5 Essential Style Tips for Men in their 30’s

In your twenties, you’re figuring out who you are and who you want to be. By the time you hit thirty, you have a strong sense of self and know all the aspects of your personality. This brings the challenge of creating a wardrobe that reflects who you are while allowing you to live your life as seamlessly as possible. That generally involves updating the wardrobe you had in your 20s without looking like your father. Here are five essential style tips for men in their 30’s.

Stop Experimenting

While there isn’t a hard and fast rule about this, when you turn thirty, you shouldn’t be alternating between multiple, radically different styles. But you can still do more than wear a different style tie with your black suit each day. Instead, find a style that suits you and vary your wardrobe around that. To look more mature, stick with staple outfits and avoid single-season trends that may not look good on you. A Fashion faux pas will hurt you more now than it would have a decade ago.

When you do add variety to your wardrobe, go for extra versions of what you wear most often. For example, buy a few taupe and dark grey t-shirts in addition to the white ones in your closet. Or break up the black in your wardrobe with a few navy pieces. If your wardrobe is less formal and you still want to go for a more current street style without going overboard, opt for an Off-White hoodie or an Off-White t-shirt. Luxury streetwear brands are usually more tasteful than mainstream ones and you can still pull a cool streetwear look without looking like a kid.

If you’re into the luxury street wear style and don’t know where to look, online stores like SSENSE are the perfect place to start as they have everything you could ever need. They carry pretty much every major brand, whether it be Saint Laurent, Gucci or Balenciaga, and have tons of great high-quality streetwear pieces to choose from.

Find Your Personal Uniform

Your thirties are the best time to find your personal uniform and stick with it. If you like the sport blazer and shirt logo, then make find various ways to layer your pieces. Or you could look at different fabrics, patterns and color variations when looking for sports coats. Find what works for you and make subtle variations to mix things up.

Figure Out Which Labels Work for You

Clothes’ shopping still remains daunting for many men because there are so many options. A good way to simplify clothes shopping is to determine which clothing labels almost always look good on you. You may be able to determine this by collecting everything you wear on a regular basis that looks good on you and noting which labels and clothes’ lines they are. If there’s a definite trend, then that’s what you’d want to order in bulk in the few classic colors so that you have enough clothes on hand to get through the week.

Once you find a brand that works for you, consider ordering them online and buying multiple pieces so that you can have the clothes delivered to your home or office without having to spend the weekend searching for those particular sizes, styles and cuts in the store.

Go for Quality, Not Quantity

Now that you know what looks good on you and projects the image you want the world to see, your wardrobe should have at least a few classic placeholders – things you wear almost every day in some form. Instead of buying as many shirts, pants and shoes as possible, opt for higher quality items. After all, you’re going to be wearing them regularly for years.

Save up and gradually upgrade the items you own; you’ll end up with a closet full of better looking, more durable outfits. And good quality pieces will last you a lot longer, which makes them a better investment in the long run. Not only that, but since you’ll be buying more classic pieces from now on, you won’t have to worry about them going out of style any time soon.

Find Multi-Purpose Clothing Options

Instead of trying to create multiple perfect outfits throughout the day, look for items that can serve you throughout the day. Go for a versatile Saint Laurent backpack instead of switching bags all day, whether you take it to work or the gym. Select a go-anywhere overcoat over one that only works for you when you’re at work. At this point in life, you shouldn’t only be thinking about how good an outfit looks, but how functional they are as well.

You should have a sense of the right size, style and brands that make you look good by now. Start investing in classic items that will last a lifetime, but still find a way to express your personal style by opting for higher end items.