Upgrade Your Wardrobe

Pick up steam
A commercial-grade steamer like the Rowenta IS8100 heats up in 90 seconds, is faster than ironing, and won’t risk scorching your shirt. Give your dress shirts an extra wear instead of taking them straight to the cleaners, and the steamer will pay for itself in 3 months. $150. bedbathandbeyond.com

Safeguard your shoes
Use cedar-based shoe trees to add extra life to your wingtips. Unlike plastic, cedar absorbs moisture and neutralizes odors, so it does a more thorough job of preserving the leather’s integrity. We like the Sir Alton tree from Johnston & Murphy. $25. amazon.com

Size up your tie
A tie should be between 3 and 4 inches wide and should hit the top of your belt buckle. Don’t be afraid to wear a patterned tie on a patterned shirt—stripes on checks, dots on stripes, even stripes on stripes if they’re different widths.

Spot a quality leather shoe
Here are three ways: (1) The sole will be sleek and the stitching discreet; (2) the leather will be smooth and soft to the touch; and (3) the person selling them won’t try to convince you that they’ll be comfortable “once you break them in.”

Look at pants, pick shoes
Wear black shoes with black pants. Period. With navy pants, wear caramel or chocolate brown shoes—never black. Just remember: Black and blue = bad.

Look at shoes, pick belt
Sandals or flip-flops require a nautical ribbon belt. Casual brown suede loafers look great with a brown suede belt and rugged buckle. For work, match the polish of your leather shoes with the finish of a minimalist, slick leather belt.

Fit your suit in four steps
1. Button the jacket and check to see if it lies comfortably yet a little snugly against your chest.
2. Confirm that the sleeves fall between your thumb cleavage and your wrists.
3. Check that your shoulder seams hit only slightly past your shoulders.
4. Ensure that your overcoat covers the bottom of the jacket. It’s smart to buy a sport coat one size larger so it can be worn over sweaters.

Wear the right shades
Colors that are too close to your skin tone tend to wash you out. Contrasting bright colors and whites look great on tanned or olive-skinned men. If you have a fair complexion, go with soft pastels and earth tones.

Fold a shirt like a pro
Button all the buttons and lay the shirt out, shirtfront down. Fold the sleeves back from the shoulder seams. To prevent the fabric from creasing across your stomach, fold the tail up from the bottom buttons. Fold the shirt in half, turn it over, and you’re done.

Match your watch and occasion
Thinner, shinier, and smaller generally means more formal. Thicker, duller finish, and more bells and whistles means more casual. The just-right watch shows attentiveness to detail, which marks you as a guy to both hire and desire.

Dress smarter
A Harvard study found that dressing comfortably can boost your brainpower. In a study of 88 students, those wearing sweats earned higher marks on cognitive-ability tests than those in suits. Discomfort may distract the brain and make it harder to retrieve information, says study author Richard Bell, Ph.D. We’re not suggesting you wear sweats to work, but lose the tie, okay?

Clean your closet, make money
According to Andy Antipin, who makes his living auctioning as many as 150 items a week on eBay, these are the hottest sellers online: baseball and football cards (pre-1985), children’s books (pre-1980), comics (pre-1980), Italian glass, Marilyn Monroe stuff, nonfiction topical books, political and space-program pins, postcards from 1900 to 1950 (especially town views and industrial sites), royal memorabilia, Three Stooges memorabilia, TV memorabilia from the ’60s and ’70s, and toys from the ’50s to ’70s.

Read on for the 8 Rules of Dressing Slimmer

The 8 rules of dressing slimmer

Rule 1: Hide big problems with small patterns
Knits with small, textured patterns and dress shirts with fine, subtle designs draw the eye in, focusing it away from the larger problem.

Rule 2: Punt the pleats
Pleated pants only add more material to your waist, which makes it look as if you’re smuggling a small pig under your belt. Flat-front pants show off a thin waist and help disguise a heftier one.

Rule 3: Strip down with pinstripes
Most suits are naturally slimming, because the monochromatic color and texture “create an unbroken vertical line from neck to toe,” says Mary Lou Andre, editor of Dressingwell.com. But pinstripes do the job even more efficiently: They guide eyes up and down, not across. A sharp crease works, too.

Rule 4: Untuck and cover
Any shirt that can be worn untucked helps hide heft. Important caveat: The shirt must be flat-bottomed. Also, avoid any upper-body gear (sweaters, Windbreakers) with elastic bottoms: They cause the material to bunch up at your waist, making even a thin man look heavy.

Rule 5: Bring the buttons lower
Choose one- or two-button jackets, which reveal a deeper triangle of shirt above the top button, calling attention away from your stomach. And don’t wear double-breasted suits. They minimize that triangle.

Rule 6: Get fitted for fitness
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that baggy clothes will hide any flaws—often, they accentuate them. And don’t make the even worse mistake of thinking that the pants you bought 3 years ago when you were a 34 waist still work now that you’re a 36. If you can’t fit a thumb comfortably under your waistband without inhaling, or if you have to cinch the pants tight to keep them up, it’s time to go shopping. Same thing with tops: When your clothes are form-fitting, your form looks more fitting.

Rule 7: Turn down the contrast
A dark shirt worn with khaki pants cuts you in half at the waist, making you look shorter and wider. The same shirt with dark gray slacks de-emphasizes your waistline and boosts your altitude a bit. Same with belts: A black belt over light pants says, “Look right here, it’s my waistline!”

Rule 8: Say goodbye to your old crew
Relegate crewnecks to the closet; they make your face look rounder. The point of a V-neck makes you appear taller and leaner, and helps reduce any creeping jowl formation. For dress shirts, stay away from spread collars and look for point collars, which help minimize facial roundness.