Reddit Reddit reviews Esquire The Handbook of Style: A Man's Guide to Looking Good

We found 16 Reddit comments about Esquire The Handbook of Style: A Man's Guide to Looking Good. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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Esquire The Handbook of Style: A Man's Guide to Looking Good
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16 Reddit comments about Esquire The Handbook of Style: A Man's Guide to Looking Good:

u/jascination · 28 pointsr/IAmA

No problem mate, glad you're enjoying it.

Books I could recommend: Esquire released a great book called The Handbook of Style that I think offers some really solid advice. Alan Flusser's "Dressing the Man" is a great resource if you're interested in suits/dressing with a more refined, classier style.

Otherwise, fashion forms and blogs are a great resource as well. Lookbook.nu is good for street and casual fashion, The Sartorialist is great for inspiration on suiting. I also really like Street Etiquette as well.

u/crush_snort_red_pill · 28 pointsr/TheRedPill

Esquire has an excellent handbook on this. I've kept it in my closet for years. Everything from how to fold a shirt for travel to what to have in your closet at different income levels.

Be a classic man.

https://www.amazon.com/Esquire-Handbook-Style-Guide-Looking/dp/1588167461

Edit: one more thing

Get your shirts custom made. There are many affordable tailors online. Make a list of the measurements they want. Go to a tailor and ask to be measured. Tip the guy $5. Go home and place your order. I buy from tailorstore.com but there are plenty others.

If you’ve never worn a custom cut shirt you don’t know what you’re missing. You look more fit and handsome in a shirt that fits you perfectly. My black custom fit shirts are lady killers. I’m the only man in my office whose white dress shirts actually fit right. Women notice. Believe me they notice.

u/MKLV · 7 pointsr/malefashionadvice

I am ~6'3" and 240 pounds so I think we should be the exact same size.

I was always told that it did not matter how big you were, you should always buy clothes that fit you. Well fitting clothing will accentuate the favorable parts of your body while having a slimming effect on those not so favorable. This is really the main idea, the rest will be detail and personal experience describing how to know when clothes fit right and what to look for while shopping.


Pants:
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As a taller person you can wear pants with a cuff at the bottom and vertical stripes. The stripes will elongate your legs making them look thinner and longer but the cuff will break up the line of your pant your legs and make look not look like giant.

Make sure that you get pants that fit in the waist. This is THE most important thing. Here is where I come to a little bit of an injunction. I know that the belt line of my pants should be resting on my hips, about an inch or two below my navel, but due to my gut I cannot realistically put pants there without them looking ridiculous. So I do what I can and put them right under my beer gut. This is where I measure my waist, as I continue to lose weight it will probably change. There should be absolutely no lines anywhere around your waist. This is important. This is make or break for pants. Next if there are no creases or lines, move to the pockets. They should not be folding up on themselves, sticking out, or have any pressure on them. If the pocket opening a little bit that is fine, but no more than 3/4".

The length of the pants was something I did not understand until recently. The pants should "break" or crease 1/3 of the way up your shin. Just one fold. A good point to remember here is that when you are walking, people should not see your socks. I have found that trying to implement both of these ideas turns into baggy pants. So I tend to go a bit shorter (if the next size is too short you can hem the pants) especially in the summer. That has been my personal experience, but I would trust these sources over what I just said.

As a side note, I like to avoid pleats, they have never worked for me but somehow I have about 6 pairs. They are a bit more comfortable to me but they look awful on my body and I never wear them (Remember, you wont wear something that doesn't fit or you dont like). Try some out though, you might be the perfect fit for them.

I have had good luck with Dockers pants recently, so give those a shot.


Shirts
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Shirts are a little bit easier as I find its not as hard to hide your fitting mistakes. Goto a shop and try on about 8-9 shirts and get your size down and memorize it. This will help immensely. The first thing to check for in shirt fitting is the collar size. If I cant wear a shirt with a tie, I won't buy it. When you have the top button buttoned you should be able to get two fingers in between the shirt and your neck. If you strangle yourself getting them in there, it's too small. You should have to wiggle your fingers just a tiny bit to get em there, nothing more.

