Episode #52： Real Men Real Style With Antonio Centeno
Episode Stats
Summary
Tony Centeno is an expert in improving men's style. He is the founder of two online men s style businesses, Real Men's Style and Real Style, and he is a frequent guest on the Art of Manliness Podcast. In this episode, we talk about how Tony got into menswear, how he became established as a style expert, and some common questions that men have about improving their style.
Transcript
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Brett McKay here, and welcome to another episode of the Art of Manliness podcast.
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Well, some of our most popular content on theartofmanliness.com is our style content.
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A lot of our readers are young men who are making that transition from college to professional life.
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So they're wanting to know how they can upgrade their wardrobe to something more professional,
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And we also have a lot of older guys who maybe didn't get any advice on how to dress professionally.
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So they're looking for that sort of content on the art of manliness.
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And the man who has written most of our style content is Antonio Centeno.
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He is the founder of two, I guess, men's style businesses.
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And then he also has RealMenRealStyle.com, which is a men's style advice site where he provides
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content on how men can improve their style as well as provides classes and consultations
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one-on-one with men on how they can improve their personal appearance and style.
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And today we're going to have Tony on the podcast.
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And we're going to talk about how Tony got into menswear, how he became kind of established
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And we're also going to answer some common questions that men have about improving their
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But before we get to the interview, we have a short word from our sponsor.
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For more information, check out trunkclub.com slash AOM.
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Well, I'm shocked that it took us this long for you to get you on the podcast.
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So I'm glad, I'm glad we could finally do this.
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You know, for some reason, I just thought that I just thought you didn't like me.
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I mean, I think I did go to that school down south.
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I mean, you were with us since like the beginning of the site.
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And I'm sure a lot of people who are listening have been following and reading your articles
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on the Art of Manliness, as well as your content on Real Men, Real Style.
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But for those who are just sort of new to the site, new to the podcast, what's your story?
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Well, first off, I'm a regular guy, just like anyone else out there.
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And I think it's very interesting how on the web and nowadays with all of this stuff that
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we've got going on, how you can become anyone that you want to.
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And I don't think I started off wanting to become a men's style expert.
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In fact, I started off, if I go back, I won't go back too far, but let's start.
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Graduated from Cornell College, went into the Marine Corps, and I wanted to be a jet pilot.
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And I'm flying T-34s and I blew out my sinuses.
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The Marine Corps, in their wisdom, said, hey, let's go make a – let's go send them
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That's out near – just near San Diego in California.
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And after numerous deployments and returning from a sandy vacation known as Iraq at the time,
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Went and lived in Ukraine where I was at the time dating a woman.
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Now, it's my wife and we have three beautiful children.
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But I ran a nonprofit over there, realized I knew nothing about money.
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I had – my background was actually in biology and philosophy.
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And I had no business background, so I went to business school at the University of Texas.
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And upon graduating from the University of Texas, got a job up in Wisconsin, was promptly fired
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and realized that I don't want to work for anybody.
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And this is a great time now that my wife is pregnant with our second child and I'm bringing
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them here to the United States to start a company.
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Early 2008, started putting out content on the web because it was really me teaching myself
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I had a number of good partners who were enabling me to make really good, very high quality custom
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And I was trying this new idea of being able to build them and have them delivered via
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And I think that's about the time that you contacted me via this very ugly blog, which
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So, I reached out to you and we just started writing together.
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But over the last couple of years, we have really transformed the business and we have
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found that there is a huge hole, a niche, a need to simply teach men about style.
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I've also written between, you know, writing for you, writing for my own blog and just
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We've got about a thousand articles on men's style, over 300 videos.
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And by throwing out that wide net, we've been able to build an audience of men who are very
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interested in being able to use style in the way they dress and present themselves to basically
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live up to the man they know themselves that they know that they can be.
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And I think that's what really drives me is I look at – I look – I'm not – the clothing
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is cool, but I don't, you know, I'm not a – I don't stay up late at night thinking
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I don't sleep in a suit, you know, contrary to what some people may think.
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You know, when it comes down to it, I'm a very regular guy.
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And I like to think that clothing is just a tool that we use to be able to send the message
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And I think – I remember you mentioned sometime in one of our conversations you actually like
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drove across the United States on a motorcycle.
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And then you got fired from your job in Wisconsin.
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I mean, how – why did you decide like custom suiting?
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I mean, did you have like a style background at all?
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Were you like one of those guys who were like – you've always been interested in men's
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I need to probably put up some pictures of me before.
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Carpenter jeans, you know, and I'm not a carpenter.
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But, no, it came down to when I was in Ukraine, I was getting married back in 2004.
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And I just went out and looked for a suit and I could not find anything.
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And I tried on my first Italian suit and I was amazed at how it made me – how it made
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me feel and then what happened is I – I could never find that though in a price point that
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That Italian suit was $3,000 and I wasn't going to pay that for, you know, not really
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Fast forward a year from 2005, I'm going out to Cornell University.
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They were flying me out for this program that they were having and I – I needed to look
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I'm flying into New York City and all I had left over was this Russian suit that I
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bought when I was in Ukraine and it fit me horribly.
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And I ended up finding a custom – a clothier just wandering.
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I mean, this guy was – I met him up on the street, I remember, in Kiev, Ukraine.
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And I got a friend to introduce me to him and I was amazed at what he could do for $1,500.
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And I thought, you know, this needs to be more readily available.
