西裝不要日、夜混搭

Photo via Esquire.com

白天

Photo via searchingforstyle.com

沒有特別的規定，但淺色系比較恰當。白天時儘量避免穿黑西裝，那會讓你顯得嚴肅。而且在白天穿著黑色系衣服的視覺效果強烈，除非你上班地點在華爾街，不然還是低調點好。

晚上

即使不是出席正式場合，黑西裝還是很適合晚間活動，不過它確實會讓你看起來比較嚴肅；其他暗色系也都可以。另外，絨布的觸感柔軟，看起來很獨特，但請記得天鵝絨西裝只適合在晚上穿。我也看過不少西裝的布料閃到可以當鏡子，個人覺得超級無敵醜又沒質感，這種款式只適合去夜店時穿(但我想沒什麼女生會欣賞...)。

無論上班或面試，要有專業形象就是要穿西裝!

 上班&談生意

Photo via GQ

該穿什麼樣的西裝得看你公司的文化以及你身處的位階。假如你得要穿西裝，菜鳥應該要選擇相對保守的顏色和款式，通常是深灰、深藍或是黑色，而且最好是素面；如果老闆不介意，淺灰色也是不錯的選擇。扣子的數目以兩扣、三扣最恰當，一扣是偏休閒的設計在工作場合比較不適宜。
晉升到老鳥的你，要保守、要花俏都可以，條紋或是格子的款式也會有不同的風格。如果你想要讓自己看起來更有主管的架勢，則可以考慮合身雙排扣款式。

Photo via Askmen.com

面試

沒得選，不管是去哪家公司面試，西裝是你最佳且唯一的選擇，這也展現你對這份工作的重視。怎麼穿？簡單，保守就對了!你又不是在相親還是casting，讓他們留下印象的是你的能力、經驗而不是你的外表。你去面試穿西裝要合身，不可太寬鬆(給人感覺邋遢)，別忘了要燙衣服!襯衫顏色以白色或淺藍色為佳。千千萬萬要打領帶(深色且素面)!把西裝穿對、穿好會帶給他人具有專業形象的感覺，這也會讓對方更注意你。

photo via Sartorialist

When to Suit Up! Part 3

Photo via Suit Supply

During the day:

There aren’t many guidelines for wearing a suit generally during the daytime, although lighter colours are more suitable. Just remember try not to wear a black suit unless it’s for formal events. It makes your presence very serious, and makes you seem less approachable or like the men in black. Furthermore, black is a direct contrast to daytime, and so you will really stick out when walking down the street, unless its Wall Street :p.

Night time only:

Photo via Tom Ford

Black suits are quite suitable for night time wear, even if you are not attending a formal function, but again, it does make you seem more serious.  Other dark coloured suits are fine, but the velvet suit is only suitable for wear at night.  It is a very different style of suit, but you will definitely stand out, but the fabric does feel nice to touch, which is great when you are surrounded by girls.

I also see a number of suits that offer a very reflective shine to the point where I can see my reflection in the suit, like chrome grey, which in my opinion is really ostentatious to the point of vulgar. This type of suit is fine for going to night clubs with.  Anywhere else is just wrong.

正式場合就是要穿西裝!

首先，你必須了解買這套西裝的用意、目的為何。你會在什麼樣的場合穿這套西裝?夜店還是五星級飯店?是白天還是晚上進行的活動?是要上班穿還是去參加婚禮或派對?是正式場合還是休閒活動?從以上的問題你會知道，有些款式的西裝只適用於特定場合。你一定無法想像有人會穿著閃亮鐵灰色西裝配上花俏的襯衫去參加面試；當然，如果他是要去應徵馬戲團或是夜店公關應該是沒問題。

Photo via: Fashiz Mode

正式場合

婚禮、喪禮、晚宴等都算是正式場合。台灣男生參加婚禮時的穿著有時令我感到不可思議。難道婚禮不是人生中令人值得慶祝的重要場合嗎？當然我知道台灣社會與西方文化之間是有差異的，但穿著正式服裝出席婚禮我想是表達對新人和他們雙方家庭的基本尊重，這也意味著你在意這次的活動，你重視他們這件人生大事。西裝被視為正式服裝，上班族工作、見客戶穿西裝，學生課堂簡報穿西裝，但出席婚禮為何卻不穿？這道理說不通呀!通常女性出席正式場合都會打扮，男性是否也該表現一下呢？

如果你同意我的觀點，那麼身為一位紳士該如何穿著？出席正式場合是穿西裝，一般來說顏色以黑色為主或是深灰、深藍到接近黑。此外，西裝通常是兩顆扣子，圓領或是尖領都行。如果婚禮是白天舉行，穿淺灰色系西裝出席也是沒問題。白色西裝則是在熱帶國家的穿著。

