10 Style Resolutions to Make in 2022

It isn’t easy to make changes on your own accord — especially when it comes to how you look (or smell). Making alterations to your wardrobe might be easy for some, but others hold onto items for decades. I commend anyone for keeping items that truly can withstand such repetitive wear — you go, Mr. Sustainable — but you’re worthy of a refresh, I promise.

It’s time to assess the clothes you wear, the products you use to take care of your hair and skin, your spending habits and those you associate yourself with. No, I’m not saying you should distance yourself from friends and family — just from fast fashion brands.

Below you’ll find 10 style resolutions both big and small you should make this year. Think of it as a personal rebranding.

Shop Vintage More Often

Evan Malachosky

Evan Malachosky

It’s the best way to be sustainable with your spending — to buy clothes that already exist. Shopping “found” first — meaning items first owned by someone else and then discovered by you, whether at a thrift store, flea market or estate sale — is a philosophy I’ve doubled down on over the past calendar year. To me, new items are derived from older designs 99-percent of the time. And it’s been far more fun chasing down the original source of inspiration rather than the affordable imitation.

Late Louis Vuitton Artistic Director Virgil Abloh told Dazed in 2020 that this decade will be one in which fashion-minded folks move past streetwear and on to used clothing: “In my mind, how many more t-shirts can we own, how many more hoodies, how many sneakers? I think that we’re gonna hit this really awesome state of expressing your knowledge and personal style with vintage – there are so many clothes that are cool that are in vintage shops and it’s just about wearing them. I think that fashion is gonna go away from buying a box-fresh something; it’ll be like, ‘hey I’m gonna go into my archive.'”

Embrace Accessories

An antique-ish ring, a pearl necklace, a burger-sized stack of bold bracelets — the options are endless. Let 2022 be the year you fully embrace accessories. Or, if you’re a seasoned expert already, try a new one. Not only do they add interest to otherwise plain outfits (and we’re not calling you boring, per se — we all love a uniform), but they can be a useful tool for establishing a personal style. Be known for your necklace, or recognizable by your rings.

Establish a Signature Scent

Chandler Bondurant

Sure, fragrances are easy to find. Maybe you picked yours out at a local department store; found it slipped in your holiday stocking; or scored it for free because your partner complained about your, well, stink.

Don’t let your aroma be an afterthought. Go out of your way to establish a signature scent — and, ideally one for both spring/summer and fall/winter. (You could walk around smelling woodsy in the sweltering sun, but something a bit more citrusy feels appropriate.)

Ditch the Cinch

It’s 2022; it’s time to say goodbye to joggers and pants with unflattering, functionally-flawed hems. I’m talking about cinched hems; the kind that tighten around your ankle and look a little bit like a scrunchie.

If you need, for whatever reason, to really taper your pants, take them to a tailor. If you’re really feeling the shorter trouser aesthetic, seek out cropped jeans or pants. Just, whatever you decide, ditch the cinch altogether. It doesn’t look good: They ride up, they leave your silly socks showing, and they’re best saved for baseball players. (Editor’s Note: and infantrymen.)

Play Dress Up

Just prior to the pandemic — and even now, for the most part — workwear dominated men’s fashion. It influenced high-end labels, upstart brands and everyday people, making Carhartt’s beanie a must-buy and double-knee pants the perfect canvas for fashion designers.

But what about dressing like an artist, or even a fisherman? Try out paint-splattered jeans and tees or mesh-lined fishing vests and bucket hats. Buy yourself some high-waters and knee-height Hunter boots. Offer to paint your parents’ living room; complete the task wearing your most trusted jeans. They’ll get a little dirty, or maybe even permanently dyed — but that’s OK. It’s time to experiment.

Find Yourself a Suit

Rowing Blazers

Rowing Blazers

When those few big in-person events popped back up on my calendar last year, I broke out my suits (which fortunately still fit), but I didn’t love how any of them looked. I was eager to get fitted for a new one — one that didn’t seem stiff or stale or super office-like. Surely you felt the same, that maybe your plain blue suit didn’t quite cut it anymore.

Invest in one you really like, whether you plan on wearing it next weekend or next winter. There are a lot of options out there, but find one — preferably with some sort of patterning, texture or a set of wide lapels — that’ll set you apart from the sea of charcoal, slate gray and organic blueberry blue colored suits.

Rowing Blazers Gun Check Made-to-Order Suit ($895)

Shave Your Head

It doesn’t matter that we’re in the dead of winter. In fact, it’s just the right time to buzz your head. Plenty of us entertained long hair during the pandemic, and maybe it’s held on too long. Letting go of your locks in the wintertime means you can wear a hat if you’re unhappy with how it looks, and it guarantees your hair — even if it was a bit long — will be back by spring (or early summer).

Buzzing your head is a refresh — a new start for a new you. Reset how and where you part your hair; experiment with a dye or a different style; break in some bangs. Do as you wish, but use the buzzcut as your blank slate.

Support Diverse Makers

Courtesy

Shop from BIPOC-, AAPI, Women- and Queer-owned businesses whenever possible. There are too many to list here, but lots of retailers (see: Nordstrom, Madewell and many more, plus the publication you’re reading right now) offer ways to filter queries to only include results from brands that are. Use these tags as tools for discovery: Scroll through and save the names, then shop directly from them.

Step Away From Sneakers

It’s time to do away with the sneaker/dress shoe hybrids so many of us rely on every day. Yeah, they might balance comfortability with a splash of style, but unless you’ve been prescribed these options because they’re orthotic, stick to one or the other. Unblur the boundaries between the two and embrace each when appropriate: sneakers for the gym, trail or park and casual errands; boots and shoes for everything else.

Immerse Yourself in the Community

Seek out menswear stores in the cities you visit; although online stores are all (or largely) the same, brick-and-mortar stores are not, and they need your patronage more than ever. But it isn’t just shops that deserve your support.

The past nearly two years have been hard for everyone, but menswear has never been in a better spot — and that’s thanks to a long list of designers, brand managers, buyers, shop owners, tailors, dry cleaners, menders, collectors, resellers, photographers, models and men like you and me.

Shop small, support an upstart brand, repost a friend’s photoshoot, share (but don’t show off) what you’re wearing; encourage others and embrace the new and eccentric.

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