Men’s Style and Dress

I love these kinds of post because it was always something that I had a problem with.

Men’s fashion by Ray Devans 

Sometimes in life you just need to get back to basics.

Like let’s say a team in the NBA has been doing poorly, the coach

might dream up some fancy new plays with special names. But this

seldom works, reinventing the wheel is always easier said than done.

Instead, what often works is getting the team back to work on just

the basics of hard work and doing defense and passing drills, etc.

Now usually what we write about in these newsletters is

comparatively advanced. So today let’s get back to talking about

some of the basics, namely dressing and hygiene.

First let’s refresh on hygiene as this can kill your chances if you

aren’t keeping on top of it. Let’s start with your face because

this is where most attention will be focused in conversation.

The most important thing is to have good breath at all times. This

of course means regular brushing and flossing of your teeth, but

you should also never leave the house without some breath strips

that are compact and easy to use when needed.

Next, make sure you have taken care of stray hairs, mainly nose

hair and ear hair. You can buy little pen-sized trimmers for $10

that will make this job really easy.

Finally, skin and hair should be washed clean (no dandruff), and

even though it seems a bit feminine you should know that using a

skin cream will make you look just that much better.

Body odor is another huge killer, so use a deodorant always and

shower daily. Same note goes for foot odor, so consider using some

foot powder if your feet sweat a lot. A light touch of cologne is

good but too much is worse than none at all, so go easy. My trick

is to use a small bottle with a roll on applicator that I fill with

cologne so that I can apply just a small touch here and there.

There are more tips but the above are some of the most important.

You learn more in a video form on our “The Art of the Pickup” DVDs.

http://artofthepickup.com/promo/javbeo1IZeWt063y6/dvd1.html

Now, as for dressing, this is an area subject to a lot more

interpretation and depends on where you live, but there are still

some basics.

The single thing I always try to remember is to “try to stand out

in a stylish, handsome way”.

The emphasis here is on “stand out” because even if your clothes

cost $1000 but you look like everyone else in the room, you won’t

catch the interest of women. So you want to dress for your

environment in a way that you stand out from other guys with a

certain “edge”.

The catch though is that you have to still dress in a “handsome

way”. That is to say that dressing randomly will of course make

you stand out, but in a bad way. This is beyond the scope of this

newsletter, but my suggestion is that reading magazines like GQ and

books like “Style and the Man” can help you in this regard for more

formal dressing.

If you can’t visualize what this all means, a general primer can be

found on our “The Art of the Pickup” DVDs. Another suggestion is

that you ask a woman who you find attractive to give you honest

feedback on your dressing, or even better have her go shopping with

you.

All this being said, some quick things I consider fairly universal

are:

-Make sure your clothes fit well, not too big or too small

-Leather shoes are better than tennis shoes

-No cheap watches with rubber or Velcro wristbands, get metal

-Vertical stripes are bad if you are tall and skinny, horizontal

are bad if you are overweight

-Belts match your shoes, socks match your pants, no white socks

with leather shoes

There is a whole lot more to know, but only you can be the judge if

you need to get back to basics and improve the way you dress. If

you do, start with the tips I mentioned and get that area of your

life handled!

Helping you dress for success,

Ray Devans