Style and the 'Gun Guy'

It has been an interesting last few months. I have had a lot of personal growth in a short time. One of the things that has occurred to me recently is my appearance. I rarely gave it thought in the past, but recently it's been on my mind more and more.

The last place you think you'll learn about style is at a shooting class. Gun guys are notoriously bad dressers. From the 'shoot me first' 5.11 vests, to the 'full diaper' tactical pants. A size medium guy wearing XL shirts to conceal his kit... It's just bad.

However, SouthNarc, in addition to being the best trainer I've ever met, is also a fashion-savvy dude. He said some very interesting things in during dinner. The one that sticks out in my mind is, "if you have a dominating physical presence in a room, AND you are dressed better than any other man in that room, you can just intimidate the hell out of guys." Also, he made me laugh with "this is a coyote-tan free zone". Wearing clothes that compliment my build as well as look sharp... That's one of my goals for this year.

NOPE

I have NO style. I spent the bulk of my 20's wearing free t-shirts I got when I worked at a supplement store. So I was wearing misfitted t-shirts, and cargo shorts for like 5 years. Add being overweight to that, and the recipe is for lame-looks. I'm actually pretty lucky my wife decided to marry me, now that I think about it. When I was overweight, I didn't much care how I looked. Now that I'm at 180lbs, I feel it is my duty to wear clothes that fit me. I want to be a nice piece of arm candy for my wife. I also want to carry my tools.

One of the cool things about gaining the competence in empty hand fighting, increased skill in shooting, and developing better tactical thinking is that I feel comfortable with fewer tools. I feel fine carrying my Kel-Tec PF9, my P'Kal, and a small flashlight. If the setting demanded it, I'd go for less. My pt-22 in a deep concealment rig would be fine. As my friend Claude says, "competence breeds confidence".

So, as I am want to do, I'm developing a plan to incrementally replace my clothes with better fitting, more stylish clothes. The first step in this is researching the subject. My new haunts are:
http://www.styleforum.net/
and
http://artofmanliness.com/

http://www.atailoredsuit.com/mens-style-guide-tailored-suit.html

http://artofmanliness.com/2010/08/12/mans-guide-change-appearance/
http://www.atailoredsuit.com/good-mens-dress-shoes-(a).html
http://www.atailoredsuit.com/mens-shirt-detail.html
http://www.atailoredsuit.com/mens-suit-detail.html


I'm going to start looking for a watch, a few pairs of pants, and a few shirts, and some shoes that will be my baseline wardrobe. A jumping off point...

I'll post updates as things develop.