What So Many “Menswear Advice” Articles Get Wrong

I feel like many people who write menswear articles don’t really know men very well.

I get frustrated sometimes when I read other menswear articles. I just don’t feel like the average guy is really getting much out of them.

Most men don’t think about clothes all the time. They don’t view clothing as a hobby or even as a source of all that much enjoyment.

Clothes are just tools for most men. And that’s fine. But so many articles you see are written with the menswear enthusiast in mind, not the “regular guy”.

Most guys aren’t interested in curating a certain kind of wardrobe or putting together different outfits. Talking about “capsules” or “finding your style” just makes their eyes glaze over and makes them think “Oh my god, do I really need to put this much thought into this?”

Too often, they stumble into articles that assume men want ALL the information!

All that detail is good for creating the foundation of your knowledge. But when someone is looking for an answer to a specific question, it’s not that helpful.

And that’s what men come to the internet for… answers to specific questions.

Guys come to articles like these thinking… “Ok, I need to know about suits. Tell me about suits in a way that makes it so that I never have to read another article about suits for the rest of my life.”

They don’t want to know all the details. They don’t want to hear the ins-and-outs of everything. They don’t want a ton of choices. They already know the choices they have. They need the articles they read to distill all that information down into something they can digest and act upon.

They came to the internet to solve a problem. They don’t want to leave with even more!

That’s why I always try to write content that cuts through all the chaff. And here’s a little secret… you DON’T need all that information in order to dress well and look good.

Here is what many men want to know when they seek out clothing advice on the internet: “What do I need to know (or get) so I don’t have to think about this anymore?”

THAT’S what these menswear articles miss!

They give too much, non-specific information. Sure, some men love “20 Fall Outfit Ideas” articles, but many men don’t want to scroll through all of that wondering what will look good on them and ultimately leaving that article without any more knowledge than they came in with.

Those men don’t want “20 Fall Outfit Ideas”. They don’t want “10 Trends To Try For 2025”. They don’t want “The 10 Suits Every Man Needs”.

If they’re curious about suits, for instance, they want someone to tell them what they need to know so they don’t have to think about goddamn suits again for the rest of their lives! They want to read an article, then buy a suit, and then check that box and never think about it again. The “suit” problem has been solved and they can put it behind them.

So, what would I tell a man if he said to me, “Tell me only the imperative information about suits. The elevator pitch. Once you’re done, I don’t want to ever have to think about suits again.”

I would say… “Ok… single-breasted, notch-lapel, 2-piece, navy suit. Middle-of-the-road proportions… it should be comfortable. Medium-rise on trousers. A little break at the hem. Wear black shoes and a black belt (or suspenders). Navy or black socks. Wear a white, spread-collar, barrel-cuff shirt, a navy grenadine tie (and make a little dimple when you tie it in a four-in-hand knot), and a white, linen pocket square.”

Once a man has that information, he technically doesn’t need any other “suit” information at all, ever again, unless he wants it. Equipped with only that info, he will always look good in a suit and the little details like the dimple in his tie knot and the white, linen pocket square, will ensure he looks like he knows what he’s doing instead of looking like he’s clueless and was coerced into wearing a suit, which is never an attractive look.

Are there levels of detail beyond what I’ve just given? Of course. But that’s information he can gather down the line. He doesn’t need that at this juncture in order to look good and be “well dressed”.

Now that we’ve done suits, what about other categories like, say, sport coats?

Well, without getting into semantics, you only need two non-suit jackets: a navy blazer and a grey, herringbone tweed. You can wear them with or without a tie and they’ll be what you wear whenever you need to look nice but a suit would be too much, like a dinner out with your in-laws.

How about shirts? Outside of t-shirts, an oxford-cloth button-down shirt in light blue and a white, spread-collar, poplin shirt will get you through most of life. Wear the OCBD with your odd jackets and the poplin with your suit.

Shoes? Like I stated earlier, wear black shoes with your suit. For everything else, get a pair of brown, leather boots that aren’t so sleek that you can’t wear them with jeans. Shine them up and wear them with your odd jackets.

Pants – You already own jeans. Get a pair of khakis for when you aren’t wearing your jeans or your suit.

See what I’m doing here? I’m trying to proactively answer what many men come to the internet for. They want simple, straightforward solutions so they don’t have to think about this stuff anymore. They might be thinking, “Hmm.. I already have jeans, but my wife wants me to look nice. What other kind of pants should I own?” Including information about grey flannels and a myriad of other options would only cause more confusion.

Many men don’t want an ever-evolving standard for what’s considered “dressing well”. They’ve heard about it before and may be curious what it entails. But they don’t want to be hit with “well, the styles of the early 60s that you see on Mad Men are actually quite different than what many consider the apex of classic menswear which began in the 1930s…”

Blah, blah, blah.

Do I find all that information interesting? Yes! Do I feel that a deep level of historical knowledge strengthens my overall understanding and enjoyment of menswear? Yes!

Am I like most other guys when it comes to clothing? No!

One of the challenges of creating content for this site and one of the reasons I find it so much fun is because I always try to see through the loads of other content on the internet and offer something else. Something that would have actually helped me when I was starting out on my sartorial journey.

As a man, what would I have wanted to see at that point?

Well, I know that for a good stretch of time I was constantly Googling very specific questions about menswear. I would see an item in a store or in a catalog and wonder how it would be styled or if wearing it was some sort of style faux pas that I was unaware of.

Unfortunately, though, I needed to wade through a ton of extraneous information in order to eventually find what I was looking for.

But once I found my answer, I could put it to bed! It was done. I could check it off the list.

When I write articles like my take on black tie, or how to dress for an interview, or the things women want to see you wearing, I’m not going to rehash all the advice that’s already been done a million times. I want to pare things down to the absolute essentials so that you, the reader, feel like you’ve consumed something worthwhile that will ultimately help you feel good in the clothes you wear.

So, when you’re scouring the internet for answers to your menswear questions, don’t feel deflated if you feel like many of the articles out there aren’t really speaking your language. Most of them aren’t. But we’ve all felt that way.

Don’t fret. It takes time to find the answers you need and that’s why I am always here to help!