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And I read about Mark Cuban buying a jet online.
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And I just thought, you know, if Mark Cuban is willing to buy a jet online, I think guys
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would be willing to buy really nice suits online.
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So, I took that idea, went to business school, kind of forgot about it until I'm in business
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school at Texas and I go through the same custom clothier experience.
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I wanted – I was going to go down the consulting investment banker path.
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But during those interviews, I needed a nice suit, a set of suits.
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And again, I met a guy who had a fourth grade education, was from India and he was making
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And I'm about to sell my soul into investment banking and you're making, you know, this kind
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And now, this guy had built – for 40 years, he built a client base.
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So, that's how I was able to make that kind of money.
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And he was only working six months out of the year.
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And I think it was – was it Roosevelt that said, you know, a man with a – what was
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With an – a man with a high school education can steal a rail car, but with a college education
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And I always thought, you know, I went like, okay, I can take my business education and
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go into an industry which is just full of very – I mean, they're good people, but
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many of them are my – I mean, they're very myopic in the sense that they don't – they
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They want to do it the way it's always been done and that's great, but let's flip it
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So, after I was fired, I kind of put – again, I put the idea to the side.
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It's like you trip over the truth so many times, but you just keep picking yourself
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And eventually, when I got fired from the company within a couple months of working there,
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I've had this idea, I talked to my wife about it, and she said, let's see who's
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We saw a company over in England doing something similar, but they were the only ones I could
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I'm like, let's try to do this except do it in the U.S.
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And that was how a tailored suit was born, and it still exists.
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Well, yeah, so that's really comforting to know that like you're just like this regular
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guy who dressed in baggy T-shirts and carpenter jeans.
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All right, so Tony, you kind of mentioned this a little bit earlier in your intro telling
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us about your story, but can you tell us like your guiding philosophy when it comes
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You know, I've written probably 40 or 50 articles for you, so if anyone wants to dive
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And I really – I think I hit on it in the style pyramid.
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And really, the three things – it's not the style pyramid, by the way, but it is – your
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clothing should be timeless, it should be functional, and it should enhance – it should
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Timeless, I really stress on because I want men to buy quality clothing that's going
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to last them and they're going to get their money's worth.
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Whenever somebody goes out and they make a major investment, let's say an automobile,
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automobile, people break it out, they look at, okay, I'm going to spend $25,000 on this
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truck and I'm going to get this many years out of it, I'm going to be getting a truck
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because I haul stuff all over the place, so I'm going to get a lot of use out of it.
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I'm going to be – you know, so you break it out and that makes sense.
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Well, I think many people should do this with clothing, so instead of going to Walmart
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or Target, which are both fine stores and there are some great things there, but oftentimes
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people go straight to price and they don't think, well, they end up not ever feeling
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The clothing never makes them look good and it's not – it really doesn't serve the
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And so, they end up going through really disposable clothing.
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And the idea is to buy something that's going to work for you, that's going to look great.
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And, you know, a quick way to show this is let's look at the economics of a suit.
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If you go out there and buy a $1,000 suit that you wear a hundred times and every time
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you wear it, you feel great and you look like a million bucks, it comes out to $10 a wear.
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Now, if you go out there and buy a $500 suit or let's go a $100 suit and it feels like
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a $100 suit, it makes you look like you're wearing a $100 suit.
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And you only wear that whenever, you know, just because you have to sometimes.
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So, you end up only wearing that five times before you throw it out.
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And, you know, I try to really stress that that's why you should buy timeless.
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So, I'll use the example, Brett, of the article I wrote for you about dressing for cold weather.
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A lot of times when I was – I used to climb radio communication towers when I was in college.
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That was how I got paid $20 an hour, which I could get paid $7 or $8 an hour flipping burgers.
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But, if you climb these big tall communication towers and risk your life, hey, you get $20.
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And I – when I would do that, I would wear clothing that had to keep me warm.
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This was in Iowa during the winter and it was cold up on those radio communication towers.
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And I remember having to buy clothing that fit closer to the body.
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I would layer it and I would also make sure it had a high arm holes that the – the jeans
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that they had, you know, they fit me well in the crotch area so that I had full freedom
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And I feel a lot of guys, when they're going out there and buying clothing, they're not
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So, if you're in sales, you need to buy clothing which conveys trust.
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If you're a technician or you're a blue-collar worker, you work with your hands, you want
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So, whether it be work boots, whether it be a suit, buy clothing that is functional for
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And then, the last thing is always look for clothing that's going to enhance and make
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So, that's one of the reasons I always tell guys if you can, try to wear a sports jacket.
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But, there's nothing that a man can wear that's going to make his shoulders look a
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It's going to trim up his waist area and it's going to make him just look more masculine.
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So, if you're going out, you're meeting other guys and you want to simply send the
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message, hey, I'm a – I'm a good potential, you know, I've got your back.
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I'm a strong, healthy guy and you're – we want to form a good business relationship,
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If you're meeting a woman for the first time and you want to turn this into a long-term
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relationship, you're sending the message that, hey, I'm a provider, you know, and
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these are very subliminal things, but they're things that people do pick up on.
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And there's so much – there's just tons of scientific evidence behind this.
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That's one of the things that I – why I reached out to you so many years ago was that
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philosophy because I could tell from the content that you're writing that you were – it was
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I feel like there was, like, a lot of men's style bloggers.
