S/O Wardrobe essentials -for men

[LAS in LA]

I feel like I ought to help DH more with clothes-buying, since he would rather (insert unpleasant task here) than shop for clothes. But I'm a bit clueless about menswear. What do you think are the basics for a mid-30s professor-at-a-small-college? His job doesn't require a lot of formality, just enough to put appropriate distance between himself and the students. Ties are not required (though I'm campaigning hard for bowties). And, sorry ladies, kilts are out. :D Thanks for your thoughts!

[Audrey]

I feel like I ought to help DH more with clothes-buying, since he would rather (insert unpleasant task here) than shop for clothes. But I'm a bit clueless about menswear. What do you think are the basics for a mid-30s professor-at-a-small-college? His job doesn't require a lot of formality, just enough to put appropriate distance between himself and the students. Ties are not required (though I'm campaigning hard for bowties). And, sorry ladies, kilts are out. :D Thanks for your thoughts!

 

 

 

You cannot go wrong with blazers on men. Make sure it fits well. Most menswear places will do minor alterations for a small fee. Definitely do it. It makes the difference between a polished looking prof and a guy in a sloppy bag.

 

Once you've got a few good blazers, the rest is easy. Jeans, khakis and dress pants all look good, but they need to fit well and NO PLEATED FRONT PANTS.

 

Button-down shirts are classic and they come in a variety of colours and fabrics. You can pair any kind of pant with a simple tee as long as the tee suits the pants. You need a crisper, more form fitting tee if you've got dressier pants on the bottom. You can get away with a softer tee with jeans. You can even wear a vintage concert tee and jeans with a blazer and make it look good, as long as you've got the attitude to pull it off.

 

Things to avoid:

Anything argyle (unless they're socks). Argyle is extremely aging.

Pleated front pants. Personally, I think all pleated front pants -- for men and women -- should be burned.

Poorly fitting or worn out jeans or pants.

Sweaters that zip. Both full zip and half-zip sweaters are aging.

Cardigans. I know this was a recent trend, but you have to be really young (think >25) to pull off a cardigan without looking like you're a retirement home resident.

Double-breasted coats & blazers -- unless you are taller than average and are truly slim. Double-breasted makes everyone else look wide.

[Starr]

Shoes, how do you get dh's to wear different shoes than 20 years ago?

[Cinder]

I don't know, but I got a bit of a giggle out of recalling how some of my college profs dressed. Typical attire seemed to be corduroy pants and plaid blazers with elbow patches. :D

 

Hmm, my profs mostly wore plain slacks with button-down shirts--plaid, solid--and maybe a sportcoat. I did go to an engineering school, though, so maybe that had something to do with it. I had one prof who wore mostly leather and jeans--he usually rode his motorcycle to school.

[LAS in LA]

Thanks Audrey et al! Yep, pleated pants are definitely off the list!! I always loved the turtleneck-and-blazer look of one of my professors.

 

Shoes: You might have to give up. Some guys are really attached to their shoes. My dad was very proud of the fact that some of his shoes at retirement (2009) were ones he'd bought in the early '70's. He took really good care of them!

[Catwoman]

(though I'm campaigning hard for bowties).

 

So basically you're telling us that you want him to look so geeky that none of the cute female students will ever look twice at him? ;)

 

Works for me! :D

 

I think it was Garry Shandling who used to do a routine several years ago about men's clothing. He said that all menswear should come with an expiration date stamped on the label, so guys would know when it was time to get rid of it.

 

I'm fortunate that my dh dresses very well, but some of the other guys we know need a lot of help in the wardrobe department. A few of them would be very attractive if they just said no to the pleated khakis and baggy golf shirts, but I honestly don't see that happening any time soon. (And don't even get me started on the men who wear licensed team apparel. If you are not actually a New York Giant, you have no business wearing their jersey, team jacket, and hat, particularly all at once. If you are 5 feet 6 inches tall and weigh 200 pounds, very little of which is muscle, you are fooling no one into thinking you're a member of the team. :glare:)