10 MASCULINE

STYLE ESSENTIALS

INTRODUCTION

10 MASCULINE STYLE ESSENTIALS

This information is for men who want to use their clothing and appearance as a means to improving other aspects of their lives.

It is for men who will treat their appearance like an investment. An investment that will continue to accrue value and pay off dividends for years and years to come.

Unlike most style essentials, the list included in this book does not consist of particular articles of clothing. Rather, it contains ten essential approaches necessary to establishing a healthy relationship with appearance and how it can be used to benefit a man’s life.

Before diving in, I do want to share the most fundamental tip I can right from the get go.

Dress Intentionally

There should be nothing haphazard about a man’s approach to any aspect of his life, and this includes his dress and grooming habits. Intentionality doesn’t require a whole lot of time, but it does require some upfront investment.

All ten essentials build off each other and work independently. Read them one at a time, start to finish, or in any order you like. Just be sure to apply them.

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WRITTEN BY

TANNER GUZY

1ST EDITION, JUNE 2015COPYRIGHT 2015 MASCULINE STYLE

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WHO IS TANNER GUZY

ABOUT THE AUTHORMy name is Tanner Guzy and I want you to dress better. I grew up in a family where a reputation mattered. It came with the territory of having a unique name and, whether I liked it or not, the way I dressed affected my reputation.

When I was in junior high I made sure that all my T-shirts were from the BMX companies whose parts I owned or the punk bands whose shows I attended. As I got older, I learned that my clothing reflected more than just my status within my chosen hobbies and I had to adjust it accordingly.

Now I wear a suit and tie to work every day. I’ve done so for more than 12 years and it’s as comfortable to me as the cargo pants and baggy UGP T’s I wore as a punk kid. The suit just better reflects who I am.

For many men seeking to improve their station in life, one of the first things they acknowledge is not knowing how to dress well. On top of not knowing how to dress well, they don’t know how to start doing so. It is a blow to their pride to admit they don’t have the knowledge to do something. It’s why they hesitate to ask for directions. But when they push through that humiliation with a man they can trust as a mentor, they not only accomplish the thing they set out to do, they learn how to do so for themselves.

My goal is to be that mentor. My services are not to simply tell you what to wear and how to wear it, but also to teach you “why” so you can become as fluent in style as you are in your native tongue. I want to teach you the rules of dressing yourself just like you learn grammatical rules. The end goal is to have you be as comfortable using your appearance to communicate your worth and status as you are using your words.

ESSENTIAL #1

AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MAN

While this book is available for everyone, its primary audience is men. We as men distinguish ourselves from two other groups of people - women and children.

This is not to say that either women or children should be distinguished from because they are inferior. Far from it. However, distinctions are necessary. Men, women, and children are biologically and socially suited to different tasks and proclivities. There are exceptions but sometimes painting in broad strokes is necessary for establishing the necessary foundation.

One of the ways we can and should separate ourselves from women is in our appearance. Nature does this biologically through secondary sexual characteristics such as body and facial hair, muscle and fat composition, and others. These differences serve as more than just a visual distinction, but that doesn’t mitigate the validity of visual recognition.

Socially men have been separated from women and children by their appearance as well. The vast majority of human cultures have had different forms of dress and grooming standards for men.

We primarily use our clothing as a way to communicate status within our given groups. We wear suits to communicate a level of respect for ourselves and our colleagues as we conduct business, military men wear symbols of rank on their uniforms as a quick reference to the hierarchy within the system. Throughout time and across cultures, a man’s appearance was primarily centered around the perception of

other men.

Most cultures have used one form of visual recognition or another as a way to indicate the status of the males. Some Native American tribes would wear different feathers on their bodies as a way of demonstrating acts of bravery or skill in battle or on the hunt.

In the 21st century, masculinity is considered to be an outdated and unnecessary relic from a rougher time (at best) or an outright threat to the peace and prosperity many believe only women are capable of leading civilization towards (at worst). And, while men have always been concerned about what it is that makes them worthy to be called men, there currently seems to be an earnestness to that concern that didn’t exist a decade ago.

To truly better understand what it means to be a man, information should be taken from two great resources, Brett McKay and Jack Donovan.

Brett is the author of the Art of Manliness - a website that explores all facets of modern masculinity and how to be a man in the modern world. His series on the 3 P’s of masculinity is a great primer on his underlying philosophy.

