further into the fibers. Leave the shirt for a couple of minutes and than wash it.

On particularly hot days, give preference to “breathing” fabrics like cotton, silk, linen or light wool instead of polyester or other synthetics and blended fabrics. Natural fibers allow your skin to breathe more, meaning you’ll sweat less. When the mercury really rises, even if you plan to wear cotton or linen, pick feather-light pieces and choose shirts that are slightly larger than the size you usually wear to encourage air circulation and sweat evaporation. When it comes to colors, white or pale pastels will deflect more of the sun’s rays, so you’ll feel the heat less in these softer shades.

Sweating as a natural and important process can sometimes become really bothering, especially when it interferes with your self-assertion and ruins your clothes. Follow some of these tips and you will be able to lessen the effects of sweating on your life.

Sunglasses 2008 Review

Speaking about modern trends and tendencies for Spring-Summer 2008 I couldn’t ignore Sunglasses theme. They do change forms and colors every season. If you are one of those who keep in step with fashion, this sunglasses review is for you.

This year is not an exception and it also brought new tendencies as far as sunglasses are concerned: the focus is on sophisticated, subtle frames and refined, graduated lenses.

Aviators

Giorgio Armani Double Bridge Aviators

Price: $265

Two fashion icons are combined in the Giorgio Armani Double Bridge Aviators. Armani, known for his sleek sophistication, brings his signature touch to a style of shades that’s an all-time staple in men’s fashion -- aviators. This particular pair of 2008 sunglasses demonstrates the suave, masculine appeal found in simple lines and classic design.

Oliver Peoples Aero Sunglasses

Price: $350

Fashioned from smooth metal and in-the-moment gradient lenses, these shades create a superbly posh image. When you couple their fast-paced appeal with their hidden-away comforts, the Aeros can make any average Joe look like a big-shot playboy.

Shields

Diesel Palladium Shield Sunglasses

Price: $180

With their oversize lenses and sleek frames, Diesel Palladium Shield Sunglasses complete with hip detailing above the bridge and temple, these 2008 sunglasses rock an edgy vibe that’s somewhere between sporty and self-righteous.

Wraparounds

Dolce & Gabbana Sport Wrap Sunglasses

Price: $250

Thanks to their aerodynamic shape and smooth lines, these shades are sophisticatedly athletic as well as chicly cosmopolitan. For guys on the go, D&G’s wraparounds give them the versatility they need to coincide with the image they want to project.

Geometrics

Gucci Rectangular Rimless Sunglasses

Price: $265

All the flash and allure that characterizes Gucci makes its presence known in these rectangular shades. Going high-end without the rims and with the diamond effect along the arm, this pair of 2008 sunglasses can only be classified as affluent and on-point. And adding to the overall style are the in-vogue gradient lenses that create an upper-crust, modern sophistication.

Plastic frames

Cole Haan Acetate Rectangle

Price: $198

Black plastic shades are in -- and these from Cole Haan indicate the many reasons why. Aside from being wildly versatile, these shades in particular bring a classy, vintage adeptness to any guy’s look. They are equal parts modish and retro. So, if you like useful, utilitarian, utopian style, these glasses are just what you need.

Half Rims

Gucci Sunglasses


Price: $180

Suited for guys who like that “just back from the Riviera” look, this particular pair of 2008 sunglasses combines contemporary, high-end design with all the distinctive elements of its maker; first-class sophistication, anyone?

Together with these quite pricy sunglasses you may give preference to less expensive, but also stylish and rather sophisticated. Besides, all the variety of styles and modern tendencies may be emphasized with the help of this accessory.

What to wear in summer…

When it’s time for summer wardrobe and summer changes, we should pay attention not only to clothes itself, but to footwear as to an integral part of creating stylish and well-balanced ensemble. It is true to say, that when it comes to choosing a pair of shoes, men usually do not have that variety of colors, forms, shapes etc., which women do. Generally speaking, it is not that bad, without the need for a separate shoe closet, men easily have enough choice in their footwear wardrobe to create distinctive, classic and signature warm weather looks for every day of the week.

While getting dressed each morning, you should concentrate on your image as on one integral system, where each detail is important. Speaking about shoes, four main categories are usually distinguishes, each one dictates your overall choice of clothing and corresponding footwear.

Business Wear = traditional suits, formal office wear, important meetings, conservative blazer and dress trousers.Traditional laced business shoes / slips-ins

Business Casual = general office wear, professional but not necessarily formal, wider range of sport coats paired with dress and casual trousers, finer polo shirts and dress khakis or chinos.Lighter colored dress shoes / loafers / suede bucks / rubber soled casual shoes

Social = going out, lawn parties, social but not necessarily casual eventsDriving moccasins / casual loafers with contrast stitching / boat shoes / canvas tennis shoes

Weekend Wear = casual, relaxing, friends and errands or choresBoat Shoes / Camp moccasins / Birkenstocks & sandals / canvas tennis shoes

It is to be noted that business wear and business casual do not really change much during warm weather. If wearing a business suit, traditional black, brown and cordovan footwear are still your best choices. These cap toes, oxfords, balmorals and slip-ins will also work with brighter shirt and tie combinations you may want to try out.

For those men who like to switch to light colored dress shoes in warm months, it is necessary to admit that this can be a difficult trick to pull off because softer colored leathers – creams, pale tans and other earth tones – can look both affected and aesthetically unsettling. It takes a very specific kind of outfit to provide the same level of professionalism and balance that traditional darker colors offer.

Dressing for a business casual environment brings in a different class of footwear. When pairing your shoes with lightweight chinos, linen or other summer fabrics, penny loafers and boat shoes are traditional options that reduce the formality while still not straying into weekend territory.