Look better NOW (or in a week or so): 5 idiot proof (and free) ways to look better for spring (and the rest of the year)

Any day now this shit will be GONE!

So now that it's (please god, please) actually spring, I thought it's time for some more content.  And after my "manifesto" I thought I'd follow up with ways to look better without spending a single dime.  Though to be fair, after you do these, you'll probably want some new clothes.  ABSOLUTELY FREE advice after the jump...

I've previously expressed my affection for gingham.

1. Figure out what you like.

This may seem asinine, but you'd be surprised how many people (maybe even you) don't really know.  Quick, what 5 items do you wear most?  If you don't have at least some idea, you should.  What patterns float your boat?  What colors look best on you?  What are your coolest shoes/jacket/tie/whatever?

Take an hour this weekend.  Look in your closet.  Pick out 5 (or 10 or however many) things that you really like.  What's the thread?  Do you love plaid? Blue? Brown? Weird buttons?  Whatever it is, make a note of it.  Look for things like that when you're surfing the internet, or wandering around your place of residence.  It's much easier to shop smart if you have some idea of what you're looking for.

Maybe you don't think it's great, but I do
and that's what matters (at least to me)

2. Pick out one great outfit.  Wear it tomorrow.

And this doesn't mean "I own 25 hoodies and 5 pairs of jeans, so I like hoodies and jeans and will wear my college hoodie with my rattiest jeans."  Think back.  When was the last time someone (your girlfriend, wife, mother, that homeless guy on the street, etc...) said

"you look nice/sharp/handsome/less like a homeless person than usual."

What were you wearing?  Odds are good it wasn't ratty jeans and a baggy hoodie (and if it was you have far more forgiving women and homeless people in your life than me).  It might have been just jeans and a button down shirt.  It might have been a tie and jacket, maybe a full suit.  Hell, maybe it was just a perfectly fitting t-shirt with perfectly fitting jeans and some fresh out of the box sneakers.  Whatever it was, wear it more often.  Get more compliments, you'll want to dress that way more than you do now.  You'll also begin to define your look, which in the end is the thing you should be striving to do.

I've used it before, but... come on,
it makes my point!

3. Dress one or two notch nicer than usual at least once a week.

Dressing nicer can be intimidating.  Especially with the internet telling you all different things and plugging expensive ass bullshit (i.e. $435 sneakers).  But you can't move from sweats to suits in one day, so start small.

Student?  Try wearing a button down and a sweater/crew neck sweatshirt/long sleeve t-shirt instead of a hoodie.  Casual office guy?  Swap out the polo for a dress shirt and tie/jacket (or both).  Suit wearer?  Try an adventurous accessory.  A sweet pocket square (these are free-r than you think seeing as you can cram just about any piece of fabric in your pocket and call it a square) or odd vest or sweater under the jacket.  Whatever it is, just try "dressing up" a few times a week.  Trust me, you'll like it.

Oh how I wished Polyester
on Polyester was cool!
and not horribly uncomfortable

4. Get rid of the bullshit in your closet.

I know, I know, I know.  I have so many things that I just can't get rid of, it was literally THIS YEAR that I finally started clearing out the crap from my closet.  But you know, ditching that leisure suit and floor length snakeskin coat were things that needed to happen.  No matter how "hilariously awesome" they are, if they aren't wearable, they won't be worn.

Or if you don't have stuff like that, just get rid of things you don't wear, things that don't fit, etc...  Someone else deserves it more, and you deserve the closet space to get things you like.





5. Learn to enjoy clothes shopping.

This is the last, and possibly hardest, but it can be done.  I genuinely love thrift shopping, the feeling of adventure, of not knowing what you'll find, but knowing once you've found it.  Or maybe just find 10 sites on the internet that grab you where you want to be grabbed (NO! Not those sites! Clothes selling sites!)  I'll do a whole piece on thrift shopping (which is the most wrongly approached topic in menswear on the internet), but for now, if you know what you want, what you like, what you need and where you can look for it, shopping becomes not only easier, but more enjoyable.  And if you're a grown ass man, you should be able to pick out your own clothes, no excuses.

I bought all this somewhere!

I know that's a lot of text, but this stuff isn't as hard as it's made out to be.  I've said before and I'll say again, you have to care.  Once you care what you put on in the morning, and acknowledge that you can't put anything on without choosing to put it on, or own anything without choosing to buy it, you'll be shocked at how much better you'll be dressed, without even spending a cent.