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Nowadays, it's just, like, everyone's starting a men's style blog.
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They just don't seem very, like, functional or, like, practical.
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Like, they get really fisted about, like, these, like, small details.
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And it just never seemed – like, never resonated with me.
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But I just love how practical your philosophy is.
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So it's like, yeah, like, if you're going to be out in cold weather, yeah, look good.
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But, you know, the first thing you should think about is, is this going to keep you warm,
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Understand the difference between wool, between cotton, between synthetics and how they insulate
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And it's not a – you know, it's – it's not so much about the clothing.
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It's about you being able to do your job and not, you know, having – you know, falling
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over because you wore too much clothing that didn't let you breathe and, you know, you
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We've – many of us have seen those things happen.
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And – or that you sweat so much and then, you know, you get a chill because you strip
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it off and next thing you know, you're – you're losing too much heat.
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So, maybe it's some of my background, I think, in the – in the Marine Corps.
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But the Marines, you know, besides being, you know, kind of like the stormtroopers of the
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U.S. military and being a bit, you know, I would say a little bit more fanatical than
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many of the other services is they care about the way they dress.
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So, I would always – so, I was a staff officer with an infantry battalion and we would go
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I remember on Friday nights, all the young enlisted Marines were going out and they – they
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They were going out and, you know, I'd always – you'd see the guys leaving and stuff
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and I'd be on duty a lot of times on a Friday night.
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And you just see them going out and they did care.
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And they knew that it made a difference, that by wearing that type of clothing, it
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They – you know, the guys that dress sharp, they just – they would make that connection
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that putting forth this effort would result in, well, having a little bit more luck that
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Like, you have – like, you've done some pretty manly things, Marines, motorcycle.
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I didn't know you – you worked on giant antennas in the freezing Iowa weather.
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So let's talk – you talk – Tony, you've consulted and coached, I'm sure at this point,
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What are the biggest style mistakes you see men making?
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So the biggest one is – and you can go look at – you know, you see this in the comments
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whenever we post something, somebody is always taking the time to let us know that they don't
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And I always – it's – you know, if you really don't care, why are you even leaving
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I think if you don't care, the apathy, you know, to me really that sense is you don't
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It's about you giving yourself the best shot to succeed.
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I don't care if you've got a Harvard MBA in your back pocket.
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Nobody sees that if you dress like – like a hoodlum.
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And, you know, it's just something I want – that's the biggest thing because if a guy
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understands and if he cares, he's going to find a way.
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In the same way, if you're hungry, you're going to find a way to feed yourself.
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If you're going to – you're going to go make a sandwich, you're going to make – you're
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going to cook yourself a lasagna, you're going to go out and you're going to – you're
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And that's probably the first thing is you've got to care.
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Now, specifically, what I notice is that most men wear clothing that's way too big.
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The vast majority of – we do this because we're in a society – if you go back a hundred
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years, most people, they had their clothing made for them.
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I mean, it was less expensive than going – buying that expensive clothing that was pre-made.
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Let's move a hundred years now into the future.
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All of a sudden, that's complete opposite and most of the clothing is made to fit as
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As a result, we wear things that are just not made for us.
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They're made for – to fit as many people and it's just – it looks bad.
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And so, it probably – you know, I would say, you know, if I was to give one tip, if I was
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to tell people one thing that they could do to change this is to learn the name of their
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tailor and why this is important is if you know the name of your tailor, then you've
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You're taking him your clothing to get adjusted and it's such a small price to pay for really
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You can take a $100 suit, get it tailored, adjusted and if it's, you know, made with decent
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material, it's going to look better than a $1,000 suit that has never been adjusted.
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Yeah, I've learned to do that whenever I buy things off the rack now, like if it's
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just like a dress shirt or a pair of pants to right away take it to – I don't have
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like a fancy tailor but like just like there's like little shops around Tulsa, right, where
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It's like $10, $15, $20 and it just makes all the difference.
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It's just amazing what that extra $10 or $15 can do.
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So big mistakes are just not caring and then it's like wearing stuff too big.
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You don't really see that problem so much in Europe, I don't think, or in other countries.
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It's like it's – yeah, wearing stuff big is very – we like to do things big here
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I also just think it's we're also products of our environment.
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I mean try eating healthy in the United States.
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We've got three children and we try to feed them at home and try to feed them healthy food
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all the time but we're bombarded by all of these, you know, get this latest style.
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Get this – the fashion industry and I do make a distinction between style and fashion.
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Fashion's job is to try to sell you something every season and whether it be a new hat,
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a new pair of sneakers, a new pair of jeans, the coolest belt, they're trying to, you
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We go out there and we're buying all the new coolest looking tools.
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And it comes back to that principle of finding timeless functional pieces that enhance you.
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So, you mentioned just getting – knowing your tailor as like a simple style upgrade.
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Any other tips that men can do to upgrade their personal style?
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They can start to set up systems in their life and you're going to hear me hit on this
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So, you know, I've got my courses, the style system, a man's guide to timeless style.
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I find that whenever you make a commitment and you start to take action that it – and you've
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read the book, I think Changing – or it's about – I think it's Habits.
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And you remember part of Changing Habits is understanding how we change.
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So, imagine, Brett, if you woke up and you were just telling me that, you know, you had Gus
00:24:45.680
And, I mean, everything probably went out of whack because you're not getting sleep.
