Understanding BAD Men’s Style – The Sporting World’s Worst-Dressed

The bad and the ugly from those in the world of sports.

Many figures in the athletic world are role models and examples for everyday citizens. Unfortunately, many of these figures do not have a grasp on how to properly present themselves. Here, we'll take a look at athletes, coaches, and even commentators, who will help us to understand how not to dress.

Introduction – What Men's Style Is and What It Is Not

Dwayne Wade has been able to master the art of combining individual style with classic men's style. The goal of the well-dressed man is to ultimately bring attention to his face.

When a man enters a room or talks to people, he wants others to look at his face. Everything he's wearing should help assist that goal, not distract from it!

When men find a way to do this while still enhancing their own personal style, they will achieve a level of style that is unparalleled (much like Dwayne Wade has been able to do time and time again).

Unfortunately, not all men are able to achieve this level of style, and they're stuck wearing outfits that can loud and often-times obnoxious.

One profession that tends to breed this kind of style is in the world of athletics, where ego's can be slightly inflated thus resulting in a disregard for classic men's style.

Here, we'll observe and critique a number of figures from the world of athletics who have disregarded classic men's style, and we'll also go over tips for how not to dress if you wish to be truly stylish.

Michael Irvin

Michael Irvin, though a great football player who had a great career, doesn't seem to have a firm grasp on what good style is. Here, we see Irvin with a few issues. First, the 8 button double-breasted suit. Double-breasted suits tend to always have either 4 or 6 buttons. Having more buttons than 6 tends to be somewhat of a fashion statement, which should be avoided by the well-dressed, well-styled man.

Another issue with the jacket is the fact that it has notched lapels. The double-breasted jacket is known for being dressier and more formal than the single-breasted jacked.

With that in mind, wearing a double-breasted suit with notched lapels is a very noticeable contradiction. Notched lapels are not as formal as peaked lapels, and double-breasted suit jackets should always have peaked lapels to maintain the formal appearance of the jacket.

The second major issue with this ensemble is the color selection. Michael Irvin would be considered a “low contrast man,” because of his dark skin and dark hair (learn about men of different contrasts).

Low contrast m en should lean more towards a monochromatic attire. Here, we see Irvin with a very deliberate contrast between the red and black.

This tends to take attention away from the face – and remember, the whole point of a suit is to bring attention to the face! – and tends to be a distraction. One's eyes are immediately drawn to this jacket, which is not the proper function of a jacket.

What to learn from Michael Irvin

• The difference between style and fashion.
• Understanding contrast and color

John Daly

John Daly is notorious for wearing crazy, chaotic, difficult-to-look-at pants when he plays golf. Now, technically if he's doing it while playing it counts as a uniform I suppose, but I think they are so over the top that they need to be mentioned here. I don't think that anyone should be able to get away with looks like this, but as you can see, he does time and time again.

The function of trousers is to draw the eye of onlookers up to the facial area. Any pair of trousers that take attention away from the face should be considered distracting. But this doesn't mean your pants have to be plain and bland all the time.

Happy mediums do exist, and different fabrics can help one find this happy medium. Look at chino (or khaki), corduroy, cotton, flannel or tweed trousers. Patterns do exist on these types of pants, but remember that they should never distract from the overall goal of any outfit, which is to lead attention to your face!

What to learn from John Daly

• The goal of an outfit is to draw attention to the face!
• Patterned trousers are ok, but to a certain extent.

Coach Bruce Pearl

I am all for school and team spirit, and apparently for is Tennessee's Head Basketball Coach Bruce Pearl. Coach Pearl has coached some great basketball teams over the years, and Tennessee tends to be one of the country's top teams year in and year out.

Although his trademark bright orange suits are fan favorites, they also happen to be style crimes.

Understanding color coordination is extremely important when dressing. Although his ensemble is well put together, Coach Pearl will need some help when it comes to developing proper contrast.

What to learn from Coach Pearl

• Color can make or break an outfit.
• Color coordination

Dieon Sanders

Dieon Sanders' athletic ability allowed him to play both professional football and baseball, but it is clear that his ability to dress well does not match up with said athletic ability.

Here we see “Prime Time” with a monochromatic look, which actually fitting for him because he would be considered a low contrast man, so the problem doesn't lie in his coordination abilities, but rather in his abilities to pick proper colors.

Low contrast men want to stick to a darker, monochromatic look, perhaps with dark blue or certain earth tones. Here, Sanders' complexion is interfered with by the color of his ensemble, and this creates a problem because it distracts from his face.

What we can learn from “Prime Time”

• Strategies for low contrast men.
• Monochromatic can work… as long as you pick the right color!
• Develop a sense for which colors work for you and which colors don't.

Gilbert Arenas

One of the more important parts of any ensemble is to have a solid “core color.” The core color is usually the color of the suit jacket, and its function is to set the tone of the suit. “Accent colors,” then come in to compliment the core color.

Accent colors are normally displayed through a dress shirt and/or tie. Here, Arenas doesn't seem to have one definitive core color, but rather a random mixture of accent colors. The core color would be white, but his black lapels largely contrast the white.

Without a solid core color, the ensemble becomes distracting. The mixture of colors in the jacket make it stand out greatly, drawing attention to itself in a major way.

Another issue with Arenas' wardrobe is his contrast. Arenas is a low contrast man, and low contrast men should strive for a monochromatic look. High contrast men should match their complexion's high contrast with an outfit of high contrast.

If Arenas was had a high contrast complexion, wearing a drastic contrast like this might work, but since he's not, the contrast provides as a distraction from his face.

What to learn from Gilbert Arenas

• The importance of core and accent colors
• Contrast

Don Cherry

Don Cherry, who is a treasured commentator for the even more treasured “Hockey Night In Canada,” is at times very difficult to look at (thankfully, we only have to listen to him during the game!) Some of his jackets are incredibly unbearable.

He clearly has a desire to express some sore of individual style, but it's clear that his efforts are over the top. Suits and jackets can have patterns of course, such as pinstripes, but the patterns seen here are overly-distracting and they completely overtake his entire image. They're so complex that it's hard for people to look at anything but the jackets. Not having a core color will tend to have this effect.

Another problem with the outfit we see here is the style collar he tends to wear. He has a point collar but there is nearly no room in-between points, and the knots of his ties can barely be seen. Of course this is an option with point collars, but when the points are close like they are they tend to draw attention downwards, away from the face, which is not what the well-dressed man wants. Between the close collar points and the jackets, it will be hard for anyone to bring attention away from his torso-area.

What to learn from Don Cherry

• Core and accent colors
• Learning to balance classic and individual style
• The right collar

Conclusion (with help from Dwayne Wade)

By looking at the previous pictures, it becomes evident that all of the previous, poorly-dressed men had a couple things in common:

1. They wanted to display some sort of personal style.
2. They displayed that personal style, but in loud and distracting ways.

Many men are confronted by the problem of wanting to express their individual style while staying within the suggested guidelines of good men's style. Though it may take some experimentation, the ability to display your own style is very possible. Just look at how someone like Dwayne Wade dresses.

Wade has the ability to effectively dress stylishly while expressing his own sense of style. His color coordination is nearly always spot on, and he wears accessories very well. He understands that you don't have to look plain or ordinary to look good. His knowledge of his own personal style allows him to display confidence when he is off the court, and everyone knows that he takes his personal style very seriously.

With this in mind, take some time to recognize what your style is. Look at colors, patterns, and accessories to determine whether they compliment your complexion. Understand the guidelines of men's style, but make sure to incorporate your own style into these guidelines!