Hey Everyone,

As I continue to fine-tune this site, I'm making some changes and adding new features. The newest of these features is the Ask A Question tab added on the top address bar, and on the right.

If you have any style questions, ask me and I'll answer them. Simple as that. Check it out here.

Thanks for reading and, as always, more to come.

- Mr. S

Yesterday I covered some of the top trends for 2010, but what about the year ahead? Well, I've got a few thoughts on it:

There's no doubt that the outdoors-inspired looks will continue into 2011 and we will see them stick around for at least the next couple of years, but there are some new trends that I think will arise within the outdoors look. The first is suspenders. In the past couple of years the vest has been very prominent both in trendsetters' wardrobes and in retail stores, but I think that in 2011 we are going to see more guys going vestless because they will be wearing suspenders. This is a trend that I've noticed bubbling up through the year as part of the outdoor renaissance, and I think that it's ready to mature. Along these lines, I think that bow-ties will continue to mature throughout 2011 before becoming "overplayed" in late 2012.  

While 2010 was the year of tweed, I think that more guys are going to discover corduroy in 2011 now that they have started considering alternate fabrics. The relaxed mood of fashion in the last year will continue through 2011, but I think that it's going to evolve before tightening up again in 2012 as the US election nears. This evolution is going to be from an outdoor look to more of a 70s vibe. I see this in music and in culture, and I think that fashion will correspond. 2011 will be the year that Tom Ford becomes a household name beyond the fashion set, due to his Womens collection, and the 70s look that he's pushing in his Womens collection will spill over into everything in a market that wants to stay relaxed, but is ready to dress it up a little more. Guys are going to shave their beards, maybe just keeping some longer sideburns, and key looks will involve the aforementioned corduroy along with another alternate fabric: velvet. Some mainstays of the 70s will be back, along with some new friends. Some trends I'm predicting this year are going to be aviators, "rose-coloured glasses", and some accessories that I've seen coming into their own over the last year: boutonnieres (reimagined in new ways) and dress slippers. Finally, hats will continue to grow in popularity, with some old styles taking on a new form.

As for suits, guys are going to gravitate to bolder patterns, again guided by Tom Ford's aesthetic. After getting hammered in the economy, working men are ready to take charge, and they're going to wear suits that show it, with bolder accessories to match, this trend carrying on into 2012. 

That's it for my predictions for 2011. What do you think? Am I on the right track, or am I on a fool's errand? What are your predictions for 2011? Let me know in the comments, and we'll see you all in the new year!

Thanks for reading!

- Mr. S

Hey Everyone,

I've created a new mailing list for the site! If you want to receive weekly style tips, information and a summary of my posts on the site, along with some other goodies, sign up and you'll receive a weekly e-mail starting this weekend.

This mailing list will be the best place to keep up with all things Mr. Sartorial, so check it out here or sign up on the right of this blog.

Anything you'd like to see on the mailing list? Sign up and let me know in the comments!

More to come!

- Mr. S

Around this same time last year I made some predictions about where men's fashion would go in 2010, so today I'm going to recap this year in men's fashion, and tomorrow I'll follow up with my predictions for 2011.

First, I'm glad to say that my predictions (as broad as they were!) came to light. 2010 was indeed the year that men went out into the wild. This exhibited itself in hairstyles (beards everywhere!) and style. Some big trends this year because of that were obviously hiking boots (Red Wings especially), Tweed (The Big Fabric), flannels, and plaids (Finally Buffalo plaid broke into the mainstream, and hipsters were forced to find something else to wear).

One of the trends that I didn't mention in my predictions but which really hit it big in 2010 were bow-ties. These were on the forefront of fashion through late 2008 and 2009, but they became something that the average guy was willing to try out in 2010. 

Without a doubt my favourite trends of 2010 were tweed and, one I haven't mentioned yet. wool ties. 2010 was the year that names like Alexander Olch broke into the fashion vernacular of mainstream men, and wool ties became my favourite possessions. 

That's my brief overview of 2010. What were your favourite fashions of the year? Let me know in the comments and tomorrow I'll post my predictions for 2011.

I can't think of too many guys that like ironing, though quite a few do it (as much to save money on drycleaning as anything else), but I want to make a case for why ironing is an important style ritual. Now, I don't mean ritual in some sort of spiritual sense, although for the more diehard enthusiasts, that might be the case. By ritual, I mean an important part of the process of dressing. Caring for any part of your wardrobe is important, and the soft goods like shirts, pants, and suits need as much attention as anything.

Now, I understand that a lot of guys think ironing something belongs in the feminine domain. I can think of many of my past clients who always made a crack or two about it. I think this is simply not the case. If guys want to own their style, they need to own their wardrobe too, and ironing is part of that ownership too.

