Fashion Fridays: Valentine’s Two Part Special, “She Said”

I hope you joined us last week as we launched Part 1 of our “He Said”/”She Said” Valentine’s Fashion Friday special.  Well, now it’s your turn girls.

I asked and you responded.  What do wish he would or would not wear?  How would you dress your man if you got to choose?  Now I might say that just like the He Said post, She Said was more consistent on the “what not to wear” responses than on the “what you love” responses.  What a woman wishes her man would wear was all over the map and depended on the event and the type of woman.  Nonetheless, I’m going to try.

First up, The Don’ts (guys, take note):

1.  Denim on denim – it’s out.  It went out sometime around 1989.  Don’t pair denim shirts with jeans.  Which takes me to…

2.  Certain jeans – women like their men in jeans, but not SOME jeans.  These fell into several categories but the “don’t do” jeans included baggy, acid washed, too worn, dated, short, etc.  You get the gist.  Just consider buying new jeans and cleaning out your old ones fella.

3.  Ugly shoes – with all the fabulous women’s shoes out there, why are there so many ugly men’s shoes?  I actually think it’s harder to find cool shoes for men than it is to find ugly shoes.

4.  Pleated pants – now most men are still clinging to their 1990s pleated pants.  However, it really is more flattering if men wear flat front pants.  As I noted though, there were a few women that preferred the classic look of pleated pants, so it just goes to show you to talk about it.

5.  T-shirts with messages that are not actually that funny or that are gross or insensitive.  Consider ditching the message shirts.

Next up, the fun part – The Do’s:

1.  Layers/Sweaters – I think these have fallen out of favor because too many men get hot.  But if you buy in lighter weight fabrics, you can accomplish the incredibly handsome look without sweltering.

While I am partial to the half zip sweater, you can do this in any number of styles or colors (one girlfriend specifically said, “MORE color”).  Also note the jeans.  One paired a great pair of charcoal jeans, and the other has a nice medium washed blue.

2.  Nicer casual – one way to immediately dress up an outfit is to throw a blazer on.  Even a button down with jeans automatically gets an upgrade when you don a sports coat.  Or swap out a pair of jeans for a pair of neutral pants and presto you look like you made more of an effort.  Finally, if you really want to make her swoon, try it all together (see this last example) – color, layers, a sweater with maybe, gasp, a tie!

(All looks but the next to last two courtesy of J. Crew. Next to last two courtesy of Nordstrom’s.)

For a few tips, regardless of where you’re headed or who you are trying to impress, check out menswear websites to get ideas.  Look at this excellent J Crew Work Trip Cheat Sheet – https://www.jcrew.com/mens_feature/CheatsheetWorkTrip_sm.jsp

Or Nordstrom’s men’s landing page has great ideas on how to wear jeans or the latest shoe on the market – http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/men?dept=8000001&origin=topnav

(And I know this sounds nuts to a guy, but um, Pinterest has some great examples if you just want to send your wife/girlfriend on a quest for a fresh look!)

Run these ideas by someone first because sometimes what appears in vogue may not work well for your body type or your work/city environment.

Ladies, your turn: What do you love or hate to see?