Sebastian Strobl

Tag: style

  • The Power of Dressing Up: Why Men Should Always Aim to Be Slightly Overdressed

    The Power of Dressing Up: Why Men Should Always Aim to Be Slightly Overdressed

    In today’s casual world, the idea of wearing a suit or maintaining business casual attire might seem old-fashioned. However, choosing to be slightly overdressed can make a significant difference in various aspects of your life. Here’s why men should consider dressing up, even when it’s not required.

    1. First Impressions Count

    First impressions happen in seconds. Your attire can communicate professionalism, attention to detail, and respect. A well-dressed man immediately exudes competence and reliability, setting a positive tone for any interaction. As Mark Twain once said, “Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.”

    2. Boost Your Confidence

    How you dress impacts how you feel about yourself. Dressing well can significantly boost your confidence and self-esteem, translating into how you carry yourself and interact with others. This confidence is particularly advantageous in professional settings. Yves Saint Laurent believed that “Dressing is a way of life,” emphasizing the power of good attire on one’s mindset.

    3. Show Respect and Commitment

    Dressing slightly better than required shows respect for your colleagues, clients, and workplace. It signals that you take your role seriously and are committed to presenting yourself in the best light, fostering a professional environment. Tom Ford encapsulates this by saying, “Dressing well is a form of good manners.”

    4. Stand Out from the Crowd

    In a casual-dress world, opting for a more formal appearance helps you stand out. It shows that you go above and beyond the minimum expectations, opening doors to opportunities, promotions, and positive recognition. “You can never be overdressed or overeducated,” Oscar Wilde famously quipped, highlighting the benefits of dressing well.

    5. Be Ready for Anything

    Being slightly overdressed means you’re prepared for unexpected opportunities, whether it’s an impromptu meeting with an executive or a networking event. A well-dressed man is always ready to make a great impression. As Edith Head put it, “You can have anything you want in life if you dress for it.”

    6. Enhance Your Professional Image

    Your attire contributes to your personal brand. Consistently dressing well helps build a professional image that aligns with your career aspirations, positioning you as someone serious about their career. Ralph Lauren wisely noted, “Style is very personal. It has nothing to do with fashion. Fashion is over quickly. Style is forever.”

    7. Cultural and Social Awareness

    Dressing well is often a sign of respect and good manners. It shows that you understand and adhere to the norms and expectations of your environment, crucial in global business settings. Giorgio Armani’s words, “Elegance is not standing out, but being remembered,” capture this sentiment perfectly.

    8. Influence Others

    Your attire affects how others perceive and interact with you. A well-dressed individual commands more respect and attention, facilitating better communication and more effective interactions. As fashion icon Coco Chanel said, “Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.”

    Conclusion

    While casual attire is on the rise, the benefits of being slightly overdressed are undeniable. From making strong first impressions to boosting confidence and standing out, dressing well offers numerous advantages. In a world where image and perception are crucial, a well-dressed man is always one step ahead. Following the wisdom of these style icons, embracing a polished look can significantly enhance your professional and personal life.

  • 6 ways my life got easier through building a capsule wardrobe

    6 ways my life got easier through building a capsule wardrobe

    Are you tired of standing in front of your bursting closet before a big occasion, important presentation at work, or just your usual Friday date night with nothing to wear? Read below how building an interchangeable minimalist wardrobe influence my life for the better and who knows, some points may even apply to your life.

    Create your own personal brand

    So this is twofold, for once you will be able to have some kind of designated uniform for your work activities. This is going to make it easier for yourself, to separate work from your leisure, personal life. You change into your uniform in the morning, focus on performing in your workplace and when you come home, you slip out of it and cut the chords to work stuff. This is becoming more and more important, the more both parts of your day are blending together. Are you self-employed and using one mobile device for business & private matters? Do you have a job, where working from home is permitted and therefore a company notebook and a company phone are always accessible? It can get out of hand quickly with constant beeps and vibrations, since work is more and more globalized and you are co-creating across different time zones.

    The other big benefit is, you will be recognizable, people will be starting to get a good feeling of what they can expect from you. It will calm their minds, and give you more opportunities to take over additional, greater responsibilities or just being recognized for your work and successes. Even if next to no one would ever say it out loud in a workplace setting, your appearance is the first thing that gets recognized and you will be judged base on that. Maybe just unconsciously, but we all do it. You see someone walking around in dirty joggers with a little fluff around the waist, is your first impression that he or she is a top performing lawyer or doctor?

    Save time dressing & shopping

    Once you own several staple items, that go well together in any potential combination and for every setting you can think of. Be it a summer wedding, a day in the office or running errands around town. It will be quite easy picking a outfit, that generally is the same look you will always wear. Pick any one item for tops and one for bottoms, depending on time of the year and temperature slap an item for layering over it, grab any shoes heading out and you are good to go.

    As for shopping, once you know hat sizes and colors match your type and preference, it will be far easier to add to your wardrobe. If you are already in the position where you are completely happy with the items you own, it’s just a matter of replacing pieces that are beyond repair with similar things.