Jack Donovan is the author of The Way of Men, a book centered on the distinction between being a good man and being good at being a man.

Both of these men do an excellent job of delineating the core concepts of masculinity and their works are worth reading.

With an understanding of what it is to be a man and how we are different from women and children, we are better able approach the topic of aesthetics and style with the correct goals in mind.

ESSENTIAL #2

A PROPER AND POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH CLOTHINGIn the 21st century, the majority of men have either a negative or neutral relationship with their clothing.

Those who have a neutral relationship don’t think much about it. They understand that their appearance matters and they dress appropriately for work or other functions, while happily throwing on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt when not required to dress any better. For these men, the purpose of clothing is almost entirely utilitarian. It needs to protect them from the elements, cover their nakedness, and be socially acceptable in a way that avoids any attention. They dress to fit in.

Then there are men who have a negative relationship with clothing. They believe that any concern with a man’s appearance is either effeminate or flamboyant - that a real man has more to occupy his mind and time than trivial matters like appearance. Or they are men who believe that any concern with aesthetics is shallow and meaningless - that only internal beauty or strength are necessary or valid in determining the worth and value of other human beings. Ironically the men with a negative relationship with clothing end up giving aesthetics more power and more credence than those with a neutral relationship.

Both miss the opportunity to use clothing and appearance to help accomplish their goals.

Our appearance - the clothes we wear, our grooming, our sense of

style are all tools that other people use to better assess who we are as men. We can actively avoid using those instruments, only use them to their bare minimum, or choose to master them like we attempt to master any other tool in the belt of masculinity.

Having a positive relationship with clothing is having an understanding that this tool, like all others is amoral. It is an instrument that doesn’t have to merely prevent negative consequences, but can actively build positive results.

To properly use appearance and clothing as a tool, it must be considered appropriately. Many men, once they’ve realized the positive results that come from an intentional approach to improving their style, can overcorrect and be overly focused on their appearance. Just as a hammer isn’t the only effective tool in building a home - clothing isn’t the only effective tool in building a man.

There is a saying that “clothes make the man.” It is a statement with which I disagree wholeheartedly. There are plenty of good men in the world who wear bad clothing. Equally so, there are myriad bad men in the world who wear dress well. Our goal should be to become good men who dress well.

ESSENTIAL #3

A WILLINGNESS TO EMBRACE THE NEED FOR OTHER PEOPLE

No man is an island - nor should he be.

Other than the rare hermit who is able to safely ensconce himself in the woods, away from all other human beings, the vast majority of men in the world are reliant on other people. We have family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, acquaintances, and numerous other connections.

Many of these relationships are shallow and simple, while others are deep and complex. However, each of the people in our lives has some way of being able to affect us.

A man may have a neighbor who runs a small start-up and is looking for new help. When they see each other mowing the lawn they may give a friendly wave with a brief “good morning” and leave it at that. However, when the man is looking for a new job in his neighbor’s industry, that connection could quickly deepen and the nature of the relationship could drastically change.

We never know who will have a solid impact on our lives. This doesn’t mean a mans should by hypersensitive to the way all people around him perceive him, but it does mean he’s always aware that others can help or hinder him in accomplishing his goals.

With simple acquaintances and deep friendships, a man’s appearance can and does matter. If the neighbor who owns the startup were to perceive our fictional man as a slovenly bum who had no concern for his own appearance or that of his yard, he would be less inclined to

either hire him himself, or help him establish connections with other companies in the field. Our fictional man would be communicating to his neighbor that he is lazy, not detail oriented, and unconcerned with the impact his actions have on others. He may instead be incredibly busy, hyper-focused, and concerned with internal, rather than external details, but he is not perceived as having these qualities when his appearance comes at the cost of his focus.

Clothing is used to signal tribe, status, success, morals, intentions and more. All of these signals matter because they are only truly signals when they are interpreted by another person. Without other people to make assessments of us, based on our appearance, we would only wear functional clothing.

ESSENTIAL #4

A WILLINGNESS TO EMBRACE TRUTH

The human brain is designed around the concept of efficiency. We take in so much information each day that having to thoroughly process all of it would overwhelm our minds to complete exhaustion. As a result, the brain creates as many shortcuts and patterns as it can.

