What Men Wear—and What It Says About Them
Men’s fashion has changed considerably, although most men probably don’t spend much time thinking about it that way.
The changes are visible everywhere. The traditional business suit is no longer the automatic uniform of the professional man. Jeans can be worn almost anywhere. Sneakers have moved far beyond the gym. Jackets have become less rigid, trousers have become more relaxed, and the distinction between work clothes and casual clothes has become increasingly blurred.
But clothing has never been only about clothing.
What a man wears can reveal how he sees himself, how he wants other people to see him, how much attention he pays to his appearance, and sometimes how hard he is trying to convince himself that he doesn’t care about any of it.
That last point is particularly interesting.
The modern man’s wardrobe has fewer rules
There was a time when men’s clothing came with fairly straightforward instructions.
A suit was for business, church, weddings, funerals and other important occasions. Khakis were casual. Jeans were more casual still. A sport coat occupied a middle ground. Sneakers were primarily athletic shoes.
Those boundaries have largely disappeared.
A man may wear dark jeans with a sport coat, a knit shirt with tailored trousers, sneakers with a suit, or a casual jacket over clothing that would once have been considered business attire.
The result is more freedom, but freedom creates another problem: a man has to make decisions.
When the rules were rigid, dressing appropriately was relatively easy. The rules told you what to wear.
Today, the man has to decide what looks appropriate, what looks good on him, and what fits the situation.
That requires judgment.
And judgment is where personal style begins.
Work clothes have changed
The workplace may be where the transformation is most obvious.
There are still professions where suits and traditional business clothing remain important. But for many men, particularly outside the most formal professions, the daily suit has become unnecessary.
The modern business wardrobe often occupies the territory between formal and casual.
A navy blazer. A good pair of trousers. A button-down shirt. A knit polo. A quarter-zip sweater. Clean leather shoes or understated sneakers.
None of these pieces is particularly revolutionary. What has changed is the way they are combined.
The goal is often to look professional without looking as though one is wearing a costume called “businessman.”
That distinction matters.
A man who dresses appropriately for his workplace is communicating competence and respect for the setting. But a man who is dressed too formally can sometimes appear disconnected from the environment around him.
Modern workwear therefore asks a different question:
How formal do I need to be without becoming more formal than the situation requires?
That is a question of social intelligence as much as fashion.
Casual does not mean careless
The expansion of casual clothing has been liberating for men.
Comfort matters. Nobody wants to spend eight or ten hours in clothing that restricts movement or requires constant adjustment.
But there is an important difference between casual and careless.
A pair of jeans can look excellent or terrible. A T-shirt can look deliberate or abandoned. Sneakers can look stylish or simply worn out.
Fit often matters more than price.
A relatively inexpensive outfit that fits a man’s body properly and has been thoughtfully put together can look considerably better than an expensive outfit that doesn’t.
That is one reason the current movement toward relaxed clothing is interesting. Relaxed does not necessarily mean sloppy. A pair of trousers can have room without looking baggy. A jacket can be comfortable without losing its shape. A shirt can be casual without appearing neglected.
The modern goal is increasingly ease with intention.
That may be one of the most useful principles in men’s clothing.
Clothing changes the man wearing it
There is also a psychological side to clothing.
We tend to think of clothing as something other people see. But the person wearing the clothing sees it too.
A man who puts on a suit for an important meeting may stand differently. He may feel more prepared. He may become more conscious of his posture and how he speaks.
A man who puts on an old pair of jeans and a favorite shirt on Saturday morning may experience an entirely different feeling. He is not preparing for an important meeting. He is preparing to be himself.
The effect isn’t magic. A suit does not make a man smarter, and a leather jacket does not make him tougher.
But clothing can influence the psychological setting in which a person operates.
Research into what has been called “enclothed cognition” has explored the relationship between clothing, symbolism and behavior. The research is more complicated than the popular version sometimes suggests, and not every early finding has been consistently replicated.
Still, the basic idea is reasonable: what we wear can affect how we feel and how we behave.
Clothing can become a kind of psychological cue.
Put on the work clothes and go to work.
Put on the old jacket and go to the hardware store.
Put on the suit and attend the wedding.
Put on the good shirt before going out to dinner.
The clothing becomes part of the ritual.
And then there is the male ego
This is where men’s fashion becomes considerably more interesting.
Men often claim they don’t care about clothes.
