Mistakes to avoid when Suiting Up

Recently I’ve seen lots of pictures of guys wearing formal wear, which is really encouraging to see there are a growing number of guys who do care how they look.  However, I have noticed many of them are unaware of certain do’s and don’ts (faux pas), some minor or very obvious.  I think it’s important that guys are aware of certain etiquette and basic fashion sense that comes with wearing formal clothes.

Don’t wear different material jacket and pants, even though you think they look very similar.  Trust me when I say that we will notice the difference and  will get the impression that you are trying to hide the fact that it’s mismatching.  If you want to wear mismatching jacket and pants, make the colour difference more obvious, such as navy blue and white or black and grey.

Photo via: itsallstyletome.com

When you are wearing your suit, always button your suit, but leave the bottom button unbuttoned when you are standing, no matter if its a three or two buttoned suit, or even a double breasted suit.  Obviously if you have a one button suit, then button it up. When you sit down, you should remember to unbutton your jacket, except for the double breasted jacket, which you keep buttoned. This is common etiquette for guys.  This little action may not be obvious, but for those who know, it makes a difference in our perception of you.  My girlfriend went to a job interview for one of the banks in Taiwan, where she was with another candidate.  That candidate was wearing a suit, and he got told off by the CEO for not unbuttoning his suit jacket when seated.

Photo via: Forest Gump

Please remember that your collar button (top button) must be undone unless you wear a tie or bow tie.  Otherwise it looks like you forgot your tie this morning.

Quite important is that your belt must be same colour as your shoes, or else it looks really funny. So, brown belt goes with brown shoes, black belt matches black shoes.

Socks must be a similar colour to your pants, not your shoes! And definitely no black shoes, white socks unless you want to look like Michael Jackson.  The only exception is if you want to show off your fashion sense (peacocking), then you wear socks that are in a different colour, e.g purple socks with a grey suit.

Photo via: blog.gotoohlala.com

This I see quite often, your collar must never be popped, be it for shirts or polo t-shirts, and never over your jacket lapel. It was only cool in the 1970s, not anymore.

If you wear a pocket square, never wear it with a matching tie, as this shows either you are trying too hard and have obsessive compulsive behaviour in matching clothing or have no clue on how to match different colours and patterns.

Photo via: paulmalone.eu

Also don’t mix silver with gold accessories. e.g Silver cufflinks, gold watch, silver rings.  You will look really ghetto.

Photo via: sflittlefashionista.blogspot.com 

And on a non-formal note, but I see this too often unfortunately, don’t wear boots with shorts. It makes you look so much shorter and it looks silly.

In addition, don't wear sunglasses indoors or at night, unless you are a blind person or a douche