Clothing and appearance are huge triggers for these shortcuts. Whether we like it or not, people judge us based on our clothing. We can always supersede of override the shortcuts created by the brain, but it’s much simpler and more effective to trigger them in our favor. A man can either complain about this reality, or use it to his advantage.

Men are different from women. Regardless of how much the current culture of academia wants us to believe otherwise, human beings are a sexually dimorphic species. Men and women different in ways that are determined by primary and secondary sexual characteristics, physical attributes and proclivities, along with social channels. There are always exceptions to the rules, but - for the vast majority of people - the differences between men and women are traceable.

Because of this difference in nature, men and women have evolved to use the shortcuts of appearance to accomplish varying goals. For the most part, women dress primarily to build attraction while men dress primarily to establish respect. From makeup and high heels to suit lapels and ties, men and women use our clothing to accomplish different purposes and trigger different brain shortcuts. It behooves a man to understand this and build his wardrobe accordingly.

Along with embracing the realities of appearance mattering and a man’s goals being different from a woman’s, many men chaff at the idea that improving one’s appearance takes effort. The modern man wants things to be easy, effortless, and free of any pain or pressure. Dressing appropriately is very cheap and very simple. However, dressing well takes time, practice, patience and risk.

Most men are not properly taught how to effectively use their appearance, and it can be embarrassing or humbling to admit this. Our egos are (rightfully… to some extent) invested in our ability to excel in as many areas as possible. Admitting to not knowing how to dress well, especially when putting on clothing is something humans do since birth, is difficult and threatens the ego. Sadly most men will instead attack the merits of appearance and its usefulness as a tool to get ahead, rather than admit it’s one they’re not familiar with wielding properly.

These and many other frustrating truths will never go away. Rather than focusing time and energy resenting them, men are better off embracing these realities and using them to our advantage.

ESSENTIAL #5

A HUNGER FOR SELF IMPROVEMENT

An improved wardrobe signals an attempt to improve one’s life, and often comes as part of another major life change. It may be a result of getting in better shape, a new job, or a new opportunity to date. If a man is not ready to improve his life in other arenas, a change in his wardrobe will create cognitive dissonance and he will eventually go back to dressing the way he did.

I have a acquaintance whom I did a consultation for a few years ago. He had recently come in to a bit of money and his current wardrobe was quite literally full of holes. His pants were so bad that they were barely staying together.

We spent two days and a decent amount of money investing in some new clothing that would improve his overall appearance. What we found worked for his personality, suited his coloring and contrast, and made him look great. The compliments he received from family and friends felt almost as good for me to hear as they did for him.

Unfortunately this same acquaintance is one without much ambition. He is in his 30’s with no job, no solid place to call home, no relationships, and no real desire to accomplish any of that.Over time he eventually stopped wearing the clothes we chose for him. The way people saw and treated him while wearing those clothes didn’t match the way he saw himself. What he was telling people was that he was a man who didn’t seek too much attention but wanted to carve out his own place in the world. What he really is is a guy who’s checked out of society and simply wants to be left alone.

The dissonance between what he portrayed and what he was forced him to go back to his old, ratty clothing.

That doesn’t have to be the result. Rather than fighting against the dissonance, he could have used it as a catalyst to improve himself in other areas. The discomfort he felt from increased expectations from those around him could have helped him accept more responsibilities and challenges in his life.

The saying is to “dress for the job you want, not the one you have.” The key is here is to make sure the job you’re dressing for is actually the one you want because once he starts dressing the part, more doors will open up for a man to live the part than would have otherwise.

ESSENTIAL #6

A WILLINGNESS TO EMBRACE SOCIAL RISK

Once a man decides to make life changes, many of the people around him will chafe at his desire to improve himself. It shines a light on their own failure to do so. Many men experience negative reactions from friends, family, and co-workers.

More often than not these negative reactions are no more than good-natured teasing. A change in appearance is often so easy and so drastic that a man’s loved ones can’t help but have a little fun at his expense. This should be embraced as part of the process and, sooner rather than later, these same people will begin to see his improvements as the new default. It’s a small discomfort with a large payoff.

