How To Dress Smart: Here’s My Own Flavor

A handful of menswear fashion icons on Instagram recently caught my attention after I decided to revive my 5-year-old Instagram account. They had one thing in common; they knew how to dress smart.

I particularly loved the feeds of @rowanrow and @blakescott. There were others too, in fact, a lot of them that I loved. I can’t name them all.

Don’t get me wrong. I do know how to look good, but they looked smarter and better. So I started looking for patterns and I found out… they knew colors well.

Aside from knowing colors well, they also had the right accessories to complement their dressing.

With this discovery, I decided to try something new.

At this point, I should tell you I had a bland wardrobe… Pretty basic. I spent more on books and internet subscriptions than I did on my wardrobe. My wardrobe is still bland, but in the next few months, it would be overhauled.

So let me quickly share with you the tips I’ve learned in my quest to know how to dress smart.

How To Dress Smart: An Inexpensive Guide

Previously, I had the following in my wardrobe…

• A black, red, and grey colored trouser.
• An orange colored chinos shorts.
• A white shirt.
• Another black shirt.
• Some jean trousers.
• And some native Nigerian men’s wear (I’ll talk about this in another article).

I bought the following items to complement the ones I already had in my wardrobe.

• A pair of brown leather dress shoes.
• A brown leather wrist watch (something simple that matches the color of my brown shoes).
• A pair of white sneakers.
• New high-quality Adidas sweatpants (I’ve not had one of these before cos the ones I saw in the market were all low quality).
• I had my tailor sew a pair of white trousers for me.

Having assembled the new items which didn’t cost me much, I set out to note my colors and my wearing routine.

After several hours of feeding my eyes on the Instagram feed of these fashion icons, I learned…

Brown Color Is Awesome But…

Yes, the color brown is awesome but it has a few rules you should obey. I’ll share the rules with you. I bet some of you want to ask me if black and brown are ok to wear. And some others want to know if shoes and belts need to match.

Let’s quickly get started.

1. Brown and black can go together if you know how to combine them appropriately. Black, brown, and navy are three neutral colors that can go with any color. But care must be taken to make sure you don’t look out of color.
2. It’s not a must that your shoes and belts need to match. If you want to wear such, I’ll advise you to make sure they look exactly the same before you wear it. Adding a brown wrist watch to the mix isn’t a bad idea. However if you’re wearing a black suit, for instance, don’t wear a brown watch to complement your brown shoe and belt. Instead, wear a black watch.

When You Wear

In this section, I’d like to point out something you should do and not do when you’re wearing a specific piece of clothing.

1. When you wear suspenders, wear a jacket except if you simply take off your jacket for pictures.
2. When you wear black shoes, you can wear absolutely any color you want.
3. When you wear a certain color of shoes, please match the color with your belt if possible except when you are wearing white shoes.
4. When you wear a trouser, wear a belt. It may seem fashionable to leave your belt loops empty, but it doesn’t show how smart you are.
5. When you wear a plain trouser, don’t hang your keys and phones on your belt loops.
6. When you wear a tie, wear one that fits your body shape. If you’re slim, opt for a medium sized tie.
7. When you wear sunglasses, take it off if you’re in a shaded area.

Avoid

Here are three things you should avoid if you want to look smart.

1. Avoid square shaped shoes like a man dressed in white avoids grease/mud.
2. Colors like yellow, pink, and orange are quite loud. Keep them at bay from your smart wardrobe.
3. Avoid wearing “rush cleaned” white sneakers. Take some time to clean your sneakers after each use.

Now, I’m going to share with you a few pictures that’ll help you look smarter, after all, you’re reading this article because you want to learn how to dress smartly.

Let’s split this into days.

Day 1.

Black shoes with a black belt and a black wristwatch to match grey colored trousers and a black shirt.

Remove the black and replace with brown except for the black shirt.

Day 2

Brown shoes with a brown belt and brown leather watch to match a black trouser and a white shirt.

Remove the brown and replace with black.

You can opt for a pair of white vans sneakers if you’re going to an informal event. Wear a black belt.

Day 3

I think I’ll go with a white trouser with black shirt paired with brown shoes, brown watch, and brown belt.

Day 4 – Casual cool evening

I’d opt for the Adidas sweats and a pair of white vans sneakers. A matching white round neck vest with a brown bomber leather jacket will do great. Or you can keep it simple with the white round neck vest only.

Day 5

An agbada or senator wear would do. It has to be crisp though, not like the oversized or overtight types I see a lot of guys wearing.

For the next five days, you can mix things up and see what looks great on you. Keep your mirror standby, you’ll need it.

Parting Words

I sincerely believe you enjoyed reading this piece. Personally, I’ve got some fashion and wardrobe goals for the next few months. I’ll probably let you know what’s up as soon as I’ve done a major overhaul.