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When the kid's sick, it just throws all of your systems out the door because getting
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sleep and sleeping through the night is a system.
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I mean, you could sleep during the day, but we choose as a society oftentimes to sleep
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from, you know, 10 o'clock at night till 6 o'clock in the morning, solid eight hours.
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But, whenever you – you have to be sick kid, that doesn't apply.
00:25:10.860
They're throwing up in the middle of the night.
00:25:12.320
You're up checking the temperature every single hour.
00:25:15.640
Your sleep system is – throw – has a wrench.
00:25:19.020
We do this to ourselves all the time because we have no system in how we dress ourselves.
00:25:27.300
You need to lay out your clothing the night before.
00:25:30.000
It sounds simple, but if you do that, what are you going to do?
00:25:34.220
If your dress clothing is all laid out the night before, your shirt is already ironed,
00:25:40.720
your suit is pressed, your shoes are shined, everything in there is ready, are you going
00:25:45.660
to go fumble through your closet in the dark and try to find clothing that just looks bad
00:25:50.520
No, you're going to go down the simple path, which is to wear the clothing that you've
00:25:59.300
Tony loves – let me tell you guys, Tony loves systems.
00:26:01.740
Every time we get on the phone, he's always telling me about his new system that he's
00:26:06.160
And it's actually been inspiring because I've tried to implement some systems in my
00:26:12.660
So, Tony, are there any, like, style rules that you think are followed to religiously?
00:26:19.720
Because I know if you go into some of the style forms, like Reddit – there's, like,
00:26:27.180
And, like, you can see people get very zealous about some style rules.
00:26:31.600
Are there any ones that you think are just like, okay, you guys are taking this way too
00:26:42.460
Well, the number one one is whenever you sit down and you have to unbutton your jacket.
00:26:49.980
So, for those of you who don't know, Tony did a series of videos with me when he came
00:26:56.960
And he left his button, his suit, his jacket button, when he sat down.
00:27:05.580
Yeah, you were so overwhelmed by my mustache, you forgot to unbutton your jacket.
00:27:09.500
But, yeah, everyone on YouTube was just like, oh, you need to – that was just so jarring
00:27:17.020
Or is it just like, okay, guys, they're a bigger fish to fry?
00:27:20.640
I think most of the rules out there – rules are guidelines.
00:27:25.080
And if you've got a four-wheel drive truck and you've got to get from point A to point B
00:27:29.820
and, you know, as – you know, let's just say we've got a zombie apocalypse going on.
00:27:43.500
I have to admit that's probably one of my guilty pleasures on Netflix.
00:27:47.120
But there's this part – like, I'm always watching it.
00:27:49.140
They, like, show one side of the highway and there's all these burnt-out wrecked cars
00:27:53.380
and the other side of the highway is completely clean.
00:27:59.120
But I – if, you know, if I had a zombie apocalypse going on,
00:28:01.900
I tell you I would not be driving on that other side of the road.
00:28:05.140
And that's one thing I love about when you travel.
00:28:07.840
Whenever I go back to – when I was in India or Ukraine or a lot of places where people really drive crazy,
00:28:13.200
they don't follow – like, rules are there for other people, I think, is the philosophy of it.
00:28:18.020
So, rules are there as a general guideline to get you started.
00:28:21.140
But you don't – if you understand the rule, then you have the – you can oftentimes go through and break it,
00:28:29.260
But I would say one thing that I think people are too stuck on here,
00:28:33.160
especially in North America, the United States, is jewelry.
00:28:36.760
And spending time in Europe, other parts of the world,
00:28:40.880
it's perfectly fine to wear a couple extra rings, to wear a necklace, to earrings.
00:28:46.740
I mean, now, this is just something – every time I post about it, people just go crazy that, you know,
00:28:56.240
I would say that that's – it always makes me smile.
00:28:59.820
I love writing about it because I always get lots of comments.
00:29:02.460
But I would say jewelry is something that guys get a little bit too fanatical on.
00:29:06.820
And, you know, just because you wear a ring on one finger does not send really any signal.
00:29:15.880
The Strenuous Life is an online platform that we created to help you put into action
00:29:18.960
all the things we've been writing about on AOM and talking about on the podcast for the past 10 years.
00:29:24.620
First, we've created a series of 50 different badges from soft skills like personal finances,
00:29:28.800
public speaking, social skills, and hard skills like wilderness survival, first aid, self-defense.
00:29:36.440
They're going to get you started on working on these things.
00:29:38.400
You said you've always wanted to get started on, but you just haven't had time or just the motivation to do so.
00:29:44.200
They're going to push you out of your comfort zone.
00:29:45.880
We also have accountability for your physical fitness and doing a good deed so you think outside of yourself.
00:29:50.780
Our last enrollment of 2019 is coming up here in September.
00:30:00.100
And as soon as the enrollment opens up, we'll send you out an email and you can sign up.
00:30:09.680
And you've talked about this before with like with your style pyramid that a lot of what I what I've noticed, too, just kind of interacting with readers and following the comments on your blog post is that so many men, when they're getting into like they want to improve their style.
00:30:25.800
Like the first thing they do is like they go in on these like little small details.
00:30:29.520
Like, OK, what sort of like pattern do I wear with this sort of like suit fabric?
00:30:36.140
But they're not even thinking about, OK, does your suit fit well?
00:30:40.220
Does the suit even look good on your body frame?
00:30:43.480
And like the only thing they care about is these little small details.
