There is no better time for resolutions than the start of the year. January brings a chance to leave mistakes behind and plan the strategy for the year ahead. Opportunities embraced and difficulties managed turn every challenge into a chance for reinvention. In our view, the wardrobe is the ideal place to start. For anyone ready for change this year, here are 5 ways to sharpen one’s style in 2024.
1. Impulse shopping: the first habit to break
Impulse purchases, driven by emotion, are best avoided. Black Friday was a spree, Christmas emptied the card, and the January sales will make heads spin. Discounts should not be chased for their own sake. Does it fit? Does it truly appeal? An unwritten rule says that an item worth paying full price for is genuinely the right one. If not, there is no need to take the plunge. Another unwritten rule is the 24-hour test. If the desire survives 24 hours, it has outgrown the “impulse” stage.
2. Quality: the investment that lowers the cost per wear
Off-the-peg suits are best forgotten. They are made industrially, from predefined patterns. Without major alterations, such a suit will most likely hang like a sack. Quality is the better investment. It may cost a little more, but the cost per wear will be lower. What is more, measure, motif and material are in the client’s hands. The aim is a finished garment that represents its owner 100%. A suit made to measure becomes an investment, not a purchase. Otherwise: buy cheap, buy twice. Penny wise, pound foolish.
3. The capsule wardrobe: maximum efficiency for a decent investment
A capsule wardrobe is a set of essential clothes, limited in number but versatile in colour, that combine easily into a large number of distinct outfits. The concept was born in the 1970s and favours quality over quantity. Its aim is to offer a wide range of combinations for any occasion, without overloading the wardrobe. For those who want to get there, the capsule wardrobe is the tool for maximum efficiency at a decent outlay.
4. The tailor: an unfairly neglected resource
A quality suit may already hang in the wardrobe, but one thing is worth remembering: the body does not stay the same. It changes over time. That is why it pays to befriend a tailor who is always ready to adjust the waist of a jacket or the seat of a pair of trousers. A tailor is more than a craftsman, too. He is an excellent source of information. For the best dry cleaner in town or a quick trick to banish creases, the tailor is the first man to ask. For those who have neglected their tailor until now, 2024 is the year to get on closer terms.
5. A splash of colour: the simplest step towards a style of one’s own
Many men choose to play it safe, for fear of a misstep. Yet a small splash of colour pleasingly reveals a man’s mood and his playful side. A bold tie, a playful scarf or a pair of coloured socks are enough to step cautiously out of the comfort zone. In 2024, our main exhortation comes down to a single word: experiment.
These, then, are 5 simple but sure ways to sharpen one’s style in 2024. The drive to grow and an openness to the new round out a man’s style almost without his noticing. They lay a solid brick in the edifice of his urban personality.