    Spend less money on clothes

    In general, once you developed a clear feeling for your own style, what you like to wear, what makes you feel great and doesn’t limit you in your daily activities, the need to go with the trend or buy the thing some influencer advertised will subside. Therefore you will spend less on clothes in general and the potential for buying sprees in online or physical shops will be minimized. Try to develop a healthy relationship with the stuff you buy. If every piece in your closet is an item you absolutely love and love to wear, why would you want to buy additional stuff?

    Mitigate decision fatigue

    As mentioned two paragraphs before, the more interchangeable the core of the wardrobe you build is, the easier it will become to pick outfits tailored to any occasion. Feel like wearing a suit, wear the suit, either with a dress shirt, an oxford or a t-shirt/ polo. It will look well composed if the patterns/ materials and colors match each other. There will be no thinking involved, just picking items based on gut feeling. Don’t want to wear a full suit, just use the jacked and go with jeans, or the other way round, pick the slacks from your suit, throw a plain white T over it and you are dress for nearly everything, even the modern office job. And you will stand out between all the functional clothes, jeans and running shoes outfits of your peers.

    Boost your self confidence

    Once you look good and feel good in the outfits you wear you will have a confidence boost. Even without any recognition from other persons. Not to say, that every compliment you receive, and you will receive a lot, once you are always slightly overdressed, will build additional confidence. Coming back on the (unconscious) judging of people based on first impression and appearance, if you get this right, people will start to talk to you differently. They might not be aware of it, but they will treat you more to your benefit compared to the peer showing up like pulled from his own ass and therefore looking not as well prepared as you will be looking.

    Make traveling and business trips easier

    The bigger the overlap between your professional outfits, your leisure outfits and the pieces you feel and move great in, the less items you will need to pack for a business or even holiday trip. This will save you time and mental energy while packing, while out and about and when you are coming back and need to wash, iron and put everything back away. Travel lightly and it will make traveling itself easier, less space occupied for luggage, maybe you can make do only with carry-on baggage, which will make processing through the airport easier and faster.

  • Clean & easy casual outfits for summer

    Clean & easy casual outfits for summer

    Finally the summer hit central Europe (kind of at least) so ditch the wool sweaters, the heavy wool or tweed suits and dress a bit more breathable.

    All you need for sheer endless different outfits, that all have quite the same base and look to them is 3 pairs of trousers, 3 pairs of shoes and 3 different dress shirts. Pick colors that work well together like grey, blue and white, or tan, brown and white, tan, blue, white, or even tan, khaki and brown will also work quite nicely. If you make it really complex, pick different shades, dark, medium and light. If you mix those it will always look great. So let’s quickly expand on that. For example you can go with white sneakers (light) put over tan cotton chinos (medium/ mostly) and go for a navy shirt (dark). Or swap it around, dark blue chinos, brown loafers and a white or light blue shirt. You get the idea.

    Having a lot of nearly identical pieces that fit great will make picking a look for the day far easier. Just reach into the wardrobe and pull on thing for top and one for bottoms, if you designed your overall wardrobe interchangeable, it will be a match. On the way out slap some shoes on, if you only have 3-4 pairs you love and that go with every outfit, you won’t accumulate decision fatigue starting your day and you will look great, for what ever plans you might have.

    Have a look at the gallery below for some inspiration. Pictured are only a few outfits that can be put together with the above mentioned pieces. Every Shoe goes with every shirt & of course with every pair of trousers, so will have enough outfits for most weeks of summer, without wearing a combination twice.

    If you feel extra dapper, or your workplace doesn’t permit going without a jacket, even in summer, you can always swap a light linen/ cotton blazer over it. Can be a classic navy blazer, or a brown/tan hound’s-tooth sport jacket. Can be a pretty leisure seersucker blazer or even full suit or a tan linen blazer, a navy double breasted blazer does always look great. If you are the type you can also go with green or khaki or light blue. What ever you like and keep in mind, to mix light/medium/dark colors with each other or have at least on catch piece. Think dark shirt under a light suit or light shirt in a dark suit. Even in monochrome looks there should be some kind of variation in tone.

  • Monday fun day

    Monday fun day

    Grey suit, blue/white striped shirt, navy tie and light brown accessories. Perfectly dressed for any workplace, destined to catch some funny looks from the colleagues showing up in cycling/ functional clothes made from shredded plastic bottles and Birkenstocks.

    To stand out has some pros and cons to it, but if you own your style and have some good story on your why for dressing well the pros outweigh the negative aspects.

    Keep it fun & don‘t take other people’s opinions to seriously!

  • Grey Suit – watched to much John Wick

    Grey Suit – watched to much John Wick

    ..but not enough to go full charcoal. Suit is from Mango Tailored and I was quite stunned by the quality and the fit. Pants are not as narrow as Massimo Dutti or Hugo Boss and I got the suit with a 30% discount. Only the trousers needed length adjustment, length of the jackets arms is quite good, a bit too much padding in the shoulders, but that’s currently en-vogue I guess.

    Maybe next time I will put it with black derbies, a black shirt and a charcoal tie. For the complete John Wick look I’m then only missing the hair.