Photo via Fashiz Mode

• 極為正式的場合要穿白襯衫搭配袖扣。
• 素色領帶或領結，不要用夾式的。男人該學會打領帶、或領結，不要再當高中生！不會打領帶不要說你是男人！
• 記得穿皮鞋，休閒鞋、運動鞋、拖鞋都是大忌。當然你沒得選，皮鞋只能是黑色。
• 你也可以加袋巾或手帕，而白色是最正式的。

以上所列是最正式的穿著重點，你可以依據個人風格稍稍變化，只是會比較不正式。

When to Suit Up! Part 2

When to suit up? Part 1

First and foremost is that you must know why you want to buy this suit. On what sorts of occasions do you think you will wear it?  What sorts of places will you be during those occasions? e.g night club as opposed to five star hotels? Will these events occur during the day or at night?  Is the suit for working at the office or attending a wedding and other fancy parties? Is it for formal or casual situations? 

As you can gather from my questions, there are certain suits only suitable for certain occasions.  Imagine a guy wearing a loud chrome suit with funky designs for a job interview, which is fine if it was for the circus or a nightclub, but totally wrong everywhere else. 

Formal Events:

Photo via: Mr Porter.com

This means funerals, black tie-events, and weddings.  I have been appalled by the lack of formal wear by so many Taiwanese men when they attend a wedding. Is the wedding not one of life’s most celebrated and important events? Naturally I am aware of the difference in cultures between Taiwan and Western society, but I still think it is a sign of respect to the married couple and their family. Suits are considered formal wear, yet we wear suits when we go to work, when we make presentations in class, but don’t wear suits when attending weddings?  How does that make sense? A lot of girls dress up for this event, why shouldn't guys do the same?

Assuming you agree with my opinion, what should a respectable gentleman wear to such events?  Obviously a suit or a tuxedo in this case, but generally a black suit is most appropriate. Dark charcoal and very dark blue is also fine, but if you are unsure, go with black for these situations. Normally it is a two button suit with shawl or peak lapels. Light to medium grey is fine when the wedding is during the day. White suits are only suitable if you are in the tropics or in a boy band.

Photo Via: Tom Ford

• To complete the ultra-formal look, wear a white shirt, as it is considered the most formal, with cuff-links. 
• Wear a solid black tie or bow-tie, no clip-ons! A man should know how to do his tie just like he knows how to pee while standing! If you don't, I highly recommend you learn otherwise you will lose soo much respect.
• Remember to wear leather dress shoes, no sneakers, no sports shoes, and definitely no slippers!! You can choose any colour, as long as its black.
• You can add a pocket square, but white is most formal.

The points above highlight what is considered the most formal. If you want to play around and add your own style, like I do, it will be less formal, but in this day and age, it is acceptable, since most people don't know what is formal anymore.

西裝是值得投資的

Photo via: xcitefun.net

男人的一生一定至少要有一套西裝，可能是工作需要或是參加婚禮，不然你當新郎的時候一定要穿吧!當男人穿上西裝的同時，也釋放出某種信號，旁人如何解讀就端看他穿什麼樣的西裝以及他會不會穿西裝。正確地穿一套好西裝會讓你看起來更專業、散發自信與魅力，Daniel Craig 就是最好的例子。相反地，不知道怎穿西裝，會讓你很俗氣。
儘管是老生常談，但買一套好西裝對男人來說一項值得的投資，如果你妥善保養它而且體格沒有變化太大，一套西裝是可以穿超過五、十年。
買西裝不如想像中的簡單，想買好西裝得做功課；西裝的領子要多寬?要幾扣?任何決定都會影響整體造型的感覺。

直到最近我才開始對西裝有所了解。曾經我以為買西裝只要版型、顏色看順眼，穿得下就好。回頭看，才發現自己像是個小孩在挑選數十年後的退休計畫，根本不知道自己的需求是什麼，付了大把鈔票卻買了尺寸太大或是品質不佳的西裝，還以為自己穿起來很帥，但我女朋友看了照片大笑說很像演歌仔戲的 >''<

當然買錯西裝不是罪大惡極，但如果你對此一無所知，覺隨便買就好，那你就冒著被當成小丑的風險。若你想要穿西裝看起來有模有樣，有些撇步是你購買時一定要知道的。

此外，不要傻傻的被銷售人員牽著鼻子走；她們常常不了解自己的商品，特別是在百貨公司。她們不了解你，也不懂你的需求是什麼，而且大部分的銷售人員(阿姨們)根本沒穿過西裝，業績才是她們所關心的。為了避免錯誤的決定，你應該要知道挑選西裝的要點為何。接下來幾篇文章會討論如何因應場合選擇合適的西裝。

Why guys should Suit Up!