00:30:46.420
And they're just they think that's going to make all the difference.
00:30:48.660
And but without having that nice, solid base of just, you know, clothing that fits well, that that's serves, you know, that's a fun that it serves its function.
00:31:02.100
And they sort of lose sight of the big picture, I guess is what I'm trying to say.
00:31:06.140
No, it's and just to equate it to an article that you just put out, which actually just made me smile because I have this on one of my boards and I've had it here for about a month now is is the, you know, the Eisenhower matrix of one, two, three and four.
00:31:21.420
And most things that are being written about on the Web are are threes and fours.
00:31:27.200
And people are getting and for anyone that doesn't know, you just go back and check out the art of manliness and you understand what we're talking about.
00:31:34.480
But basically, people are focusing on what seems to be urgent and it's not important.
00:31:40.500
And those little details, they're like one percent effectors there or it's like point two percent focus on fit, focus on fabric and the quality of what you're wearing and focus on the style.
00:31:54.500
Boom, you've got the you've got 80 percent you've passed and everything else is just extra.
00:31:59.620
All right. So let's let's get a little more specific here.
00:32:04.240
I'm sure this is a common question that you get.
00:32:06.820
And there's people who write tons of blog posts about this sort of this sort of question is what are the pieces of clothing that every man should have in their wardrobe?
00:32:16.800
And I know this is I'm sure this causes lots of debate, but just sort of you want to have just a just a general use go to wardrobe that for any occasion you're good to go.
00:32:27.980
Okay. The first thing is you need to have a suit.
00:32:30.920
You'll you'll hear this and I know some guys will say, well, I only wear the suit one time here.
00:32:35.460
And when you wear it one time a year, you're wearing it because it's probably something pretty important.
00:32:42.300
And if you're ever going to look good, this is when you need to look good and make sure you practice wearing that suit.
00:32:49.060
Just putting on a suit does not make you look good.
00:32:51.100
You need to practice wearing it and you need to make sure it fits, that it looks good.
00:32:55.800
So every year, put it on, make sure moths haven't eaten through it.
00:32:59.820
You make sure to seal it properly, but have one suit.
00:33:03.420
I don't care, you know, if you're a master, you know, we talked about this, I think, in one of the articles.
00:33:08.140
I mean, you may be a plumber and you may make tons of money and you don't, yeah, you don't have to impress anybody.
00:33:14.520
Your little girl, when she gets married, you want to look good because you're going to be there at that wedding
00:33:19.300
and you don't want to, you know, embarrass her in the photos when she looks at that.
00:33:23.360
You want – so, you know, focus on that one suit and everything that goes with it.
00:33:27.700
Have a nice, crisp, simple white shirt that fits you well.
00:33:32.560
Have shoes, just go with a pair of classic black Oxfords.
00:33:36.240
The suit color would go – you can go with navy or charcoal gray works better for probably most men.
00:33:41.440
Navy is nice, it can make a man look a little bit younger.
00:33:45.120
So, if you are 18 to 22 years of age and you've got a baby face, perhaps just go with charcoal gray, don't go with navy.
00:33:54.280
Next, have a pair of jeans that look really good on you.
00:33:58.560
And this could be something where you go in and you speak with someone that you trust and have them look on you,
00:34:05.280
but a dark pair of denim is going to go far because you can MAC, you can dress it up, you can dress it down.
00:34:18.400
I'm not talking about going with skinny, super skinny jeans here.
00:34:23.360
No, look for – if you're used to wearing really loose jeans,
00:34:27.260
maybe wear the regular or the classic and see what it looks like on you.
00:34:37.460
Make sure that they're dark and you're going to be able to use them in a lot of different ways.
00:34:41.640
Now, let's talk about a sports jacket, a simple sports jacket.
00:34:45.700
Go with something in brown, go with something in blue.
00:34:48.840
Again, make sure it fits you, that it works well.
00:34:52.060
And right there, that's going to go with your jeans.
00:34:54.540
You could dress it up by getting also a pair of dress slacks, but I'm not going to say that you have to have those.
00:34:59.260
But, if you're going to go out with some friends or you've got a – you know, let's say for a wedding,
00:35:04.240
you've got a reception dinner that you've been invited to,
00:35:07.180
well, all of a sudden you're able to wear those really nice jeans with that sports jacket.
00:35:11.980
You want to have also a couple nice collared dress shirts that, you know, just fit you well,
00:35:20.680
You can go to places like Target and you can find some nice ones.
00:35:23.520
You're going to need to take them to a tailor because they're usually made a bit more billowing.
00:35:27.340
But, maybe you can find a slim fit if you're a bit slimmer.
00:35:30.080
If you're a bit larger of a guy, that doesn't mean that you have to wear your clothing loose.
00:35:34.300
And believe me, being a large guy, I've written the book on it.
00:35:38.120
Wearing big clothing is – and we've got a great resource over at The Art of Manliness as well,
00:35:43.420
But, wearing all that loose clothing does not hide the fact that you're a large guy.
00:35:47.940
It just makes you look like you're a large guy with no sense of style.
00:35:50.800
It's better to, you know, get it trimmed up, go to your tailor and look like you're large
00:35:55.860
and in charge versus, honestly, fat and sloppy.
00:36:03.680
Invest in a pair of, you know, find something that works for you, but something that is a
00:36:08.900
step up from the $50 or $20, you know, don't running shoes.
