022: 5 Strategies That Will Help You Dress Better in 2024 | 2023 Recap

Welcome to I'm Not A Gentleman, where timeless elegance meets modern sophistication. Join us on a sartorial journey as we unravel five strategies that'll have you looking your best in 2024 and beyond. From focusing on quality over quantity to steering clear of transient trends. 

Whether you're a style enthusiast or a novice, our podcast provides actionable tips for refining your wardrobe. Dive into episodes that demystify the world of ties and neckwear, equipping you with the knowledge to make confident fashion choices. Join our community of like-minded individuals committed to mastering the art of timeless style. Subscribe now and step into a world where every outfit tells a story.

Mentioned in this episode:

Wardrobe audit

Thrifting legend - The StyleJumper

YouTube video - Top 8 Shoe Brands Under $300 

Get my eBook "The 7 Style Mistakes That You're Making Right Now" for FREE here.

Discover the 7 Style Mistakes and how to correct them once and for all.

Transcript

00:00
Vlad (host): Are you a guy who's feeling lost in these menswear streets and wants to build a timeless wardrobe that turns heads? If you're nodding in agreement, then I wanna link with you for a complimentary Step Up Your Menswear discovery call. In this informative 20-minute session, I'll dissect your current fashion choices and identify what you might be missing out on opportunities to enhance your style game, all while staying true to classic menswear principles. Whether you're a professional, a businessman,

00:28
or simply someone seeking to upgrade your style game. The step up your menswear discovery call is tailor-made for you. Book a slot on my calendar today by going to imnotagentleman.com and click on the work with me tab. Peace.

00:45
Announcer: I'm Not A Gentleman is a production of chaceandryder.com.

00:47
Vlad (host): Those things go hand in hand, so you can't possibly be sharp if your shoes are trash, it just doesn't work. So definitely pay a lot of attention to your shoes in 2024. And you don't have to spend a small fortune, man. Right now we happen to be in a great time when it comes to shoe making. To me, the sweetest spot is around four to $600, which is expensive, I ain't got no front.

01:16
But that's where you're going to have a lot of options open up to you. But you don't have to go that high. Man, you can start around $200 and find yourself some really nice shoes.

1:27
Yo, what up? Welcome to I'm Not A Gentleman, the show designed to help you look stylish without following trends. I'm your host Vladimir Riché from chaceandryder.com and your favorite menswear YouTuber's favorite menswear YouTuber. I've helped dozens of clients and hundreds of students and viewers feel more confident by looking their best and always making a great first impression.

02:09
Intro music: Bag in that bag in that bag again, whoa

02:14
So it's crazy, man, this is the last episode of the year. When I set out to bring this podcast to you guys, started thinking about it in the spring, and eventually the first episode came out on August 1st. But when I was doing some research, what I found out was 80% of podcasts only last about seven episodes. I was like, what? Seven episodes, that's crazy. So.

02:43
What happens is a lot of people that want to get into podcasting, they realize that podcasting is really hard. And what I mean by hard, it's not hard to sit in front of a microphone and talk about your expertise or whatever it is that you like, but it's hard when nobody's actually listening to the podcast. So that's the problem. People start recording and then they find out nobody's really paying attention to their show, which is unfortunate. And most of them quit.

03:12
I mean, I don't blame them if you're just talking into the air and nobody's paying attention to what you're saying. You can't even get your mom to tune in. That's kind of crazy, you know? So my goal was I'm going to record seven episodes all at once. And then when I put the podcast out with one episode at a time, I know for a fact I'm going to have more than seven episodes because by the time the first episode comes out, I'm already going to have seven in the can.

03:42
Well, obviously that didn't happen. I'm a last second kind of guy, man. So it sounded good in theory for me to record episodes in advance, but that definitely wasn't the case. I recorded one episode and put it out on August 1st, and I've been recording them weekly ever since. It's not a great thing because what if I get sick or something like that, you know what I mean? It's good to have something already recorded. That way you don't have to scramble to put something out.

04:12
but right now we're just flying by the seat of our pants. And every week you get exactly what's on my mind for that week. But the company that I use to host a podcast, which is Buzzsprout, one of the top companies as far as that's concerned, they sent out the email this week telling us how we did for the year. And my podcast is in the top 25% of all podcasts.

04:41
which is crazy. It wasn't a surprise to me. I've already been checking the stats and I see how well we were doing, but the email really put it into perspective. And to be honest with you, it's not even like I'm really crushing it as far as numbers, like doing crazy numbers. We're doing well, but it's just that so many people, like I was saying, aren't doing any numbers at all. So.

