It's back to school, and we have a little surprise for you.
A lot of you have been on the forum asking us for new articles on our coaching, dissected and scrutinized: well we are going to publish some again .
It wasn't easy to take decent photos in winter (it was dark at 5 p.m., and we wanted to maintain good image quality). But the makeover season which took place in July was hyper-active for us (we almost did that ), so we came back with beautiful photos of the outfits .
Vincent's makeover
Vincent works in finance in Paris. He is in his early thirties, is comfortable in his sneakers, naturally curious, and he is a great lover of good wine (this also allowed me to learn a lot of things during this day!).
At the origin of its arrival, there is not strictly speaking a “problem”, but a desire . We receive more and more people like Vincent who have mastered the basics of style by following our advice, but want to go further. This is what I call “ getting out of the jeans/polo ”.
Our friend started putting together a few basics that were acceptable and usually the right size. Here are a few :
Click on the image for enlargement.
Vincent, as a good financier, calls this his “safe haven assets” . I find the word well chosen: here we have the panoply of the man who makes efforts to improve his style, but does not really know where to go, and ends up with the typical brands for each piece: those who invest heavily in advertising so we can talk about them: jeans = Diesel, polo shirt = Abercrombie or Vicomte Arthur, and sneakers = Converse, of course (and two pairs please!).
Most people are this way, and it's completely understandable given the number of brands and the conflicting messages about what they're really worth.
Fortunately, Vincent's professional wardrobe is nicer, including these pretty pairs of shoes from Weston (another safe haven, but this time stylish and durable):
Being satisfied with safe havens is not a problem if your objective is limited to putting together a socially acceptable wardrobe in a minimum of time (as Paul said in the last article on men's style ) even if you lose out on the reports. price quality.
But it becomes one if you aspire to something different, something that subtly makes you stand out from the crowd , while remaining true to yourself (we don't like disguises).
So with Vincent, we started by defining the challenge of this coaching:
- get out of automatic purchases with a little risk-taking and especially more quality brands (which absolutely does not mean " more expensive ").
- set the bar higher for jeans, polo shirts, sneakers : to discover more interesting brands than those that come to mind when you think of these two items.
The obstacles that prevent your style from developing
The main blockage here is the fear of making mistakes once you step outside of what you know. This is something that is rarely covered on the site, but know that you can:
- have a good aesthetic sense,
- be curious about fashion,
- have a budget for a few nice pieces,
- ...without making any progress.
Because think about your latest clothing risk. If you haven't tried anything different in the last 6 months (piece from a different universe, or with a cut, a detail, or even an original material), then you are concerned.
How to “take controlled risks”?
It is completely normal to make mistakes at the beginning : they are the carpenter's sawdust, they are the sculptor's stone debris, in short, your errors are the by-product of your progress. Can we imagine that the carpenter or the sculptor stops learning for fear of making a bad blow with the chisel? Surely not !
I remember 5 years ago a failed look, full purple (yeah yeah), on my last day of internship at a company. When I realized my mistake, it was too late and I had to say goodbye to everyone like a doubly sad purple power rangers. But that didn't stop me from continuing to progress (with a few other little Fails to boot: it always hits you one day or another, so you might as well face them with a smile).
The whole point of our work is to help you progress with as little damage as possible (of course, in a makeover there is no damage, that's why we're here). Stay vigilant, tackle styles within your reach, but keep moving forward. Here are some tips that I regularly give to my clients:
- " Try on the pieces even when they don't inspire anything on the hanger. Sometimes we have good surprises."
- “Try new things on inexpensive pieces: accessories and the mass market are very good for that.”
- "Or twist pieces you already have: rolled up sleeves, hems, different assemblies..."
- “Observe people on the street and the fashion pages of magazines, and ask yourself why this or that look works (or doesn’t).”
- "Don't try to have a look that's too sober or too serious. And have fun. A look without rough edges and without a smile looks like a serial killer."
Vincent's makeover
The coaching setting and the opportunity of the sales were ideal for experiencing new things. Benoit had given me the tip about the Aviatic leather jackets, a very nice strong piece that I was going to integrate with the reinforcement of basics . The leather collar can be worn in many different ways because it is quite rigid and waxed, which gives the material "a memory". Very practical and stylish when the collar is raised (very useful for bad weather too).
Note: CLICK on the photos to enlarge them. You will be able to see the materials better!
A very simple first outfit , with semi-slim raw jeans from Unbranded Brand (the entry-level brand from Naked & Famous ). To tie the two together, a heather gray Denham t-shirt.
Heather gray is very useful for linking pieces together. In addition, it allows you to flesh out an outfit that would be too composed of flat areas of color and not enough textured materials.
As for the glasses, they are Vincent's Ray Ban Aviators, and they suit him very well.
Finally, a pair of National Standards . Notice that I chose them in a light color, in order to break up the slightly too dark uniformity of the outfit. And notice that this allows you to better define the silhouette by “framing” it with two light areas:
Material details:
Note that the lacing can be improved for more casual wear.
And we also took Timberlands with vibram soles. It's comfortable and it allows Vincent to move towards more adventurous styles, without the risk of mixing the pieces badly (gray color and sober design: it's a no fail ).
Another way to wear the leather jacket: with chambray (the type of denim shirt) and a certain slub cotton t-shirt, I don't really know the brand anymore... 😉
The leather of the jacket is still a little rough but it will relax to fit the silhouette.
As usual for layering clothing ,
we start from the lightest to the darkest, from the softest to the rawest.
Quite a funny anecdote: the American Apparel chambray shirt is actually a size... XXS (while Vincent wears an M). And it remains a bit loose. All this to tell you to never rely on size labels and to always remain vigilant when trying on clothes.
Note that the back is clean, and that the shoulder seams arrive right at the shoulder break. This is important with leather which, like jeans, always relaxes a little:
The coated/waxed material of the leather gives a very nice effect which contrasts with
the rather precious leather pieces in dipped lambskin that we usually come across.
I also wanted to show Vincent more high-end polo shirts than the classic Fred Perry / Abercrombie / Vicomte Arthur that everyone wears, while staying at exactly the same price with for example this Paolo Pecora polo shirt (available at the store Renhsen):
Perfect cut, ultra-soft material and clearly more beautiful than a petit piqué jersey (the usual material for polo shirts) which is not always quality enough, and a ton of small discreet details (edging, slightly narrow collar, shiny grosgrain band which contrasts with the rest of the polo shirt...).
And we finished with a few other pieces, like this pretty Melinda Gloss shirt (I was able to reserve it and we got it at a knockdown price) which quickly adds color to a look:
In terms of before and after, here is the result (even if I would like to remind you that coaching is certainly a fun day of shopping, but above all listening, advice and follow-up to progress over time ).
Click on the image for enlargement.
Thanks to Vincent for taking part in the photo game, this article is thanks to him :)