00:36:14.260
If you're not running or you're not working out, try to avoid the running shoes.
00:36:19.680
Find a pair of casual leather shoes that look good.
00:36:22.720
These don't have to be – I mean, usually I throw out, you know, dress boots or bluchers
00:36:26.840
or what, derbies or saddle shoes or a pair of loafers.
00:36:33.800
Those are all fine, but find something that at least is made from leather and that has a
00:36:40.760
Don't – don't wear your running shoes with your – with your jeans and your t-shirt
00:36:48.180
But, if you're going out, you know, look to upgrade it.
00:36:53.220
Polos are nice, but there are various degrees of polos.
00:36:56.960
And I'm going to say having one nice polo that is made from a little bit more finer of
00:37:02.500
And if you need to get an example, go in and look at the difference between an old
00:37:06.960
navy polo that's made from a very low-quality fabric.
00:37:11.480
And those are fine for wearing around the house, but you want to go look at one that's
00:37:18.380
So, you can – you know, a few brands that are decent.
00:37:20.840
I mean, Ralph Lauren, they've got the iconic polo out there.
00:37:27.340
So, go look at those and look at the difference in – in the actual weave of the fabric.
00:37:36.980
We've talked about probably at least three nice dress shirts that are – stick with
00:37:44.740
Don't go with hot pinks and all these other colors.
00:37:49.640
And those are fine, but they're not part of that core wardrobe that we're talking about.
00:37:54.820
So, guys listening to this and he's saying, okay, I need to do this, but I have a limited
00:38:04.940
Any advice to these guys who have a limited budget that they can't go out and buy all
00:38:12.140
What can they do to build a wardrobe like this?
00:38:17.260
They can do a Google search for the art of manliness, how to dress like a million dollars
00:38:24.080
So, that – but I'll go into a little bit of detail later.
00:38:26.480
One, we talk about thrifting, going in and finding amazing finds.
00:38:33.100
Oftentimes, you have just – someone that had a – bought a whole bunch – I mean, you
00:38:38.280
Literally, a guy passed away and he had like 20 dress shirts that were still wrapped in
00:38:42.380
plat – you know, in the packaging that were just donated.
00:38:49.160
There's a great website called Thrift Store Runway.
00:38:52.520
Again and again and again, I see people assembling amazing outfits for less than $50 and that includes
00:39:01.380
You can go into thrift stores and you can find a gently used pair of Allen Edmonds, Alden,
00:39:06.180
a lot of higher-end brands and you can send them back to the company and have them rebuilt
00:39:11.780
So, you get a $500 pair of dress shoes for $100.
00:39:16.320
Moving on to, you know, your trousers, keep those simple.
00:39:21.360
This is usually an area that you can go with an El Cheapo brand.
00:39:25.420
Lee, Levi's, these both make fine – Lee just came out with a really nice modern series.
00:39:30.700
Levi's has a number – Levi's has kind of lowered the rise, so I'm – you've got
00:39:36.280
They don't really have anything that's mid-sized.
00:39:39.040
But, you can easily spend, you know, $30, $40, find them on sale at JCPenney's and boom,
00:39:47.460
Also, you know, don't be afraid to go to Target and look at some of the slacks.
00:39:53.660
Now, where you're going to want to spend your money and spend a lot more time looking is
00:40:06.340
We look like our uncles because we share the same genetics.
00:40:10.260
Ask that stylish uncle who doesn't wear his clothing much, you know, wear this stuff and
00:40:14.820
say, hey, can I – you have any clothing that maybe you've got stored up, you've
00:40:23.100
You would be – you would be surprised what's out there.
00:40:25.160
I had one gentleman on my email list email me that he basically had an uncle open up
00:40:29.480
a storage unit and he just had like five boxes of amazing clothing.
00:40:34.320
And, yeah, half of it was kind of dated to the 1970s, but the other half was perfect.
00:40:40.140
And even that stuff that – you know, he even started wearing some of that 70s stuff
00:40:43.400
saying, wow, you know, it really gave me a bit of flair.
00:40:45.620
And he's having a bit of luck out there with the ladies.
00:40:48.520
He's – so who – the point I'm saying, guys, is don't let money – money is probably
00:40:58.640
And I think, Brett, we've been talking about this, about, you know, common problems
00:41:03.060
that guys – and money is one of the biggest problems that guys throw out there.
00:41:10.580
Look at Robert Rodriguez, his first film, El Mariachi.
00:41:22.860
And he did – yeah, and he raised that movie and it made about a million dollars in the
00:41:26.960
He made that movie because he just got friends and family to be the actors.
00:41:30.940
He used ketchup as blood and he basically volunteered himself as a summer to take pills
00:41:41.080
He did it and he got creative because he wanted it bad enough.
00:41:44.000
So, if you want to improve yourself, don't – forget about the clothing.
00:41:50.060
It's about understanding what is your why and why – where do you want to be in life
00:41:53.820
and understanding that clothing is simply one way to enable – it's one of those multipliers
00:41:59.720
that will enable you to – to be able to get in – your foot in the door at that bank
00:42:06.240
And you don't want to just work at, you want to manage.
00:42:08.020
And use the clothing to dress like what they expect a future manager to look like.
00:42:16.860
And one thing that's helped me too with this like budget issue is like understanding like
00:42:22.240
you don't have to build a wardrobe all at once.