05:07
Podcasting is really a different beast, man. So it's not like YouTube, where you can actually see the stats and see who's doing what. Podcasting, you don't get to see anything. But since so many people are getting so few downloads per episode, you don't really have to be doing crazy numbers for you to be in the top 25%. You see what I'm saying? Like there are people that are getting like 20 downloads per episode, man. They've been podcasting for years. So I'm very proud of what I've accomplished.

05:37
but there's so much more to go. You know what I mean? Like this is only the beginning. I'm fortunate that when I started my podcast, I already had a following as far as YouTube and Instagram. So people knew me. I wasn't starting from scratch, which really helped. But 2024, man, is going to be the year where we really take off. The first thing that I'm going to do is I'm going to introduce a second episode every week.

06:04
So instead of you getting a podcast just on Tuesdays, you're also going to get a new episode on Fridays where I'm going to help somebody solve one of the pain points and those will also be filmed and they'll be on YouTube and Instagram as well, not just audio only. I know a lot of people have been asking how come the podcast is not in video form, especially since my background is as a YouTuber and to be honest with you,

06:33
When I was thinking about doing the podcast, the idea was for it to be a video podcast. But somehow when I sat down to record the first couple episodes, it just didn't really feel natural for me to be talking and also filming at the same time. And I know it doesn't make sense because that's what I do on YouTube, what's the difference, but there was a huge difference. I can't even really explain it. I just didn't sound like myself. And once I turned the camera off, everything started to flow, so.

07:01
I'm like, you know what, maybe I'll introduce the camera again in the future. But for now, we're just going to rock out with the audio. But with that said, the wardrobe audit episodes will be recorded. And if you have a major pain point that you're trying to solve and you're interested to be a guest on the podcast, the link will be in the description where you can go and register for it. But I appreciate all your support for making I'm Not a Gentleman more stylish fashion, a top 25% podcast worldwide.

07:32
Now let's get into the episode. So as I was saying, we're going to talk about five strategies that'll help you look more stylish in 2024. I feel like whenever New Year starts, that's when everybody want to step their game up. You know what I mean? And menswear is not really one of those things where you can start it and really stop. Because once you start seeing the results, you're going to be like, where has this been all my life?

07:59
You know, so my goal is to help you guys get to that level in 2024. And even with myself, man, I'm not a finished product by any, any stretch, you know, I'm still looking to refine the way that I look as well. So 2024 is going to be a big year for me too. So let's get started, man. The first strategy that'll help you look more stylish in 2024 is to buy less and pay more. Often when people hear that from me.

08:29
They get a little bit confused. What would I buy less and pay more? So in other words, what I'm saying is to pay more attention to the quality of what you're buying than the quantity. That's basically what it means. Buy less and pay more. So let's say you're looking at a tie and the tie is $40 and you say to yourself, I can get three of those for 120 bucks.

08:59
I'm winning. And then you see me rocking a Shibumi tie. And you're like, that's a nice tie, bro. How much did you pay for that? I'm like, oh, that was 120. And you're like, ah, yeah, I'm good. I'm just gonna cop those three for 120 instead of buying the one. I can see where that sounds good, but most of the time there's a reason why those ties only cost $40 versus the one that I'm wearing.

09:26
is $120. Now, not always, but most of the time, that's going to be the case. So I think when you're looking to build your wardrobe the right way, it's time to focus on quality as opposed to the quantity. I'm not saying that you should be dropping 120 bucks on ties, it really depends on your budget. I'm just giving you an example, because the ties that I wear, a lot of them cost around that price and.

09:55
That's one question that I get very often, man, is, you know, where'd you get that tie from? And I tell them, and then once they see the price, they're like, oh, okay, you know? Quality's going to cost you, man, so I think that you should really focus on quality as opposed to quantity. And where a lot of guys go wrong is they try to buy a bunch of things at once. Buy things little by little. That's what I would recommend.

10:20
Don't go crazy and start to buy a whole bunch of things. That's how you can end up buying some things that you end up not liking. Don't compare yourself to somebody else. Couple weeks ago, I put out a video on Instagram. It was a short Instagram braille. And it was a video of me, I want to say from 2017 or 2018 even, I can't really remember now. But I was wearing a coat.

10:49
I had on a scarf. I didn't have everything that I really wanted. The coat that I was wearing was a Banana Republic coat. It kept me warm, but there was nothing really nice about it. The scarf that I was wearing was also from Banana Republic, so striped scarf. I really used to like that scarf. I racked it for a long time, but it's definitely not my style anymore.

