Derek Guy – better known as Twitter’s “menswear guy” – would quite men wear” chicken suits” to work than the existing business casual trend: orange dress shirt, thin low- rise chinos, a Patagonia vest, and a pair of dress sneakers.
” It’s a truly dirty aesthetic”, Guy told Fortune.
The outfit – which some have called the “finance mate outfit”– is chocolate, shows little character, and is not flattering to the body, he said.
Those who have recently visited X ( formerly Twitter ) might not initially be taken off guard by Guy’s opinion.
The California-based, Canadian-born fashion blog needs politicians and celebrities for their style choices, earning nearly one million fans on X.
Beyond the normal fashion critics, Guy’s sartorial advice has been read by many X users since he mysteriously went viral last year.
But, Guy is not the formality-obsessed whiner that his detractors portray him to be. Instead, he wants men to wear clothes that make them feel satisfied, and great, instead of putting on the same even for job every time.
He said,” We live in a time where there are more freedom and options than ever.” ” It’s just that many guys do n’t take advantage of it”.
Most funding bros do n’t get happiness in their switch- ups and chinos, Guy believes, because they’re not meant to look good, it’s just the perfunctory clothing, something you put on to look nice.
Males fear that stepping outside those norms could lead to taunting, looking disrespectful, or appearing to formal or trapped- up.
Guy dismisses those concerns. In the post–work- from- home period, where office culture is navigating fresh norms of casualness, we’ve landed on the “ugliest” version of the business everyday cosmetic, he said.
According to him, men still want to look formal, but are afraid of sticking out.
” I would rather you put on clothes and be like,’ I feel awesome'”, Guy said.
How should men navigate the new, casual office culture, while also looking good? The answer, Guy said, begins with a tailored sport coat.
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Start formal, then move down
Try your best to incorporate a custom sport coat into your outfit, Guy advised.
The piece gives men a silhouette with broader shoulders and a slimmer waist, which is flattering, he added.
How should a sport coat be styled? Men should try a classic, formal work outfit, and then adjust elements of the outfit based on office culture, Guy said.
He recommends wearing gray wool pants, leather dress shoes, and button-down oxfords, which are layered underneath a navy sport coat.
Many men may find that too formal for the office, Guy said. So swap out the pants for chinos. If that’s still too dressy, try jeans, a long- sleeve polo, and simple white sneakers rather than dress shoes.
If the sport coat still feels too dressy, try a shirt with some texture.
For the winter, a textured sweater: an Irish fisherman, cable- knit, or Shetland knit. In the summer, a Johnny collar polo, camp collar shirt, or a T- shirt with a cardigan is “much more interesting” than a button- down.
Men can find inspiration in brands, or in other businessmen who have good style, Guy said.
Classic brands like J. Crew, Todd Snyder, and Buck Mason excel at providing alternatives to dress shirts, he noted.
One man who has mastered nice- looking business casual is Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, Guy added.
Rocking cardigans, polos, and T- shirts with a sport coat, Mosseri is Guy’s style icon for the new return- to- work men’s wear.
However, if after trying the new shirts it does n’t feel as right as the dress shirt – fine, Guy said, but at least make it fit well. He suggests the online store Proper Cloth, which creates custom-fit, made-to-order dress shirts that are pricey but well worth the price.
Stop wearing skinny chinos
Guy advised that you consider how to dress to fit your body type the best.
He noted that” a lot of guys are squeezing into these really slim fit chinos that do n’t flatter them.”
” It does n’t mean that nobody should wear skinny pants, but skinny pants have to work with the aesthetic, and they do n’t really work with a business- professional aesthetic”.
As a result, Guy advised you to choose a slightly baggier-fitting pair of pants so that your silhouette appears more rounded out.
It’s easy to test if your pants are too small, Guy added. If your hip pockets are protruding, your pants are too tight across your hips, as you might observe in the mirror. If your legs are wrinkling, they might be too tight on your legs.
If you catch a three- way- mirror, check out how your pants fit across your legs. If they’re causing ripples down the back, that’s another sign the pants are too small.
” When you get the fit right and things drape well, they look better”, Guy said. ” Versus when guys are squeezing themselves into these tight shirts, they end up constricting, and it does n’t flatter you, and it does n’t feel comfortable”.
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Above all, wear the leather jacket, or whatever makes you feel the best
There’s another route Guy would prefer that finance bros follow: Wear whatever you want, including a leather jacket, in the manner of Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO.
” Huang dresses pretty stylishly”, Guy said.
If a true-blue casualness in the office, including trucker or leather jackets,” that would be better than forcing everyone into this business casual, that has neither the flattering effects of tailoring nor the creative expression possible for casual wear,” he said.
We might as well move beyond judging people on their clothing in a world of Bill Gates ‘ T-shirts and Huang’s leather jackets, he said. We have forgone long-held notions of respectability.
Someone in a T-shirt should be expected to perform the same level of work as someone in a suit at work.
” A lot of guys are so scared of exploring, that they assume that if they wear the wrong jacket, something bad’s gonna happen”, Guy said. ” I do n’t think the world’s that bad”. – The New York Times