Let’s kick things off with a funny fact… During the development stages of sneakers, they were easily made that they couldn’t make a right or left shoe.
Sneakers were unidirectional like socks, jokes right? No! It’s a fact.
Sneakers have a rich history, rising through basketball – a gentleman’s game. It’s through basketball that sneakers broke even.
There’s a rule about clothing that I love to call the chain rule. The chain is as strong as its weakest link.
Similarly, for a clothing to be classified as formal or casual, any lowest class of cloth or shoe you have, is the deciding factor.
Say you get the killer formal look but in place of a shirt you have a t-shirt, that look is casual no matter what.
If you have a formal official look with sneakers, that’s by default a casual look.
Wardrobe moments should be easy. But as men, anything goes.
One of the key components of smart casual is that there’s plenty of room for creativity. You have the freedom to mix dressier and more casual items, and bend the rules to suit your own tastes.
If there was a spectrum from casual → business casual → dressed up, smart casual is actually its own side branch.
These are the 5 golden rules to always remember when you wanna jump into your sneaker.
- Pants first, then shoes.
Common sense is not common. This applies to wearing your sneakers. You don’t want to look like a clown in sneakers.
The size and colour of your pants should match perfectly with your sneakers. They should marry without forcing them.
Remember too much of something is…. Go slow on the extra fabric and have a neat look.
- Focus on length.
Your pants should neither cover your sneakers nor be between the knee and the ankle.
It should just be a perfect fit for neatness.
Anything else needs an attention of a tailor or use a cuff.
- All gym shoes are sneakers, but not all sneakers are gym shoes.
Know where and when a sneaker feels at home.
Just like the animals kingdom, some casual scenarios are too casual than others. There’s also a difference between a casual shoe and a sporty shoe.
You don’t want your sneaker feeling our of place with you in it.
- Imagine it’s a dress shoe: Sleek, low profile, high quality leather
If the sneaker looks complex, don’t make things more complex with your dressing.
The purpose of all kind of clothing and apparels are to complement each other, and this they should do with a high level of precision.
- Age doesn’t matter.
Sneakers are a go to for people of all ages.
A 50 year old will look explicit and so will a 12 year old.
Just make sure the other ingredients of your look marry well to the sneaker.