11:13
The gist of the video was me saying that everybody had to start somewhere. So even if you look back then, I did have nice shoes on and I did have a nice custom suit on, but my coat game wasn't there and my scarf game wasn't there, which are two things that I really, really love now. I take great pride in my coats and I take great pride in my scars, but that's why you shouldn't be looking at somebody else and say, I want everything he has, you know what I mean? Because that person has to start somewhere too.

11:41
I like to show people where I started that way they can see that room wasn't built overnight. You should take things little by little, buy less and pay more. Focus on one thing at a time and build your wardrobe piece by piece. Don't really put a timeline on it that you have to have everything right now. You know what I mean? Buy quality and eventually you're going to look and be like, wow, I've acquired a lot of nice things.

12:10
So that's number one. The second strategy to look more stylish in 2024 is to focus on more classic styles as opposed to following trends. I see it a lot, man. I know that I've made a few episodes about those topics where they are showing suits, where the lapels are so skinny, the trousers are so slim. Guys wearing skinny ties. All those things are dated. And.

12:40
Yes, eventually they'll come back in style again, but is that the kind of game that you really want to play? Why not just wear something that you know that's not ever going out of style? That's why I love classic menswear, man. And I mentioned it before, it comes down more to preference as opposed to things really changing. For example, not every guy that's into classic menswear is going to wear his trousers the same.

13:10
a wider leg because they like the way that he drapes versus some guys are in the middle. Those things come down to preference, you know, but it's still within the same classic menswear umbrella as opposed to those other things that I was mentioning before, the skinny lapels and skinny ties. Those things are clearly trendy. And I know with most guys, they're always worried about how much they spend, but yet they want to follow trends.

13:41
That doesn't really make a lot of sense, man, because if you're following trends, that means that in a couple years time, you're going to have to change your wardrobe again, because those things that you liked a couple years ago are no longer in style. So you may not see it now, but if you accumulate all those things over time, you're spending a lot more money than if you were just buying classic things to begin with, because those are going to last you longer.

14:08
because you don't have to worry about changing them in a couple of years. So if your goal is to be more stylish in 2024, that's a good place to start, man. Invest in quality items that are timeless, as opposed to following whatever GQ is telling you is in style for this year. And that always seems cool that you're wearing something that other people also have because that's the talk.

14:38
this year, but come on man, we gotta do better than that. The third thing that you should focus on if being more stylish in 2024 is a goal of yours is to build a strong foundation. By building a strong foundation, I'm referring to your shoes. My framework that I teach my clients is called the ground up method, which is teaching them how to look sharp starting from the ground up.

15:07
If you've listened to any episode of this podcast or watch any of my YouTube videos or you see me on Instagram, it's not a mystery to you guys that shoes are my favorite subject, shoes are my first love and I think that's where every man should start. So when I'm referring to the foundation, I'm looking at it as if we're talking about building a house. So to me, when you're talking about building your wardrobe and building a house,

15:36
they're basically the same. So when you're building a house, you always start with the foundation. And when you're building your wardrobe, you should also start with the foundation. And the reason why the foundation is so important, of course, when you're building a house, the foundation is not the sexy part, all right? You're thinking about the kitchen, thinking about the bedrooms, the flooring, and those type of things. But if the foundation is weak, all those things are irrelevant because the foundation is going to crumble and now you don't have a house.

16:06
And I feel the same about building your wardrobe. So you can have the nicest suits, the nicest ties, the nicest accessories, but if your shoes are bad, yeah man, doesn't matter. You can't possibly be sharp wearing ugly shoes. I've never seen it. That's just not a thing. If somebody tells you they're sharp and their shoes are ugly,

16:35
I don't think they understand what sharp really means man. Those things go hand in hand, so you can't possibly be sharp if your shoes are trash. It just doesn't work. So definitely pay a lot of attention to your shoes in 2024. And you don't have to spend a small fortune man. Right now we happen to be in a great time when it comes to shoe making. To me, the sweetest spot is around four to $600.

17:04
Which is expensive, I ain't got no front. But that's where you're going to have a lot of options open up to you. But you don't have to go that high. Man, you can start around $200 and find yourself some really nice shoes. I just put out a video about a month ago to top eight shoe brands under $300. So definitely check that out. I'll link it in the show notes. But yeah, man, build a strong foundation in 2024 and start wearing some nice shoes if you weren't doing that already.

17:34
The fourth strategy that'll help you look more stylish in 2024 is to be extremely mindful of your neck wear. And I'm speaking about your ties. I know we talked about ties briefly before, but this one is so important, man. Now, even though I was saying that I wear pretty expensive ties, I think $80 is probably the entry point of the ties that I wear.

