Smart Buy - Stuck on Repeat

My dad owns six pairs of black lace-ups. Granted, they're all very nice black lace-ups- Ferragamo and Santoni constitute the bulk of his collection. But it makes me wonder. This is a man who, for the first five years of running his own business, wore a smart suit and tie to the office every day because he liked the look, even though he was the only one actually in the office. On a visit to New York last summer, he finally realized that he might have a problem. While strolling around the men's-shoe department at Bergdorf Goodman, he nearly closed the deal on a seventh pair of black lace-ups, ones made by Gucci. That is, until he couldn't remember whether or not he already owned them.

Don't get me wrong: I'm not saying he should stop dressing like a dad and go out and get a pair of Nike Dunks. I'm saying now that he has the black-lace-ups thing covered, he might want to look into other types of dress shoes. Maybe something in brown.There's a reason guys end up buying the same kind of clothing over and over again: It's comfortable and safe, and you know what you're getting into. And when you're overwhelmed with choices at a busy department store on a Sunday, and all you really want to be doing is watching the football game, that black cashmere crewneck or white polo is an easy out. Mostly, you keep gravitating toward that Ont thing because it works for you. But it's not the only item that will work for you.

For instance, maybe you're a guy who likes a dark tie with his solid white dress shirt. That doesn't mean you need to stockpile a dozen solid navy ties so you never upset the delicate balance of your look, just in case eleven of them simultaneously fall into a plate of spaghetti. Actually, you have quite a few options: a dark knit tie, a dark club tie, a dark patterned tie-and what about the whole wide wonderful world of widths! Skinny, slightly slimmer, classic medium width. See? All different ties, but all catering to your taste. (Notice how there's no mention of going the bolo route here.) Finding a groove when it comes to dressing is a good thingo Having a closet that screams RainMan is not.

Michael Macko, the men's-fashion director at Saks Fifth Avenue, thinks men aren't particularly adventurous when they shop. "Women grow up reading fashion magazines and think every six months they have to completely change their wardrobe;' he says. "Guys aren't conditioned that way. Most men are always going to be drawn to the same classic pieces, like a brown suede shoe or a pin-striped suit."

I get that. I mean, that's what I like about working at a men's-fashion magazine. I'm never going to have to try to sell a muumuu as the new suit for fall. Menswear is always going to be based on a uniform of sorts, and staying within that style boundary is essential. But a subtle detail can often update that one piece you can't stop wearing. GQ creative director Jim Moore suggests taking small steps toward change. If you buy only navy blue wool suits, opt for a cotton one that will hang better and feel cooler in the warm months. It's not earth-shattering, but it's a start.

I took a more radical route with my husband. When he first started working in finance, his closet slowly began cloning blue-and-white-checked button-down dress shirts. I eventually figured out what he liked about them: Light blue goes with everything and makes his complexion look fresh. Enter the pale pink shirt. He looked at me as if I'd asked him to put on a tutu and dance on his boss's desk. Then he slipped it on and gasp!- realized that pale pink goes with a lot of stuff, too. He likes the shirt so much he wants to buy a couple more. Figures.

Source: GQ Magazine