Fashion. For some people, just hearing the word fashion brings about memories of a runway filled to the brim with strange and wondrous outfits. For others, they might let out a wistful sigh as they recall the times they tried their best to stay fashion forward — only to fall short due to the world of fashion consistently leaving the average individual in the dust. Others still might scoff at the notion of trying to keep up with something so strange and unorthodox (and expensive) as the outfits shown on the runway.

No matter how you might look at fashion, there is one constant that always seems to bring people back. The idea of personalizing a look and expressing yourself through fashion is something that everyone has experienced at some point. In this case we’re going to be talking about what that means in the world of men’s fashion, where being practical and versatile is often more desirable than trying to stand out and make your mark.

What Makes Men’s Fashion Different?

Many people are already probably aware of this, but men and women’s fashion could not be any more different if they tried. Both have differing principles, based on the general wants and desires of guys and gals. Of course, if there’s one thing similar about them it would be the strangeness of the runway, but that’ll always be a product of (often extreme) creativity, and it would be a shame to stifle it for the name of practicality.

That said, men’s fashion has always been known to be extremely approachable. Even those who might not necessarily be fond of the fashion industry will still find much to like about men’s fashion, as there are plenty of great and versatile ideas that can be used in everyday life. For example, guys have always had a thing for knitwear even if they might not necessarily admit it. Part of the reason is that most guys tend to be sentimental when it comes to gifts — specifically the ones that come from the kindly old grandmother variety. Considering how many grandmothers love to knit things for their grandchildren, it’s only natural that guys would have an affinity for knitwear.

Eventually, it culminated into the knitwear fashion trend, where people started wearing fashionable pieces with knitwear designs. While there was a time when it wasn’t a good idea to focus too much on such pieces due to how difficult they were to clean, modern methods have made it easier to enjoy the fashion trend without necessarily having to put too much time into cleaning. The point is that men’s fashion can be sentimental, but it can also be versatile and practical. In a way, men’s fashion takes seemingly unpractical things and molds them into something else entirely.

Understanding the Symbol of Men’s Fashion

It can actually be quite difficult to think about the symbol of women’s fashion due to how much it branched out into so many layers. In a lot of ways, the symbol of women’s fashion is how it still somehow finds unity despite the incredible variety of clothing choices. When it comes to men’s fashion, however, the symbol is much more straightforward. No matter how men’s fashion trends might change over the years and create various different genres in the fashion world, there will always be a single outfit that encapsulates what it is like to enjoy men’s fashion.

The suit is something so iconic that even the name is similarly classic and unforgettable. After all, a suit can mean a lot of things, yet when you say it alone, it immediately reverts to the default classic two-piece suit — either that or a James Bond movie. Either way, when someone says “The Suit,” people are immediately aware of what it is.

That said, what makes the suit great? Why is it considered the symbol of men’s fashion? How can a suit sometimes look so stuffy, yet so comfortable at the same time? These are all important questions to ask (especially the last one), and we’re going to figure out the many ways in which a suit manages to be more than the sum of its parts.

How the Suit Manages to Symbolize Men’s Fashion

While there are many other outfit choices that jive with the principles of men’s fashion, the suit still stands at the pinnacle. For those asking the question why, here’s a list of reasons why the suit still remains at the top no matter the scenario. While not everyone might agree, enough of a majority tend to agree that the argument of the suit stands despite everything.