To give an example: When I was involved in cadets as a kid growing up, we all took meticulous care of our uniforms, and any soldier will testify that this is the case as you go up higher in rank. Your uniform, or outfit, is an extension of yourself, and caring for it is a sign of pride in who you are. I spent many hours polishing my parade boots to a mirror shine, and that practice has come in handy as I've grown older and come to own many pairs of expensive dress shoes.

Ironing is no different. If you iron your shirts and slacks yourself, your going to start noticing things. A loose thread here, a button coming undone their, and noticing those things is going to allow you to prevent them from getting worse. Almost every time I've found something to mend in my wardrobe, it's while caring for it. By delegating that duty to someone else, whether a significant other or a drycleaner, it could get missed. Do it yourself, because you'll care for things like no one else will.

Ironing your shirts doesn't have to be a boring activity. Set up the board while the game is on , or something else you enjoy watching, and pour yourself a glass of your beverage of choice (whiskey on the rocks, for example). Enjoy the experience, the ritual, of taking care of your clothes, and they'll take care of you.

Do you iron your own clothes? Why or why not? Let me know in the comments and I'll see if I can offer any more advice.

- Mr. S



Resources

How to Iron a Dress Shirt and Pants

Any other resources that would be good for this post? Let me know inf the comments.

I've been meaning to write a post about style and personality for a few days, but I'm still having trouble putting together exactly what I want to say. In light of that, I want to talk about Style and masculinity today.

Now, I probably don't need to tell the men who read my blog posts this, but there seems to be some sort of intrinsic fear that men have about being stylish or fashionable. Perhaps it has to do with the latter part of the 20th century when everyone relaxed a little too much in the way they dress, and men simply lost their way. Or perhaps, due to the nature of gender division, style and fashion became something of the feminine realm, to be avoided by men who had "more important things to do". Regardless, it has come about that, in mainstream masculinity, being fashion or stylish is simply "not something that men DO". That's bullshit. Here's why:

Now, for the most part, it would seem that men think of being fashionable or stylish as a whimsical thing, something feminine that men do not participate in. Those men who are interested in developing their sense of style have long been in the minority. In my attempts to develop my sense of style, the jokes never stopped. The truth of the matter is that I don't think men are afraid of fashion and style because they think it is a little feminine, but rather because they don't understand it.

In our modern society, perhaps the previous generation of men did lose their way stylistically, but as a result, our generation (Generation Y, the Millennials, whatever the hell you want to call it), was never taught how to dress ourselves like men; how to show even an inkling of style. 

There are many ways to dress a man, and the narrative that has driven men's style throughout the late 80s and 90s  and into the early 2000s was that of a more feminine form of male dress, which quickly became associated with homosexual men (another thing which men commonly fear because they don't understand, if I may say so). So, with no role models, and a primarily emasculated form of dress in men's fashion, men had no options, no understanding, and for the most part relegated fashion to something that belonged to the domain of women and gay men. However, that tide is turning.

See, men do want to look good. They do want to have style. I've worked in fashion retail for some time, specializing in menswear, and every day I have had more than one of my customers come up to me and express that they'd like to dress better, and show some more style, but they simply don't know how to, or where to even start. It is this combination of the lack of teaching and a predominantly feminine way of dressing men that has castrated men's style, and left guys unable to find a way. It is only the few men who have sought their own path, and are starting to shape a more masculine form of fashion for men.

This young generation of men who were never taught how to dress are now coming into their own, and there are more and more men seeking their own individualized understanding of style, leading to an explosion in the options for men as the market tries to keep up and this is slowly redefining masculine style. Look to the latest fashion narrative of men as the outdoorsman to see how. 

What is needed now is for this generation of men to teach their sons how to dress. Style is an aspect of identity, and one that men have been lacking in for far too long. It's time for that to change, and I'll certainly do whatever I can to help bring about that change. I hope that all of the men who read this are prepared to follow suit (Pun very intended). What do you think about the evolution of men and style over the last few decades? Why have things become the way they are, and where will masculine style go next?

- Mr. S

Hey Everyone!


I've gotten a lot of traffic on the blog already, and I'm really thankful for all of you who transferred over to check out my blog after I added it to my tumblr (I'm sure that redirecting my domain both helped, and surprised some of you). I originally wanted to focus on all sorts of things in this blog, but I think that's going to be to random and not enjoyable for followers who are interested in a particular subject, so from now on I'm going to tighten my focus a little and focus only on things that have to do with style. This won't just be "how to dress like this" or what have you,  but anything that has to do with how style is a part of our lives, whether at home, or what have you. I hope this will allow me to create something of value for everyone who visits this site, and provides a different perspective in the realm of fashion and style. Thank you for continuing to follow my posts.