On the other hand, other people genuinely resent a man for making improvements and try to drag him back down to his previous level. They are crabs in a bucket and don’t want anyone else to escape the same fate they believe they are destined to experience. If any person in a man’s life has a genuinely negative reaction to him dressing better, this person should be abandoned for the dead weight he is.

On top of the social risk that comes from friends and family, success in dressing well will lead to positive attention from co-workers, acquaintances, and complete strangers. I get approached daily by both men and women who have some sort of comment to make on what I’m wearing. Most will just pay a compliment or ask me where I found a particular piece. Others have even asked to take pictures of or with me (thankfully that’s the very rare exception and not the rule).

Embracing this new level of attention can be a challenge. Many of us are content to mind our own business. However, as stated in Essential 3, no man is an island, and I have made many great business and personal connections form people who have approached me because of what I’m wearing.

Balancing out the positive attention that comes from successfully dressing well, failure in appearance will lead to negative attention. We’ve all seen the man who looks like he’s trying to hard too fit in with a particular group. Terms like “poser” and “try-hard” get thrown around fairly easily when a man overdoes the appearance improvement - especially when it’s not an improvement.

Unfortunately it’s impossible to avoid these mistakes, and it’s often the negative feedback we receive from others that allows us to recalibrate and improve on the new changes.

Many men are uncomfortable with new levels of attention being paid to them. This is especially true for men with a neutral relationship with clothing. They’d rather go unnoticed than have any real positive attention, and worst of all is receiving negative attention. However, the unremarkable man is also more likely to go unnoticed when it comes time for dates, promotions, new friendships, etc.

It is essential that a man be willing to take the social risks, both positive and negative, that come from improving his wardrobe and use these risks to calibrate his improvements so they help accomplish his purposes.

ESSENTIAL #7

A MENTOR

There is no need to reinvent the wheel when it has already been fine-tuned.

There are dozens of men who run sites and businesses dedicated to helping men improve their appearance. I know many of these men and can vouch for their desire to genuinely help the men with whom they work.

The following list is a group of blogs, YouTube channels, and online magazines whose proprietors have proven themselves experts in helping men improve their appearance.

The Effortless GentPrimer MagazineGentleman’s GazetteThe Modest ManReal Men Real StyleI Am Alpha MArticles of StyleRyan Magin

Having a mentor can help interpret mistakes and successes so the former can be avoided more and the latter can be built upon. A good mentor will also push his protege when he is unwilling to push himself.

The mentor/protege relationship has a proven track record across all industries. From finance to fitness, business to boxing, all men can stand to learn from a man who has walked the walk before, is willing

to hold his protege accountable, and is able to apply the right balance between pressure and encouragement to ensure the success of his student.

ESSENTIAL #8

A WILLINGNESS TO MAKE MISTAKES

Making mistakes in inevitable. It doesn’t matter what endeavors a man pursues, he will be incapable of executing them perfectly at the beginning. Small men use this an excuse to avoid attempting anything new. Great men embrace the discomfort that comes from making mistakes and become uneasy when they find themselves going too many weeks without committing an error.

Sartorial errors are no different. Many men will attempt to improve their wardrobes after seeing a character on a TV show, a spread in a magazine, or a well-dressed friend wearing something they like. However, through a lack of experience and understanding, their attempts to replicate the idealized style will fall short and, often, look worse than had they not tried to approve their appearance at all.

Rather than letting this discourage him from improving his appearance, the deliberate man will push through, learn from his mistakes and improve on them.

As a man gets better at dressing well, he will continue to make mistakes. In late 2014 I decided I wanted to grow my hair and beard out longer than I’ve ever had them. Wearing a suit and tie every day, but not working in a corporate environment, I believed the contrast between the rugged barbarian on top and the rakish gentleman below would be a great look. For months I endured the awful “in-between” stage required to grow one’s hair out. I hated it. There was never any consistency to how my hair looked and I often had to scramble for something that would look appropriate for events like weddings and family pictures.

Finally, after a solid eight months without a haircut, my hair was getting long enough I could start to pull it back and treat it like the long, viking locks I was going for. Sadly, after only three weeks of wearing my hair this way, I saw a picture of myself from an upscale event and realized my long hair and beard brought my whole appearance down. I looked sloppy instead of rugged. The contrast between my grooming and my clothing was too strong and looked awful. So, I cut my hair and went back to a length that was more consistent with my sense of style and how I saw myself as a man.