Photo via: xcitefun.net

Every man in his life, at one time or another, will wear a suit, whether it is for work or for a wedding, a man needs to own at least one suit. When a guy puts on a suit, it makes a statement. The type of statement depends on the suit he is wearing and how he wears it.  It could make you appear professional, confident and powerful, like Mr Daniel Craig over here. It could also work against you by making you look tacky or old fashioned like some of the pictures in my previous post.

Despite the cliché, buying a decent suit is in fact an investment for guys, since you can wear it for many years, as long as you look after it or your physique doesn’t change drastically.

The truth is there is actually a lot to know about buying a suit and all the choices you make, actually do make a difference. Until recently, I had no idea of this at all.  Back then, I always thought, buying a suit was just choosing one that kind of fits and in the colour that I wanted. And so, looking back, I felt that I have been like a child choosing which retirement plan was best for me. Thus I made very poor choices in buying my suits and to this day I still shudder whenever I see old photos of me in suits, whereas my girlfriend falls over laughing everytime.

Of course it’s not as serious as I make it out to be. If you know nothing about suits, and think it is okay to just randomly buy one, then you are very welcome to risk looking like a clown. If you would like to look decent in a suit, you would need to understand certain factors before deciding what suit to procure. 

On an aside, please don’t blindly listen to salespeople; they actually don’t know what they are selling, especially in the department stores.  They don’t know you and don’t truly understand what your needs are, since most of them are aunties who have never worn a suit. They just want to make the sale. In order to prevent yourself from being duped, you need to know what to look for in a suit.  The next few articles aim to discuss the different types of suits suitable for different occasions.

Your thoughts on these suits?

So I found a few pictures online of guys wearing suits, and I would like to know what your thoughts are for each person and how they come across to you as. e.g Photo A looks cool or silly because.... Please can you comment below or on facebook.  Thank you :)

                

                                                      Photo A via: Getty Images                                              Photo B via: The Sartorialist

                    

                                                     Photo C via: Suitored.com                                                Photo D via: Style Blogger

這些西裝如何?

我在網路上看到一些穿西裝的男人，想問你們對各照片的想法和印象。例如照片A看起來很帥因為等等。請在這部落格或facebook留言，謝謝!

                

                                                      Photo A via: Getty Images                                              Photo B via: The Sartorialist

                    

                                                     Photo C via: Suitored.com                                                Photo D via: Style Blogger

But we do judge a book by its cover

Photo A via: lhspodcast.info

I know there is a saying which states: “never judge a book by its cover.” However if we meet a stranger, the first thing that we can assess them by, i.e our first impression, is their appearance just like how a product's packaging affects our perception of it.

Photo B via: sikworld.com

For example, look at photo A: What do you think of this person? Would you lend him a million bucks? And no, I'm not talking about Zimbabwean Dollars. Does he look like he drives around in Ferraris?  




Looking at this fine gentleman in photo B. Do you think you can trust him with your life? Maybe he has a heart of gold?  

Photo C via: roseborn.com  

Then what about this person in photo C?  What impressions do you get from him? Would you lend him money? It’s more likely you are going to borrow money from him.

So, my point is that appearances do count. I have said this countless times now and I’m sure you’re tired of reading this, but from my personal experiences, I can’t stress its importance enough. Whether it is for doing business, work, meeting new friends or dating, appearances count a lot. Thus, shouldn’t we try to be presentable most of the time?  Naturally I am not saying image is everything,  in fact our values and principles are the most important, however I have been really surprised by how many doors have opened for me, literally and figuratively ever since I started to care about how I dress.  

So for the next couple of articles, I want to discuss buying suits, the epitome of men’s formal wear. I would really appreciate it if you can give me any feedback and comments as well as what issues or topics you think are worth discussing.

以貌取人?

Photo A via: lhspodcast.info

有句話說:「別以貌取人。」但如果我們第一次跟陌生人見面，我們先會從他的外表和穿著觀察是什麼樣的人，再思考要用什麼樣的態度或語氣來面對。

舉例來說，你覺得照片A的老人是什麼樣的人?

 你願意借他100萬嗎? 他看起來是會開法拉利的人嗎?

photo B via: sikworld.com

再來看照片B，你覺得這樣的人值得信任嗎? 
他是個心地善良的好人嗎?

最後來看照片C的男人，你有甚麼感想?

你願意借他錢嗎?還是你向他借錢的機會比較大?

Photo C via:roseborn.com

依據我的經驗，無論是在工作場合、社交活動等方面，外表的確有其重要性，雖然我說過n次了! 我還是要強調外表真的很重要。

當然，外表不是一切，我們的內涵才是最重要的。然而，自從我開始注意穿著，我發現周遭的朋友對我的觀感有所轉變，甚至是與陌生人接觸時，我可以感受到他們對我特別友善。


接下來幾篇文章，我會討論如何買一套好西裝，畢竟西裝是男人最正式的服裝。

如果有任何的想法、意見或是你覺得有什麼值得討論的話題都歡迎提出來分享、討論。