The shoulder seem should fall right where your arm rolls off. This is a bit tough to understand, but you'll know it when you find it. If you have trouble, refer to the links above. The cuff of the shirt should come down to the beginning of your palm. I shoot for it to hit the base of my first thumb bone or the last skin crease of my wrist.

For a bigger guy I think the length of the shirt is not terribly important for guys our size as long as you can tuck it in securely and it not come out if you happen to stop sucking your tummy in. Though, the fit around the stomach is a bit harder to get right. You don't want much fabric here because when you tuck your shirt in you have to find a place to put it. Just a few spare inches is all you need here. 2-4 inches will do. You wont pop a button, you cant use it as a tent, just right. I highly recommend the "military tuck". Its a nice way to cheat a shirt to do what you want because you probably wont be able to find a shirt that fits you perfectly in all the previous areas, so if you have to forsake one, forsake this one.


Jackets

Use them to cover up any mistake but don't rely on them. They can help to make you look more lean. A good suit jacket will to wonders, sometimes miracles. Use one to cover up that military tuck.




In closing (I'm getting tired haha)

  1. Shop for your size.

    a. Dont fool yourself into buying smaller clothing, you wont wear it.

    b. Shop at thrifts stores, you size isn't hard to find there.

    c. ^ This also makes it easier to throw out clothes don't fit.



  2. There are tricks, but don't over use them.


  3. Every brand will fit and fall differently on you. Try a lot of them.


  4. I recommend this book They have some good stuff for people our size.


  5. Lose weight.


  6. Nothing will fit perfectly unless you get it tailored or you lose weight.
u/[deleted] · 7 pointsr/malefashionadvice

I just have Esquire's Handbook of Style. It's quaint and gives the fundamentals of men's style. I didn't care for the constant criticism and witty remarks for anything that violated their supposed mandate of fashi...actually you guys might like it.

u/runningraleigh · 3 pointsr/malefashionadvice

Esquire tends to have better fashion advice than GQ, IMHO. Esquire is more classic.

Here are their online tips: http://www.esquire.com/style/tips/

Here is their book: http://www.amazon.com/Esquire-Handbook-Style-Guide-Looking/dp/1588167461/ref=pd_sim_b_12

u/ibleedblu7 · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

My list:




u/philipcristiano · 2 pointsr/AskReddit

It's worth picking up Eqsuire's book. http://www.amazon.com/Esquire-Handbook-Style-Guide-Looking/dp/1588167461

You'll save more then $10 when you learn to purchase good clothing that actually fits.

u/EtherMadness · 2 pointsr/LifeProTips

One thing that's left off of the graphic (but is shown in the image) is to have a jacket taper just above the waist. That will make it look like you're actually wearing a nice suit and not a suit shaped bag.

Also, sometimes esquire has a lot of stupid/laughable/idiotic male fashion advice, but this book has most of the essential info re: suits and how they should fit and more.

u/BeRiemann · 2 pointsr/malefashionadvice

If you have a little money lying about, you should pick up The Handbook of Style

I'm not sure if MFA likes this book or not, but it has a lot of useful information and one section specifically dedicated to starting a new wardrobe on different budgets. It helped me when I finally decided to stop wearing only black shirts and jeans and instead have at least a modicum of sartorial taste.

u/joshw220 · 2 pointsr/BreakUps

Here are some fashion references that I used and helped. It was also the style bible not fashion bible. lol

http://www.amazon.com/AskMen-com-Presents-The-Style-Bible/dp/0061208507/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1372205417&sr=8-3&keywords=details+men%27s+style+manual

http://www.amazon.com/Details-Mens-Style-Manual-Ultimate/dp/159240328X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372205417&sr=8-1&keywords=details+men%27s+style+manual

http://www.amazon.com/Esquire-The-Handbook-Style-Looking/dp/1588167461/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1372205417&sr=8-2&keywords=details+men%27s+style+manual

Dealing with conflict and having long relationships was something I had to build over time, and most of that will come with just working toward being the ultimate man woman desire. Having confidence, good direction in your life, lots of friends, good hobbies, good manners, being gentleman, having boundaries and standards. Don't be insecure or clingy. I didn't just read one or two books I read about 40 and at one point it became an obsession to be this ideal man woman desire.

u/thevigg13 · 1 pointr/AskReddit

Alright some fun facts for you.

