I think most men grimace at the idea of wearing a suit. There seems to be a preconceived notion that a suit stifles a man’s style. But, that’s a misnomer. In fact, a suit can help a man express his unique nature and personality. And there’s four ways to accomplish that: fit, color and pattern, accessories and shoes.

Let’s start with fit. Guys, I’m going to make this really easy for you: go to a tailor. That’s it. Simple. Take your suit to a tailor and have him tailor the suit to fit your specific body. This is the key to making a $200 suit look like an $800 suit.

Second is color and pattern. What is your favorite color? And for this instance, black doesn’t count. What color looks best on you? Select a nicely colored shirt to express your individuality and complement your skin tone. And if you’re feeling really adventurous, select a dress shirt with a pattern on it. You can choose a shirt with a tone on tone pattern in order to avoid clashing with any pattern in your tie.

Speaking of ties, that is one of your most important accessories. If you select a solid colored dress shirt, wear a tie with a bold pattern that incorporates the color of your shirt. Another option is to select a tie in the same color family as your shirt, for a tone on tone look. Again, consider your personality. Which shirt and tie combination expresses the kind of guy you are?

Don’t forget a pocket square and cuff links. To really class up your look, select a dress shirt with French cuffs so you can show off your personality through a pair of cufflinks. This is a spectacular way to express your personality, because they come in a variety of styles, including humorous, sports-oriented and designer. You can really personalize your suit look with a pair of engraved cufflinks, too. The options are endless.

Lastly are your shoes. Just as is the case with women, men’s shoes complete their outfits, too. Special occasions that call for a suit also call for a nice pair of shoes. Now is not the time to skimp on the shoes. If you can, splurge on a pair of Italian designer dress shoes. If you can’t, try Aldo shoe stores. Their shoes look like high-end designer shoes, but for about half the price. And don’t forget to shine them!

One more tip: think about the underwear. Guys are just as vulnerable to panty lines as women are. When wearing a suit, consider wearing boxer shorts or boxer briefs to keep everything looking smooth.

Style tip: This boot looks better with the shaft worn outside the pants. Trust me on this one.

Image from Moxsie.com.

In fashion, it seems downright chic to have womenswear borrow from menswear, but vice versa really doesn’t seem to ever work. Prime example? These “man”diators (or  “lad”iators as my boyfriend calls them) are absolutely absurd. I recently spotted them in the TopMan section of Topshop, and every guy that I’ve shown them to this past week has essentially responded with “you couldn’t pay me to wear those”. Priced at $60-$70, I have absolutely no clue who will be actually buying them; I mean, check out the colors that they come in!  If they weren’t so large in size they could easily be mistaken for women’s shoes. The only guy that could barely pull these off was Russell Crowe in the movie Gladiator, and I’d like to keep it that way.

- Julia DiNardo