Sometimes they really don’t.
Sometimes they care enormously and simply don’t like admitting it.
Clothing can be connected to status in ways that have little to do with practical necessity.
A $40 watch tells time.
A $4,000 watch also tells time.
The difference is not primarily mechanical necessity. It is symbolism.
The same thing can happen with shoes, jackets, watches, cars and other possessions.
Clothing can say:
I can afford this.
I have taste.
I know what I’m doing.
I belong here.
I am successful.
I am still young.
I don’t need anybody’s approval.
And, occasionally:
I want you to notice me.
There is nothing uniquely male about status signaling, but men have historically used possessions and appearance as important markers of achievement and social position.
The interesting part is that status doesn’t always have to be obvious.
A large designer logo announces money.
An exceptionally well-made but understated jacket may announce something else: knowledge.
The first says, “Look what I have.”
The second can say, “I know the difference.”
Those are two different forms of ego.
The desire to look younger
Age introduces another complication.
Many men reach a point in life when clothing becomes a quiet battle with the calendar.
A younger-looking style can make a man feel contemporary. That can be positive. There is nothing wrong with keeping up with changing styles or wearing sneakers at sixty-five.
The problem comes when clothing becomes an attempt to deny age rather than simply live comfortably with it.
There is a difference between looking contemporary and trying to look twenty-five.
An older man does not need to dress like a young man to look good. He needs clothing that fits, suits his body, makes sense for his circumstances and reflects his personality.
In fact, there can be considerable confidence in dressing appropriately for one’s age without dressing old.
That distinction is important.
Age should not determine whether a man is allowed to wear something. But age, experience and self-knowledge can influence whether he wears it convincingly.
Workwear and the image of competence
One of the more curious developments in modern men’s fashion is the popularity of clothing that originated in physical work.
Work jackets, heavy denim, boots, chore coats, flannel shirts and rugged trousers have become fashionable even among men whose jobs involve sitting behind a desk.
Why?
Because these clothes carry associations.
They suggest competence.
They suggest practicality.
They suggest independence.
They suggest that the wearer is capable of doing something rather than merely talking about it.
That symbolism can be powerful.
A tailored suit communicates authority.
Workwear can communicate usefulness.
Neither message is necessarily more masculine than the other. They simply represent different versions of masculinity.
The modern man can move between them.
The return of understatement
Another interesting development is the increasing appreciation for clothing that does not demand attention.
Men’s fashion has gone through periods when conspicuous branding was extremely important. Large logos, recognizable designer pieces and expensive accessories made social status visible.
There is still plenty of that.
But another aesthetic has gained strength: understated clothing, good fabrics, restrained colors, quality shoes and excellent fit.
The man wearing such clothing may be spending a great deal of money—or very little.
The important thing is that the clothes don’t necessarily announce their price.
This creates an interesting psychological reversal.
A man once demonstrated status by making his wealth visible.
A different kind of status comes from being confident enough not to demonstrate it.
That can become its own form of ego, of course.
Even “I don’t care what anyone thinks” can become a performance designed to make other people think something.
Human beings are remarkably complicated creatures.
What clothes really communicate
Perhaps the most important change in men’s fashion is that there is no longer one accepted definition of the properly dressed man.
A businessman, carpenter, professor, artist, retiree, mechanic, lawyer and restaurant owner can all dress appropriately while looking completely different.
That is progress.
Clothing works best when it supports the person rather than replacing him.
A man’s clothes should not have to shout louder than the man himself.
The most convincing style is usually one in which the clothing and the person seem to belong together.
A man who knows himself has an advantage. He knows what he likes. He knows what works on him. He understands the difference between looking good and merely looking fashionable.
And perhaps that is where men’s fashion ultimately becomes less about fashion and more about psychology.
We dress for other people, but we also dress for ourselves.
We dress for the job we have.
We dress for the job we want.
We dress to fit in.
We dress to stand out.
We dress to look successful.
We dress to feel successful.
We dress to look younger.
We dress because we enjoy beautiful things.
And sometimes we dress because we simply want to feel like ourselves.
The clothes change.
The reasons don’t change nearly as much.
Men have always used clothing to negotiate the space between who they are, who they believe they are, and who they want other people to believe they are.
That makes men’s fashion far more interesting than a discussion about shirts, trousers and shoes.
It is really a discussion about identity.
And identity, unlike fashion, never goes out of style.
