A new style guide takes the hassle out of grooming and fashion for the average man, finds Jon Perks.
If you weren’t blessed with the looks of Jude Law or have the dress sense of Jonathan Ross or Frank Gallagher from Shameless, don’t despair.
Help is at hand.
A new tome, The Chic Geek’s Fashion, Grooming and Style Guide For Men, aims to give all of us some helpful pointers to look our best, even if we’ve not been born drop dead handsome and with the style eye of Tom Ford.
Author Marcus Jaye, who edits The Chic Geek website he launched two years ago, says men shouldn’t think of style and fashion as a competition with winners and losers – it’s about making the most of what you have:
“It’s basically looking at yourself as an individual,” says Marcus, who also used to edit the Style Spy column for GQ.com.
“Say for instance you’re tall and thin and pale and blond, there’s no point in wanting to be like George Clooney, that’s just ridiculous. The idea is to look at your type and be the best of your type.
“Worst case scenario, say you’re short, fat and ugly – you can be the best short, fat and ugly guy and that guy can be really attractive and it can be attainable.
“The way style journalism is written, it can be very exclusive to the point of excluding people, and it’s all very much along the lines of ‘you’re never going to look like Captain America, don’t bother’; it’s not about that, it’s about everyone being the best of themselves.
“There’s no right or wrong in fashion, it’s just better or worse; it’s about training your eye to recognise what looks good, the confidence to take things off and know when to stop.”
The Chic Geek guide is both practical and entertaining, with sections devoted to advice on grooming, every clothing item from cufflinks to socks, what to wear, a ‘geekapedia’ glossary of terms, picture gallery of real people looking stylish and an ‘ask the geek’ section, which allows readers to email the guru for advice on how to look their best.
There’s also a handy list of never-ever fashion no-nos – medallions, bandanas, leather trousers and mankinis amongst the list of ultimate fashion faux-pas.