00:42:25.860
Like a lot of guys think they have to – I've got to go out there and I have to get it all
00:42:29.320
And for me, I've just sort of learned that, you know, you can slowly build up your wardrobe
00:42:38.840
Then the next year you make a big investment in, you know, the pair of shoes or whatever.
00:42:43.320
And then, you know, pretty soon you've got like a pretty awesome wardrobe.
00:42:49.740
Have you seen El – what's it called right now?
00:42:54.400
And like there's this scene where Clint Eastwood's with this young kid and the kid's
00:42:57.920
like, I want all these tools you have in your garage, but I can never afford this.
00:43:02.100
And like Clint Eastwood told him, well, you know, it took me years to like get this awesome
00:43:06.820
So it's going to take you years to develop – to get your collection as well.
00:43:11.400
So yeah, I think maybe some patience, right, could help too.
00:43:15.100
And we've got that four-part series over at The Art of Manliness.
00:43:18.880
We've got checklists there of what to add in to build your wardrobe.
00:43:23.220
And I think we've even broken it out in certain categories.
00:43:26.600
So if you're in, you know, if you're a professional, if you're a uniform man, we
00:43:30.680
talk about that and where to invest your money, where to possibly save some money.
00:43:35.100
And yeah, you'll compromise on the fabric, but that's okay.
00:43:38.420
You know, at this point, this will – this will do you.
00:43:42.360
You know, you want to invest in a lot of money in certain tools simply because you want
00:43:46.020
to get it right the first time and you compromise in other areas.
00:43:49.740
And as you get the funds, then you start to build up the other areas.
00:43:58.420
I think a lot of people have this question because you are Mr. Style Guy.
00:44:01.340
You are like – and in your videos, you're always rocking the sport coat with the pocket
00:44:13.100
And I know you work from home in the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin, so are you always
00:44:18.100
wearing a sport coat and pair of slacks at all times, 24-7?
00:44:26.440
And then I'll wear that till – well, actually, I wear my stroller.
00:44:30.560
And then I transition to black tie and occasionally on the weekends, white tie.
00:44:41.900
So the whole reason that Old Navy polo came out is because I got an Old Navy polo on that
00:44:51.880
So that's where those words actually came from, Brett, because I'm wearing them.
00:44:55.840
Isn't that from the – what was that movie with – gosh, with – in which the guy's – he – verbal can't – he's – he's looking at the board and he's pulling bits of info from the board.
00:45:15.440
So, yeah, you don't – so you dress like an average guy during the day.
00:45:25.820
Now, I also – I'm wearing clothing that works for me that I feel comfortable in that I live in a town of just over a thousand people.
00:45:32.620
I'm surrounded by farmers and when I go out, I interact with people.
00:45:36.880
It just makes sense to dress – and I'm still out dressing most of the people here.
00:45:41.860
But I do want to be dressed in a manner that I will feel at least presentable if I need to quickly drive up to my school.
00:45:48.360
Although, if I did drive up to the school with the current weather, what I do is throw on a very nice sweater and that would – that would enhance my current look.
00:45:55.780
But – but it – but it's something that you got to pay attention to your environment.
00:45:59.460
I don't want to say – you know, it just – it's not practical for me at this point to wear a suit every day.
00:46:04.620
I'm not – not having to commute or anything like that.
00:46:08.620
But it is something that there's a lot of research coming out of Northwestern University and other places about the field of – in the field of enclosed cognition.
00:46:17.780
The New York Times wrote about this and they can do a quick Google search if they want to learn more.
00:46:21.440
But they talk about how we are affected by the clothing that we wear and how it changes our mindset.
00:46:27.740
And we actually will perform better if we dress in a manner that makes us feel good.
00:46:31.460
So some people listening may say, well, you know, when I've got a test on a – I dress sharp for that test.
00:46:36.840
Well, if it makes you feel better, then do it because guess what?
00:46:43.200
Yeah, I occasionally when I really need to hunker down and get some good work done, I'll switch out of the T-shirt and jeans I typically wear because I work from home too.
00:46:55.900
Even though I'm not going out, it does change your mindset for me at least.
00:47:01.460
I think it's interesting you mentioned something, Tony, about you live in a rural area.
00:47:09.200
And this is actually – we had a question from Twitter from Mantic59.
00:47:13.580
He's the man who's probably taught more men how to shave in the world than is out there.
00:47:20.280
But he asked about dressing well in a really rural area.
00:47:23.880
I mean, is it – I mean, should you even like try to like wear your Armani suit or sport coat all the time when you're out strolling Main Street in the middle of nowhere America?
00:47:35.600
Or should you be more cognizant of your surroundings and dress to the environment that you happen to be in?
00:47:48.020
If you were to go – let's say you decide you guys took Gus to the doctor.
00:47:56.100
But you take him to the emergency room, 2 o'clock in the morning.
00:47:59.340
And a guy comes out and he's dressed in a t-shirt and jeans and running shoes.
00:48:04.400
You know, are you – what are you going to think here?
00:48:11.080
Because – well, so what does a doctor look like?
00:48:19.220
So the answer is what is your position in life?
00:48:25.140
And what is – what is – you know, I am the owner of a custom clothier and I'm the owner of a style channel.
00:48:30.980
I need to live up to the expectation because if I betray people's expectation of that, it's going to send a mixed signal and it's going to create distrust.
