James Gallichio - The Fundamentals of Style: An illustrated guide to dressing well

My day job is personal styling. That is, I work with men ofall ages, shapes, sizes and budgets and help them find clothes that fit their body,their lifestyle and their personality.

During these consultations, I need to learn as much about myclients as possible; what they do for fun, what kind of clothes they currentlywear, even things as seemingly-innocuous as the kind of books they read or thekind of music theyre drawn to. All of this helps to narrow down the bestdirection to take their style. The easiest way to do this is to simply visitthe clients house not only to assess their current wardrobe, but also to geta sense of their possessions and surroundings.

Often, Im caught off-guard like the time I visited aclient who dressed quite conservatively, only to find that his house was aquasi-bondage-chamber. Another surprising house call was for a client in hislate-teens a 6-figure-a-year poker champion living in a penthouse apartment who owned no furniture, no cutlery and no clothes save for a baggy pair ofjeans and an old green t-shirt.

Enter John (name changed for confidentiality purposes). John was a young guy, 21, who wanted a dapper, suave and mature style. When hewalked into a room, he wanted people to think This guys in control.

As soon as he said this, I knew I was in for a challenge.Not only did he have a young and chubby face, but he was also socially awkwardand unaware of social propriety. Far removed from dapper,suave and mature.

But Im always up for a challenge, and I had some greatthings planned for John that I thought would help him look great and becomemore confident.

When I visited his room I was shocked. A single bed, adornedwith racing car bed sheets; bikini-clad Ralph and Maxim posters all overthe walls; a fine layer of dust coating everything in sight.

This is the gent who wanted to be suave, cool and mature.

I had an honest talk with him and relayed a sentiment that Inow share with every one of my clients:

Dressing well, being charming, having confidence, having astrong sense of style none of this is about the clothes you wear. Niceclothes dont automatically make you better than anyone else, nor do theysuddenly give you something that you didnt have before. Being a well-dressed,modern man is not a mask that you put on in the morning and take off at night;it has to envelop every part of you.

I asked John to imagine Sean Connerys James Bond, a character who exemplified his ideal John. Imaginehim, all suave and cool, charming people wherever he goes. Now imagine himcoming home to a bedroom with FHM posters on the wall and racing car bedsheets. It would simply never happen.

Being a modern man requires confidence, self-control,respect and charm. These arent attributes that this book can magically providefor you; you have to learn them for yourself.

But I can sure as hell make you look good while you do it.