I have to do a post on how to tie a necktie before someone strangles himself. Every day, countless guys wake up and start their day by wrangling themselves what one of my friends refers to as “the upside-down noose” – in other words, the common necktie. Depending on your occupation or the occasion, you may find yourself with a quick and simple knot (or even… no necktie at all!), or you may find yourself hunnkering down in front of the mirror, looping and re-looping, tying and re-tying, in the name of perfecting that high formal look associated with trial lawyers.

Either way, it’s a good habit to get into. You don’t want to be one of those poor souls shamefully perusing the “clip-on tie” racks at the mall, do you? That’s what I thought. So, learn! Here’s how.

Personally, I prefer the Full Windsor knot for formal occasions… and I don’t have many other occasions to wear a tie, personally, so that’s the main one for me. Here’s a video clip from Youtube that demonstrates it really well:

If you’re still stuck, this website has everything you need to know about tying ties: http://www.tie-a-tie.net/

Not only do they have step-by-step visuals for the Windsor knot, but they have other methods for different shirts (or if you get bored with the same old knot…)

Over and out!

FH.

How to wear a blazer is one of the more drastic dilemmas of the male fashionista (yes, I know – ladies, you have it so much harder, right?). However, with a comparatively limited wardrobe and so too a limited palette of patterns and colours, the degree of style associated with a man’s suit is, its cut. How it fits you around the torso, arms, shoulders, and where it falls to on your legs will say a lot about who you are, who you aren’t, and is much more important than how much you paid for it. **Granted, if you get a suit custom-made for you, odds are it will fit you amazingly well. I am lucky to have a friend who is an amazing fashion designer, whose suits are the stuff of legend.

So, how to wear a suit… First off, the shoulders. The shoulders of the blazer should not be falling off your own shoulders, but neither should they be so tight as to inhibit your motion. This can be problematic when buying ready-to-wear … if your shoulders are in between (like mine!) and you take a 41 when you haven’t been to the gym for a month, then either bulk up, or suck it up and look funny (or, suck it up and get the suit custom made).

Arms are next. You want the sleeves of your blazer to show off just a bit of your shirt beneath. When your arms are by your sides, the blazer’s sleeves can hang up to an inch past your wrists. This way you have some leeway when you’re reaching for something.

For the torso, you want to make sure it fits you well. Make sure that there is more room in the chest than there is in the lower part of the body – this will give you the ‘V’ shape that you aspire to gain by wearing a blazer in the first place. If you’re skinny you gain a bigger appearance. If you’re pudgy, it’ll hide your belly. It can take awhile to find a cut of blazer that does this for you, so shop around and don’t stop until you’re satisfied. Or, if you’re in a hurry, get your tailor to fix it. Don’t have a tailor? Get one… If you have to wear a suit to work, you need to invest in some tailoring.

When choosing the length of your suit, it must fall below the widest part of your hips. If it doesn’t, it will look like a girl’s blazer on you. If you have a longer torso (as I do), you must find a blazer which falls right. You don’t want it to be too long, but too long is better than too short in this case. Granted, you can play with all of the proportions I’ve mentioned thus far, as they pertain to your body type, and your personal style.

Now, for different ways of wearing a blazer or a suit combo. I prefer 2-button blazers. 3-button is classic, but 2-button gives you a bigger V, and more of your shirt shows. When it is buttoned, you won’t feel as confined. As well, 2-button seems to have more room in the chest (if you have shoulders, as I do) so you can move around more easily, and not look like a robot. Most North American men wear their suits a size too big – pants, jacket, everything. The same is true of blazers: if you’re stuck between sizes, suck it up and go smaller. You will look more professional and much more well-groomed. If you are particularly fashion-forward, try getting sleeves that fall just to the wrist, with a very narrow torso and slightly shorter cut in overall length. Especially if you’re in with the skinny-jean crowd, this will look good (and in this case, 3-button works well, too).

Yeah, yeah … We’ve all heard man-bags take serious flak from ‘real men’. But if you can pull one of these off, then you have some serious mojo. Aside from being convenient (since when have you been able to carry all sorts of manly stuff around with you?!), these guy bags make you look important, useful, and stylish. If you feel that bad about carrying one, leave a mini toolkit in the bottom with a few condoms and your testosterone level will stabilize.

Anyway, I wanted to show off a few and give some recommendations. Check out this Qara Medico bag. It’s styled after a classic doctor’s bag – I love it.

[http://www.uncrate.com]

*whistles* damn. It’s worth the $500+ price tag. If one has that sort of money.

Now. HUGO BOSS. This man designs great bags. They’re practical and masculine, not to mention they have an unmistakable look to them.

[all http://www.hugoboss.com]

Another classic purveyor of man bags is Prada. [http://www.prada.com]

Their bags are always variations on a classic theme:

Now, how to wear a bag properly.

There are many ways of carrying your bag depending on the straps and its size – The idea is to make it work with your look.

For business style, I recommend finding a bag that’s sharp and not too trendy. It should make you look busy, but shouldn’t weight you down or stop you from being able to stride with prominence. Your bag should help your look say ‘HEY. I’m important. But too important to say so.’ (that’s why you have to look the part). Stick with black or brown; vinyl, leather, acrylic, and some canvas bags are all appropriate.

For a more casual style, you can play more. Use bags that are in vintage leather, canvas, sail cloth, whatever. My favourite for this year is the black leather doctor bag. 2 years ago I bought a black Puma bag that looks very slightly like a doctor bag, and I still use it to this day. However, I get a lot more use out of a messenger bag when I’m going out and need to bring something along with me.

Most guys just like a clasic messenger bag. I find those little square bags sort of ugly, to stick with one that’s rectangular and not too small [emasculating] and not too large [makes you look scrawny]. As you have seen, I tend toward bigger, plain bags. If you’re going to carry a bag, it might as well fit everything you’ll need to be carrying. I like bags with a strap but if need be, I’ll put up with handles. You just have to walk really manly while carrying it – strut, and you’ll look like a girl.

Anyway that’s all for tonight. Over and out!

FH.