I hope you fellow fashion mavens took your nose out of the Pattern mag long enough to notice the article recently published by the Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis ranked 10th worst-dressed city in the nation. It shouldn’t be a surprise that Indy ranked low on the list, but 10th is a bit dramatic and not accurate. It was also a little odd that the story focused on men’s fashion, but I’m not gonna lie, I was happy to see some men’s fashion centered writing in the Star. Progress! Well, kind of.
Barely did I get through the article when I got some tweets and emails asking for thoughts about it. I wished that I’d prepared a State of The Union Rebuttal: Fashion edition! While, I’m not going to argue with the opinion of another stylist (generally speaking, his 4 “well-dressed” picks were, in fact, dressed well), I do have a few thoughts:
One thing I know about stylists, (because I used to be one), is that they often favor a specific look or style of dressing. As the Star article noted, Mr. Spaly, was especially impressed with those men whose clothing closely resembled his own style. All that to say, you don’t need to run out and buy some fancy tapered dress pants and shirts to claim the “well-dressed” title!
That said, Indy men, you aren’t getting off that easy. Personally, I think that most of you are very capable of upping your style game, but suspect that you’re so used to no one paying attention, that you’ve gotten a bit lazy. Well guess what? More and more people ARE paying attention. Indy has been in the national news a lot in the past 12 months or so. The game is changing!
- Think a little bit outside the box. Get beyond the boring basics. Discover your own personal style, by experimenting. A new watch. A fresh pair of shoes. A different cut and wash of jeans. A pop of color. It doesn’t need to be anything drastic, just a little something to show that you care!
- Wear clothing that fits you. Yes you, guy at the office who has the too-baggy dress shirt on. Your suiting should be tailored for you, don’t just buy off rack and wear. Also, if you have a potbelly and think buying a moo-shirt is going to hide your gut, you’re wrong. All that fabric is making you look even more heavy.
- Quit playing the “I am not a fashion guy” card, and take pride in your appearance. Not saying you should spend hours in front of the mirror preening, but do take a long minute to consider your appearance before you head out that door. There are perks to being a well dressed man, maybe it’s time you claim them?
- It is not about the label. Don’t think that just because you can’t afford or don’t have access to designer clothing, that you should give up. There are great fashion pieces at all price points these days.
I know that men in Indianapolis are way more fashionable than the lame ranking given us. Help the Indianapolis Star get some positive proof by Instagraming, tweeting and Facebooking photos of you and your stylish friends and tagging them with #indydresseswell.