18:01
and then it goes up to about 150 or something like that. There are companies that make nice ties for less, but what I've found is a lot of those companies, their ties are not wide enough. So they're around three inches, three and a quarter inches. I would tie that up three and a half inches. And I'm extremely picky when it comes to that. So when people ask me, where can they find really good ties around the $50 price point, I really don't have anything for them.

18:31
Unfortunately, I think around $75 to $80 is a good starting point. You have a company like a class who that make really nice ties and that's high start around 80 bucks. I highly recommend them. And I just shot a tie video last week. Unfortunately, I don't know if that video is ever really going to see the latter day. Um, what happened was when I shot the video, I used two cameras. I use a camera, which is the main camera that's facing me.

18:59
and the microphone is also plugged into that camera. So whatever audio I'm using is coming from that camera. And then I use the camera that's above me whenever I'm doing an unboxing. So you guys can see the desk and you can see the item that I'm unboxing. So that was a scenario because I was unboxing some ties from a class two and also some ties from Shibumi. So of course I recorded everything and the next morning when it was time for me to edit,

19:29
I took the memory card out of the camera that's above me, downloaded the videos to the computer, and then I was time to download the videos from the main camera and come to find out nothing recorded. The really odd part is, well, there are two. Number one, I had no fault of fact that I pressed record. I've had situations before where the microphone was in other way plugged in and I had no audio, which is understandable.

19:58
I should have checked, you know what I mean? But with this one Anophore FACT that I pressed record, nothing was recorded. And remember I was telling you, that's the camera that also has the microphone. So even though I have the up top view of me unboxing the items, the audio is not going to be great because the audio is coming directly from the camera and not from a microphone. To make matters worse,

20:27
That night was recycling night, so I threw out all the boxes. So even if I want to reshoot those videos, it's not really going to be much of an unboxing because there aren't any boxes. So I'm still thinking about exactly how I'm going to do it. I might just put out the video with just the up top view and shoot a new intro and outro for it.

20:52
I mean, they all YouTube videos, or should I say YouTube channels where the people never show their faces. So it might be one of those type of videos, but I don't know, we'll see. We'll see what happens. But the second odd part about that is the day before this happened, I reposted a video on my Instagram. It was some dude that was showing how he recorded a whole video. He was like a get ready with me where he was showing what he was wearing, and then nothing recorded.

21:21
And when I reposted it, I was like, man, this is the worst. Like I've had this happen before. And then the next day it happened again. Unbelievable, man. So I'm saying that to say this, man, ties are very important, man. That's why I was making that video to show you two different style of ties. With a cloud suit, they were solid ties. I highly recommend solid ties for guys that are starting out. And that's because you can't really go wrong with them.

21:48
So black and navy grenadine ties are two ties that I highly recommend. A class who got a set for life collection. I mentioned it in a couple of episodes ago when I was talking about the Christmas gift that I recommend. That's what I was unboxing in that video. And also I got two full odd ties from Shibumi. But ties are very important, man. So whether you're starting with solid ties or you're going to be getting ties with more colors in them.

22:17
they're very, very important. Now with that said, although I don't really have any ties that I can recommend that are around the $50 price point, one of my good friends, Style Jumper, he specializes in thrifting. He'll tell you it's not unusual to walk in to a thrift shop and find some really great ties for like five to $10. Now with thrifting, I don't have a bunch of experience because I don't thrift myself.

22:44
But whenever I have questions, I always hit up my guy Stylejumper. That's what I would recommend for somebody that's looking for ties, but their budget is only about 30 to $40 that they can spend on ties. Because those ties weren't always that price. So you can really find some good quality in the thrift stores for around that price. You know what I mean? Once again, I don't have a ton of experience. I can't really tell you more, but that's what I would recommend. But there's really nothing out there that's brand new.

23:14
that I stand behind that I can really tell you to get for that price. You don't want to get something that's going to fray after wearing it a couple of times. It just doesn't really make sense. Your tie sits right below your face, so you can't really hide it. Unfortunately, most men get their ties as gifts. So right now it's Christmas Eve when I'm recording this episode. So tomorrow morning, there's going to be a lot of guys that are going to wake up to new ties.

23:43
These are the ties that they're going to use when they're wearing their suits. So in 2024, I would say to definitely pay a lot more attention to your ties when it sits right below your face, really not fooling anyone, you can't hide it, it's right there, you know what I mean? So let's wear better ties in 2024. And the fifth strategy that'll help you look more stylish in 2024 is to find a mentor.