- Mr. S

I was just doing a little surfing on the internet today and became rather incensed about something. I feel like menswear is going in the wrong direction. 


For a long time menswear has been about staying the same, really, but there's a problem about that from a market perspective. If everything stays the same, it makes it very hard to sell new product every season. So it's in the best interest of the fashion industry to try and get guys to follow trends. It's worked well for women, so why not men? The trouble, as I see it, is that they are succeeding. What I'm observing is that trend-following is becoming much more commonplace among men. Now this is completely natural as the bulk of people move from one interest to another, such as moving from pleats to flat-front pants, but I feel that fashion companies are doing a much better job at accelerating the process, no doubt due to the efforts of H&M and Zara producing inexpensive, on-trend clothing every season (Well, more like every two weeks).


So why does this matter? Because there's simply more to appearance than what fashion dictates, and I don't want to see an entire generation of men moving from one trend to the next. Why do people do this? The answer is very complex, but to boil it down it mostly results from discrete peer pressure and a lack of personal style. Men in general don't know how to navigate the world of fashion, so they simply accept whatever the fashion industry pushes their way. 


I see this all the time in retail, where men just buy everything that's on the mannequin (more than once a day this happens), or rely entirely on the sales associates. Now, as someone who's worked in menswear for a number of years, I don't see much problem in relying on the associate to dress you but I do feel that men are giving up a certain amount of individuality in this practice. But to understand this loss of individuality, one must understand the importance of personal style, and I think this is something that is often misunderstood.


Style is more than just looking good and dressing well. It is the physical manifestation of your beliefs, your personality, and your personal history. Perhaps this sounds entirely too high-minded, but no one can deny the affect that your personal appearance has on others. Life never really deviates from that high-school mentality, we just get better at making it less obvious. People judge each other based on appearance. So wouldn't you want people to judge you based on who you really are if that's the case? That's the importance of developing a personal style. When you exhibit personal style, you are recognized for who you are from first glance, not just noticed for being trendy. If people are going to judge a book by its cover regardless, you might as well make that cover accurate.


So personal style comes from your roots, and your beliefs, not from the latest trend.


I don't want to see a generation of men led around by fashion trends, and so that's why I think it's important to educate every man in the practices to develop their own personal style, as important as it is for them to learn social conventions, or how to balance their personal budget. Style is a facet of identity not to be ignored.


That's all I have to say about it for now. 


- Mr. S


P.S. Apologies for poor spelling or grammar or unnecessary rambling. I don't edit these posts.

Hi Everyone,


I do a lot of reading and, whenever I come across a great book, I love to recommend it to other people. So I added a recommended reading page that you can click on at the top of my site. Most of the books are about business topics or fashion and I'll be updating it frequently. You'll have to pardon my spelling and grammar in it as I put it together pretty quickly and I'll polish it up later on. 


Let me know what you think in the comments!


More coming soon.


- Mr. S

Hey Everyone,

I was going to wait on this post for a little while, but I figure I owe it to all of you who have come to check my site out to start posting some things right away, so here we go! 

What are style archetypes?

Style archetypes are the name I use to describe the underlying influences we have in fashion, whether they be nautical, wild west, urban, preppy, or otherwise. This probably isn't news for anyone who's really into fashion, but I'm going to try and put all of this into context in a new way. For those who don't know, my background is in philosophy, psychology, sociology, history, that sort of stuff. That I'm dedicated to fashion and style is just sort of random, but I dig it. I argue that these style archetypes have become a part of our cultural subconscious.

Where do these archetypes come from?

Ted Polhemus, the anthropologist, appears to be the first to have coined the term style tribe. Style tribes are groups of people who dress the same to show belonging to a group of some sort. Goths are one of the most common examples. Style tribes are a concept that I don't think has received enough interest in fashion, and are certainly one that I am personally going to explore more in-depth. Style archetypes are similar to style tribes, except that they are tied to influences, not always groups. These archetypes are tied to historical dress belonging to a way of life, a culture, a group of people or so on, including the ones I've mentioned above.

So what?

Good question! So there are these style archetypes out there that we all ascribe too, whether we know it or not, and they form the foundation for a subtle language of style. In particular, there are a certain set of masculine style archetypes that are at the root of how we perceive both men and women perceive men. Style, as part of appearance, plays a very important part of what others think about us before we've even said a word, and by understanding the style archetypes that influence your personal style, you can better understand the image that you are putting out there, and whether this accurately represents who you are. 

I'm going to leave it at that for now, but next time I'll dive into my own personal style and which archetypes I represent, so keep checking back!

In the mean time, what style archetypes do you see out there? Which ones do you represent? Let me know in the comments.

- Mr. S