Chris' Secrets: The White V-Neck

You're not going to believe it, and you're probably going to laugh, but I'm being dead serious. You know that part of my little mission statement where I tell you about how this blog is not GQ? Well, this post is sure proof of that. This is one of my biggest style tips, and I'm glad to finally share it with all of you. I wear these 3-pack v-necks almost every day. I prefer the Hanes and Jockey brands, because they are tagless and don't have any logos on the outside of the shirt, which cannot be said for the Polo Ralph Lauren versions. Yeah, I might be cheap for buying shirts out of a 3-pack, but I'd rather save the money on these because I wear them all them time and are constantly having to replace them.

Help Me Help You!

I'm so glad that so many people have been on board with my blog. I've been getting so much positive feedback, and I'm so thankful that all of you out there love reading my posts just as much as I love writing them. People are always asking me "how do I wear this?" or "Are these things cool or stupid?" and I (most of the time) have an answer. Now I'm going to ask something of you.

I want YOU to tell me what you want to hear about, ask me the questions that you have, and let me know your opinions. I want this blog to be more than just me spewing out words to the public. I want you to be able to find the answers you need here.

Comment on this post, message me on Facebook, or email me at youngmansstyleguide@gmail.com, and help me help you!

Never Again: Flip Flops

I know I'm gonna get a lot of heat for this, but I guess my first new post needs to be something spicy.

Back in the day, once the summer came around, all I wore were flip flops. They were easy, didn't require socks, and could be slipped on or off at a moments notice. I was 16. At that time, my biggest concern was figuring out how many people I could cram into my two door '96 Honda Civic so that all my friends could go walk around the Southern Park Mall with me. Recently, I've been noticing flip flops everywhere, and realizing how not masculine they are. I don't know if its my obsession with shoes, but they're just very feminine to me all of a sudden, and this is coming from a person who wore a wine colored leopard patterned lightning bolt sleeveless shirt and leather pants to the mall the other day. The femininity of these "thong" sandals (Sisqo would be so proud) aren't the only negative of the flip flop. I've compiled a small list (as always, after the jump):

Avoiding the Cold: Thick Socks

The worst part of winter is just around the bend, and it's easy for us to forget how cold the first few months of the year can get. Most of us have packed away our sandals and light summer footwear, but that doesn't mean that we can't wear some of our lighter footwear in the winter. All we really need is a pair of thick socks.

Not let me preface the rest of this article with a few things. I am in no way, shape, or form telling you to wear your sandals in the winter with thick socks. If you have half a brain you will understand that. Summer footwear is summer footwear, and a lot of it is not acceptable to wear in the winter. Here are a few rules I've come up with in order to narrow down your thick-sock-appropriate shoe selection.

Never Again: Basketball Shorts

Ok, so before you all get your pitchforks, form a large mob outside of where I live, and demand to have my head on a stake, let me preface this article with a few sentences. We all love basketball shorts. Their comfort surpasses anything else we could possibly put on our body. These gifts from the gods allow men's balls to go whereever the fuck they want, provided we are wearing the correct underwear. And you know how men are about the comfort and freedom of their testicles. That being said, there is a time and there is definitely a place to wear this particular clothing item, and "Everywhere, every day, at every time" is not an option in my book. Before I begin to yell at you and tell you all the places that you shouldn't wear basketball shorts, let me show you a list of places that I have deemed completely acceptable to show off your favorite pair of baller legwear.

Thread Review: Rainboots

In honor of Sandy, I decided it was time to do a post about a clothing item that I utilize more frequently than the average young man. Yes, my friends, I'm talking about rainboots. The weather is fucking ridiculous out there right now, and if you've been outside for more than a few seconds you've probably come to the realization that the nike shox, boat shoes, or flip flops that are on your feet are no match for a storm of this magnitude. So how long will it be until they start making shoes that keep your feet dry in a hurricane?!?!

Oh wait, they already have.

Men are scared of things like rainboots. They are for girls, and heaven forbid if a guy did something girly. Lately, though, clothing designers have been coming out with men's rainboots that are anything but girly. Here's a few types of footwear that will keep your feet nice and dry in the face of hurricane Sandy.

Never Again: Ripped Jeans

We all remember them. We all wanted them. We all tried to make them ourselves with a pair of scissors or a piece of sandpaper. Ripped jeans. These were once a staple item in all of our 15-year-old wardrobes. I used to walk past the Abercrombie & Fitch window and look at the gorgeously tattered and paint splattered pairs of jeans, wishing my mom would just be "a cool mom" and spend $175 on that denim form of euphoria I wanted so badly.

Fast forward to today. I would not DARE buy anything that has rips, tears, snags, or paint on it. Remember your dad telling you how stupid you were for buying jeans with holes in them, and how you looked like a homeless bum when you wore them? Well, he was right. I could go off and bitch at you for another two paragraphs about how stupid you look in ripped jeans, but I'm not gonna do that this time. I'm just going to let my reasons speak for themselves.