00:48:40.400
So if you're – the best dressed people in this town actually are the teachers and I like that because they take their – even in a small town and, you know, but when I go to my son's school, I notice the teachers are always well put together.
00:48:55.280
They try to put their best foot forward and, you know, some of the guy teachers got to work on fit and they wear those kind of outlandish funny ties with, you know, Yogi Bear on them or, you know, or Fred Flint or something like that.
00:49:06.120
You know, and I'm like, I smile, but, you know, they do that for the kids and I respect that.
00:49:11.820
And whenever I go take my kids to school and I'm going to go in and I meet with the teacher, I always dress well.
00:49:17.640
I don't overdress, but I do send the signal I'm a business owner.
00:49:21.960
I represent my family and that's who I dress for.
00:49:26.840
This is kind of – going back to Mantis' question, one thing that I remember learning during some sort of professional development class when I was in law school was about dress, right?
00:49:36.940
Because when you are an attorney, particularly when you're at trial, you are basically putting – you're basically putting on a performance, right, and trying to convince a jury to go your way with the case.
00:49:48.440
And one of the people that came and spoke to us really hit home the point, like, you know, you want to dress and present yourself for that performance so that you get the result that you want.
00:50:00.240
Now, people say, oh, this is so manipulative and whatever.
00:50:03.880
We are very emotional and like you mentioned, there's research and studies that show that people pay attention to how people dress and whether they trust them or not.
00:50:11.540
And they hit on the fact, like, if you are, you know, presenting a case in New York City or even like Tulsa, Oklahoma, you know, an urban area, like, you'll want to wear a conservative gray suit, nice white shirt, you know, very crisp, conservative, just like your typical stereotypical power attorney because that's how people in urban areas perceive – that's how they like their attorneys, right?
00:50:40.160
But he said if you were to try a case, present a case in some district court in the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma and you wore that same sort of outfit, you know, the people there are going to look at you a little suspicious because they're going to say, oh, this is some, you know, highfalutin big city attorney.
00:50:59.260
So this guy said, you know, for that situation, if you're in a district court in kind of a rural area, you want to dress it down where they're a little more informal.
00:51:09.460
Even though it's a court of law, they're very much – they're much more informal in that area.
00:51:13.260
So you might want to go with a tweed coat or a brown suit, some suspender, you know, a bow tie, right, and sort of bring – you know, just make it a little bit more homey so that people trust you.
00:51:24.460
And so I think a lot of people – I've tried to do this more in my own life is like, you know, taking – it's not all about you.
00:51:33.140
You also need to take into consideration what other people and how they perceive you to get the maximum result with what you're trying to do with your wardrobe or your clothing.
00:51:46.900
Manipulation is wrong because what you're trying – you know, when people are manipulating, they have an alternative motive and there's – there is something negative there.
00:51:56.340
What I'm talking about and, you know, I think what we write about, what we both agree on is that it's more about you allowing – you being able to reach your goals and to not let – to make sure the message is very clear as to who you are and what you represent.
00:52:13.760
So, if you're a plumber, you need to dress like a plumber and dress like a professional plumber.
00:52:19.140
Because when you knock on that woman's door who's at home alone and she's wondering – she wants to make – she's going to make a very quick decision, you know, can I trust you to come into my house?
00:52:32.180
You know, I've got my baby here, you know, in the next room sleeping.
00:52:35.760
And it's not about manipulation that you are wearing, you know, a very set uniform and clothing that sends a signal of trust.
00:52:44.260
That's – you know, you're just doing simply your job and you're doing it to a higher level.
00:52:52.900
But before we go, are there any other places that you recommend men going besides Art of Manliness and your awesome site, Real Men Real Style and, you know, the various style systems?
00:53:03.300
Any other places that you enjoy on the internet or books about men's style that you find helpful that you think guys should check out?
00:53:10.700
So, I'll really quick give them a list of blogs.
00:53:13.700
I actually created – we – in the last – we put out a list earlier this year of the top 10.
00:53:24.440
So, I'll give you some – and this is – so, based off my – a lot of personal opinion here.
00:53:30.160
But I really like what Raphael's doing over at the Gentleman's Gazette.
00:53:36.120
But for anyone interested in history, I mean, he is really hard to beat.
00:53:42.340
So, we talked about a lot about saving money and, you know, finances and things.
00:53:50.120
Joe is just aggregating some of the best deals out there on the web.
00:53:54.900
There's the guys over at KinoWare that not as many people know about that website.
00:54:01.960
KinoWare is really a great website because I think they – you talk about systems as well.
00:54:10.940
And Barron really targets, I think, the younger man and the urban male.
00:54:21.460
Jesse, you know, he's done a great job over there.
00:54:24.220
And lastly, you know, once you've got your foundation built, I would invite – go check out the Style Forum and ask Andy about clothes.
00:54:34.960
This has been, I hopefully, I hope, a very helpful podcast for people who are listening.
00:54:41.960
Where can they go to find more about Antonio and his work?
00:54:49.000
And I make – you know, have a little bit of fun as you've gone through my contact form.
00:55:03.180
Antonio is the founder and owner of RealMenRealStyle.com.
00:55:08.560
And you can also find Tony's writing about style and menswear at ArtofManliness.com.
00:55:16.380
Well, that wraps up another edition of the Art of Manliness podcast.
00:55:19.600
For more manly tips and advice, make sure to check out the Art of Manliness website at ArtofManliness.com.