  1. Read this book: Esquire: The Handbook of Style (http://www.amazon.com/Esquire-The-Handbook-Style-Looking/dp/1588167461/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1335560463&sr=1-1)

    This addresses questions you have regarding dressing (and yes, wear a different shirt, undies, and socks daily), shaving, and such.

  2. Do not shave your chest unless you like the way that looks, beware it will be itchy

    Good luck.
u/thebestwes · 1 pointr/malefashionadvice

My dad is a graphic designer who does freelance work, and in his business first impressions count. A few years back he realized that he was dressing like a slob, and decided to shape up. When I decided that I was going into the art field as well, he gave me this book and took me shopping for a few essentials. Before that point I always thought fashion was either runway models looking like something out of Zoolander or t-shirts with jokes on them. There's something great about a "trade secret" being passed down from father to son, but even more than that dressing well gave me confidence that I had been lacking (I had a lot of social anxiety and body image issues, despite being skinny and relatively athletic). When my girlfriend first told her mom about me, one of the things she mentioned was that I really "got" clothing, and it felt really good to know that I had succeeded to that extent, having looked like this just a year earlier (for comparison, here and here are me more recently. excuse the dumb expression in the last picture; it was from a not-so-serious photo with a cousin at thanksgiving).

u/Tradman · 1 pointr/seduction

a good book for mens clothes is
The Handbook of Style from Esquire

Its cheap, comprehensive, and easier than educating yourself by reading random articles on a subreddit or a forum.

u/curtains · 1 pointr/malefashionadvice

How much money do you have to spend on clothes right now? Take that money and spend half of it on a good, comfortable, nice-looking pair of shoes. If you don't have hundreds of dollars, go to a second-hand store or a vintage clothing store or something, but try to buy new shoes. You can buy cheap stuff for every other article of clothing if you like, but don't skimp on the shoes; they are the most important aspect of your wardrobe. A pair of black oxfords would be versatile.

Next, get a button-down shirt (or some shirts) which fit you well in the shoulders and waist. You want your shirt to fit like a second skin. Try to find something that is long enough that you can bring the front and back together at the crotch (more or less). Check the shirt(s) for mother-of-pearl buttons, good stitching, and, if patterned, check to see if the pattern lines up from shoulder to arm. Look up the word "gusset" and try to get shirts with gussets. These are some general marks of a quality shirt. You don't need all these things, but they are signs of quality.

Trousers: make sure they look good in the butt. No frumpy ass for you; no pucker either. Length: around the ankles...no flood, no bunch up at the bottom. Try to get something simple; some nice denim goes well with a dress shirt, a blazer or sport coat and a tie.

Check out the following books:

Dressing the Man

Gentleman: A Timeless Guide to Fashion

Esquire Handbook of Style

The Affected Provincial's Companion--this one is about fashion to an extent, but it transcends it and puts it into a decorum and lifestyle aspect. In fact, also check out Glen O'Brien's new book, How to be a Man if you're interested in a more lifestyle-oriented reason to look nice.

I honestly think the last two books would be a good start for you. Due to your description of yourself, I'd maybe start with How to be a Man. The first few paragraphs are shit, but it gets really good, especially by the time it gets to "How to be sexual". It seems like you need a much better reason to dress nicely than the reasons you've suggested. I think this book could really help you develop a better ethos regarding style, and maybe even help you with decorum (if you need help with that).

Check out this quick video for a great introduction to O'Brien.

Good luck.

edit: clarification