Shopping Strategies For Men

By Matthew Stefanson
[Men's Fashion]
What area of the store should you never ignore?  Matthew Stefanson shares some ideas for making a shopping trip bearable.
It has long been a contention of the female race that men cannot be trusted to dress themselves and that's not entirely untrue.  We're unfortunate beings for the most part, which is why most of our major shopping expeditions will be overseen by a female relative, lover or friend from the time that we're born to the time that we die.  But it doesn't have to be that way.  Men have not fully developed the area of their brain that governs shopping practices, but we can learn.  In fact, our natural impatience and frugality can be a great boon to shopping expeditions.  We just have to learn the finer points.

Fitting Rooms

Men tend to make rushed decisions when they're shopping.  Sometimes that means picking something that really doesn't suit you, but most of the time it just means that we buy ill fitting clothing.  For this reason, you need to make use of the fitting rooms.  Everything that you are thinking about buying needs to be tested first, whether it's a pair of shoes or a t-shirt.

Our natural urge to finish the daunting task of clothes shopping pushes us to cut and run before really getting through the necessary work of it.  The most likely outcome of buying something off the rack without trying it on is that you'll pay $80 for a pair of pants that would get you carried away in a heavy windstorm.

The Proper Fit

Men also have trouble with the fitting of clothing itself.  They tend to go too baggy, for the most part.  Maybe it's because the fashions of the 90s haven't been quite erased form our memories yet or maybe it's because we just lack the personal awareness to realize that we're swaddled in an unnecessary two yards of fabric.  So here it is.

Pants should fit snugly around the waist so that they can mostly stay up without the aid of a belt.  The legs should never be wide enough to accommodate two human legs; one and bit is fine for everyone.  Shirts should move enough so that you can bend over without exposing a lot of back or butt crack, but should also be pretty tight around the shoulders.  Not constricting, just tight enough to form to the shape of your shoulders rather than draping over them.  Sweaters and such things that go over other articles of clothing can be somewhat baggy, but still not loose.  You want them to conform to the shape of your body without causing your underclothes to bunch and buckle.
NEXTContinued on next page...