24:11
there's no reason for you to do it alone. And that's very important, man, because you can definitely do it by yourself, because I've done it by myself, but it took me such a long time. And not only to learn everything, but to also put everything together, because it's one thing to have the information, but it's something entirely different to actually put it all together and start implementing the things that you learn.

24:40
And in my case, man, not only did I have to paste all the information together myself, which is a tall task because you don't know what information is right and what's not. That's the good and the bad about the internet, the gift and the curse. There's a ton of information that's out there for free, but you just don't know which is right and which is wrong. But if you have a mentor, somebody that's been there and done that, that's going to help you avoid some landmines.

25:11
And as most of you know, I'm a menswear consultant. So I do a lot of one-on-one and also do some group coaching. Actually, my next group coaching, which is a life cohort called Master the Auto Dressing Wall, will be coming back in January. I don't have a date tied down yet, but you guys will be the first to know once I do. And those type of things, I highly recommend for you to get into one of them. Doesn't have to be mine.

25:40
although I highly recommend it. But when you're learning with other guys that are in a similar situation, group coaching is a really nice option. And also a lot of times there could be questions that you weren't thinking about and somebody asked the question and you can also benefit from the answer because you were, actually you were thinking about it, but you kind of forgot it. And then somebody else asked that question, you're like, oh yeah, I had the same question. So now you can also benefit from the answer. Versus when you're doing one-on-one,

26:09
If you're not asking the questions, they might not get answered. But at the same time, not everybody like to do group coaching. They prefer to do it one-on-one, which is why I have both offers. But yeah, I mean, definitely find a mentor or somebody that's been there, somebody that's done it, that you can lean on. You don't have to do it alone. It's possible, but it takes a really, really long time. So if you're looking to get there faster,

26:38
don't do it alone. So in 2024, find somebody that you can learn from. Like with me, I got a ton of free content. For example, this podcast, my YouTube videos, my Instagram videos. But a lot of time it's about implementation because you might have the information but you don't know how to make it work for your situation. So that's why having a mentor is so important. So once again, the link to get on the wait list for my group coaching will be in the description.

27:06
And if you want to work one on one, we can jump on a 20 minute discovery call where you can tell me exactly what your pain points are and I can see if we are a good match to work together. And this won't be a coaching call, it's just for us to find out if we are a good match. And that link will be in the description as well. But those are the five strategies that will help you look more stylish in 2024. And for a quick recap, number one is to buy less and pay more.

27:36
is to focus more on classic styles and stay away from trends. Number three is to build a strong foundation. Number four is to protect your neck and be mindful of your ties. And number five is don't do it alone and find a mentor.

28:06
So this is the part of the podcast where I take your questions. If you want to participate, all you have to do is go to my website, I'm not a gentleman.com, click on the microphone on the lower right corner, leave your name and where you're calling from, and pose your question. This one here comes from my man, Frank. Let's hear it.

28:29
Caller: Good day, Mr. Richie. How are you? Happy holidays to you and your family. By the way, my name is Frank, and I'm calling from Detroit, Michigan. I was just calling, just real quick, what dress socks would you recommend wearing with dress shoes? Thank you.

28:46
Vlad (host): I get a lot of questions about socks actually. So there are two companies that I recommend. The first one is the Aklasu, and the second one is Boardroom Socks. There are other companies out there as well, but these are the two brands that I recommend. And one thing when it comes to your socks,

29:03
is you want to stay away from the crazy flashy socks, man. When you walk into a room, you want the attention to be on your face, not on your socks. You don't want everybody staring at your feet because you weren't this crazy, colorful socks with stripes on them. And by the way, it's not really the colors that I have a problem with is more all the colors at the same time, because I wear a lot of burgundy socks.

29:28
I wear out of green socks. So I do like colors in my socks, but they're going to be solid socks. They're not going to be multicolored socks. So that's the first thing. The second thing is you want to make sure that the socks are above the calf. So knee high socks. You don't want the short socks. So let's say you happen to cross your legs. Now everybody's looking at your leg hairs. Nobody really wanna see that.

29:56
So my two recommendations is number one, you want to keep the socks simple, keep it one color. And number two, you want the socks to be over the calf. So thank you for tuning into episode 22 of the podcast. I want to wish all my listeners a happy new year. And I hope that 2024 is going to be your most stylish year ever. And tune in again next week for another five episode of I'm Not A Gentleman.

30:26
Peace.

30:32
Outro music: Back in that bag, in that bag, again
Whoa, whoa, yeah, yeah (Hey)
Hey, hey, hey, hey
Back in that- yeah
Tell 'em to watch it...