What is Trending (and Does it Matter?)
If you’re like a lot of our personal styling clients, when you start thinking about redoing your wardrobe, there’s a part of you that feels overwhelmed by trying to figure out what’s trending in fashion or "in style".
I hear guys tell me on Style Strategy calls all the time - "I want to look good, but I don’t even know what’s trending these days". And I get it. It feels like you’re behind and that there is some secret you just can’t figure out. And if you just knew what was cool, everything would be solved.
The truth is, buying trendy clothing is actually ridiculously simple. I’ll prove it. All you need to do is head to a site like Mr. Porter, SSENSE, or Farfetch. Hit the section that says "New In", "trending", etc., and buy what’s there. Congrats, you’ve now got trendy clothing.
Now, for the big questions once you’ve purchased all this cool trendy stuff:
Do you actually like it?
And do you actually look good in it?
You might spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours buying, trying, etc., and end up with clothing you hate that makes you look awful.
Because trends don’t care about your taste, and they certainly don’t care about your body.
Let me give you an example:
A silhouette that’s "in" right now can make you look shorter, wider, sloppy, or just off. A fabric that's hot today can look amazing on one guy, but then it bunches, sags, or collapses on another.
The trend doesn’t change, but the way you look does.
A guy can look great and not be trendy at all. And a guy can be trendy and still not look great.
Trends are basically mainstream culture pushing a certain aesthetic. And yes, part of the point is to keep you buying. If things never changed, you’d stop shopping. That’s how the machine works.
But none of that means trends are evil. It just means you should stop treating them like rules for what to wear and instead start questioning what would work best for you.
You need to know true style is built by the individual. It’s your taste. Your preferences. Your identity. It’s why two guys can look completely different and both look objectively great.
Let’s take an example with cars: One guy drives a classic vintage Porsche. Another drives a blacked-out Range Rover. Both turn heads. Which one is the stylish one?
Both.
But they’re stylish in totally different ways. Neither is wrong. One may just be wrong for you.
And that’s the work: Getting clothing that is actually right for you. The stuff that you love AND that makes you look good.
That’s what we do inside our Online Styling Program: we help you figure out your style, then build a wardrobe that actually fits you, looks great on you, and feels natural to wear.
We’ve done it for 1200+ guys for ten years, and I can tell you that everyone’s style and body is unique. There’s no one size, and certainly not one trend that fits everyone.
So yes, incorporate trends if you want. There’s nothing wrong with going with the flow.
Just make sure it looks good on you and you actually like what you’re wearing.
Because if your outfit doesn’t feel like you, it turns into a costume. And it’s obvious from the outside when a guy is uncomfortable in what he’s wearing. And no clothing item in the world can cover up your lack of confidence.
So remember that the game is simple: Wear what you love. Make it look good.
If you want help, you can check it out here.
Hope that helps.
Reply and tell me what you’re struggling with, and I’ll see if I can help.
x Patrick