It was an irritating mistake because I sunk almost an entire year into a look that ultimately didn’t work. I was frustrated, but am grateful to have learned that long hair won’t work for me. I’ve scratched that itch and can move forward with confidence. Lesson learned.

Dressing well is more of an art than a science. There are rules and techniques, just like there are with painting or composing a song, but truly dressing well requires mastering techniques, learning the rules, and making mistake after mistake after mistake.

ESSENTIAL #9

THE ABILITY TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN DISCOMFORT AND UNFAMILIARITY

As a man starts to dress better his clothing will feel different. It may be tighter in some places and looser in others. It follows his natural movements differently and can feel completely foreign.

Along these same lines, as a man starts to dress better he will start to see himself differently. His posture may change, as might his self-respect, his confidence, and the authority in his voice.

As a man starts to dress better people will start to treat him differently. Attractive people are perceived as more successful, kinder, and more intelligent.

All of these changes are unfamiliar at first. Both the social and physical differences associated with dressing well take some time to adapt to. Rather than resisting the unfamiliarity that comes with these changes and claiming discomfort, it benefits a man to push through the unfamiliarity until it becomes familiar.

Eventually that better-fitting shirt will feel like a second skin, the improved posture will become second nature, and the increased receptiveness from other people will be welcomed - not avoided.

However, it is easy for a man to push beyond unfamiliar into uncomfortable or inconsistent territory. This is where understanding the communicative value of clothing becomes so crucial.

For a shy introvert, an overly gaudy peacocking style is both unfamiliar and uncomfortable. It communicates something about the

man that isn’t true and is incongruent with the way in which he interacts with the world. It is flashy and attention seeking while the man wearing it is one who prefers to simply dress well. It communicates an aversion to the rules of social convention while the man wearing it may be a stickler for manners and decorum.

For an outgoing extrovert, a dark-polo-with-neutral-khakis uniform is equally as unfamiliar and uncomfortable. It also communicates something about the man that isn’t true and is incongruent with the way in which he interacts with the world. It says he is comfortable flying under the radar when he would rather be at the center of attention. It communicates that he is willing to embrace the uniform of a safe, unoffensive side of society that he may actively rebel against.

Finding the distinction between discomfort and unfamiliarity is the sweet spot between improving one’s appearance without his wardrobe becoming a costume.

ESSENTIAL #10

A SENSE OF SELF

Dressing well is ultimately about a man knowing who he is, what he wants from the world, and what he can provide to those around him. He dresses in a way that communicates all of these values and virtues so people can quickly and accurately assess him for the man he is.

All of the nine previous essentials hinge on this final piece. A man cannot willingly embrace risk and mistake, submit himself to a mentor, learn to accept unfamiliarity, or even know what he wants to communicate as a man if he doesn’t have a sense of self.

A man of Masculine Style is one who lives and dresses in a way that is both deliberate and intentional. Neither of which is possible if the man doesn’t know who he is, where is roots are from, and the destination to which his goals will ultimately lead him.

CONCLUSION

FINAL WORDS FROM TANNERI hope you enjoyed reading these essentials as much as I enjoyed writing them.

The main point I hope you take away from all of this is that putting a little bit of thought and effort into establishing your wardrobe will yield significantly better results than a half-hearted attempt to pick up a few staples.

This is a process and should be enjoyed as such. Great results don’t happen overnight and you shouldn’t be discouraged by the fact that it may take some effort and a few errors to really dial things in. Enjoy the process of it and then take the same eagerness to learn and willingness to make mistakes and apply them to other areas of self improvement.

My own journey has led me to want to get in better shape, sleep better, eat better, learn another language - even be a better friend, husband, and father. My clothing didn’t make these changes, but my deliberate and intentional approach to it is a huge factor in my own pursuit of perpetual improvement.

The next step from here is to learn the 30 Staples that every man should have in his wardrobe. These are a great start to implementing all of the principles outlined in this guide and deserve a place in the wardrobe of every well-dressed man.

The great thing about these 30 Staples is how well they all mix with each other, along with looking great with articles of clothing that

fall more into secondary or tertiary priority.

It’s a fantastic guide and a key step in the next part of your journey to becoming better dressed- and better overall. Head on over HERE to check it out.

Thanks again!