• The suit is formal, until it isn’t. One of the things about the suit that people tend to feel is that it can be much too stuffy and formal to use on regular occasions. It is more something that people will use when they want to make a real impact, and would likely make even more of an impact if used rarely rather than occasionally. While the last bit is probably true, try to picture in your mind’s eye a person wearing a tasteful and well-tailored suit. It’s great, right? Probably still too formal, though. Let’s have the person remove his jacket and tie, and then roll up the sleeves. Now, imagine a clone of the person wearing the full suit pop up beside him. Suddenly, the person without the jacket is feeling far less formal, right? That’s the magic of the suit. It can be a lot of things — it is all a matter of perspective.
• You are often treated better wearing a suit. It might seem like a strange notion to have people immediately treat a person better just because they’re wearing a suit, but the amazing thing is that it happens. In a lot of ways, it represents the potential of a sharp fashion sense. Even if you were to wear a well-tailored suit to the average restaurant or fast-food joint to order some takeout, people will immediately respond better to a person wearing a suit. They might be thinking that the individual must be an important person to be wearing a suit to a fast-food place. Funny enough, the idea that the person could be important typically overrides the idea that the individual is simply strange for wearing such formal attire to such a casual establishment. It’s just something that happens for people that wear a suit — they tend to command respect more often than not.
• The suit can be worn in various designs. While it’s understandable for the first thing to come to mind when thinking of the suit to be the classic two-piece getup, there are plenty of different ways to wear a suit. For example, are the knitwear pieces mentioned earlier and how they continue to make their mark on men’s fashion. A person could straight up wear a knitwear jacket or perhaps a knitwear tie and have it as his fashion statement rather than a strange clothing choice. You could even wear a sweater over the dress shirt and tie instead of a blazer and have it look great.
• The addition of certain pieces can change the look entirely. While removing the jacket and rolling up the sleeves helps make a person feel more casual wearing a suit, doing the same thing while also wearing a vest gives off a different vibe entirely. It somehow retains the class of wearing the jacket, while still being just as approachable as the suit without a jacket or a vest.
• It’s surprisingly cheap! Last but certainly not least, compared to many of the bloated price tags for most branded fashion pieces, even a well-tailored suit is still generally cheap!

In the list above, we learned that a suit is not only viable in many situations, but it’s absolutely recommended if you want to make an impact. As a matter of fact, going for a well-tailored suit is typically one of the best possible choices a guy can make in terms of fashion. Not only will he have something to wow the people around him, but it immediately makes him seem that much more professional — which will undoubtedly help in situations such as a job interview. There are reasons why the suit is the pinnacle of men’s fashion, and why it represents everything excellent about men’s fashion.

So, How Do You Take Advantage of That Knowledge?

The reason why we were even talking about the suit in the first place is that it shows all of the potential the suit has in a variety of situations, and that it clearly represents the best that the suit can be. Granted, would the suit be the ideal thing to wear when visiting a friend’s house? Probably not. However, you can make it work if you want to by just removing the jacket and all the other things that can make it approachable.

In the same vein, men’s fashion can be practical enough that your personal preference is the most important part. Many of the pieces work no matter the situation due to its versatility, allowing individuals to express themselves without having to worry about looking too gaudy or tactless. The best part about learning to express yourself with clothing is that you get to try the things you want, look yourself in the mirror, and see for yourself whether you want to keep the look or try something else.

If You’re Not Too Confident About Your Opinions on Fashion…

The one thing to keep in mind compared to just about everything else is that your opinion matters the most when it comes to fashion. Granted, it can be challenging to have a high opinion when you constantly see examples of seemingly perfect fashion choices online and it just doesn’t jive with you. The trouble with that is it can make you feel like your opinions don’t matter as much, when it’s actually the most crucial piece of the puzzle.

Keep in mind that when it comes to wearing anything (even a garbage bag), confidence counts for a lot. It’s similar to that saying about success, where 80% of being successful is just about showing up and 20% comes from everything else. In the case of fashion, 80% of catching eyes and building a respectable outfit is confidence, and 20% is the actual outfit. It might seem like a somewhat odd notion, but it’s true.

Finding Your Personal Expression

Without a doubt, you’ll have to research plenty of outfits if you intend to find one that you think suits you best. While personal preference displays a roadmap on how to move forward, the rest still depends on how you feel. Fortunately, there are some fashion don’ts that typically everyone agrees with, such as the almost-blending hues. For example, when it comes to wearing a suit or any other classy outfit, it’s natural to have most of the colors be the same. However, if the dress shoes and the rest of the suit are just close enough in color but not entirely the same, it can look somewhat sloppy. Most people tend to feel like that kind of outfit isn’t such a good idea anyway, so following your gut is a decent way of finding your voice.

As stated above, the most crucial part would be finding confidence in what you wear. There’s little reason to worry about what other people think — do you think fashion gurus do that? There are some outfits that almost resemble a garbage bag, and yet people will still go out of their way to buy it because it’s somehow trendy. It’s not so weird as it is an example of how confidence can push a look forward

There’s no reason to worry about what you’re wearing, but instead try to figure out how a certain look makes you feel. Whether it has to do with the outfit, the type of watch, the shoes, the belt, or anything else you might want to add. The advantage of men’s fashion is that it’s (typically) welcoming enough that you can wear what you like!