Monday, January 02, 2006

Time For a Change

It's a New Year, as we all know. I've had the same look for, well shit, a decade or something. Although the white stripe has only been there for five years or so. In any case, it's not working for me anymore. Worked fine when I had a steady relationship and she liked it. Now I'm not so sure it's giving me any love anymore.

So what am I to do? This is TOTALLY new territory for me. I mean I've never really cared about my style or look or whatever beyond brushing my hair and making sure my stripe of white is hanging over one ear and not like a skunk stripe down the middle of my head. I started reading articles on AskMen.com and About.com about men's style and fashion and I am totally overwhelmed. What the hell? They are talking about interviewing potential hairstylists...have any of you ever done that?

And the wardrobe and such...good god. How much work am I adding here.

Anyone out there have any advice?

4 comments:

Bunny said...

My advice would be to ask for a recomendation of a good salon (or barber) from a friend. Preferably a woman or stylish man. Then I would ask the stylist what they thought and spend some time talking to them about what they think before they start cutting. If you have found ideas that you like, feel free to bring pictures from magazines or the internet even if they look nothing like you. The stylist can give you some advice on what cut may be best for you. I also recommend spending some money on this, at least initial, haircut. If you are considering any sort of coloring, also spend some money on that. Since you don't have a stylist that you know, it will be better to spend more than you think you should pay and get better attention. Women friends are good to ask for recommendations because women get their hair cut and colored pretty often. They also may have seen several stylists in the same salon and have preferences. If you are calling a salon cold you can ask for the manager to cut your hair or ask if someone there specializes in men's haircuts.

As far as clothes... if you don't really have a good idea of what you want you can go to a store like Nordstrom or other high-end department store and ask for help from the sales staff. They can outfit you with nice, basic wardrobe pieces and give you a lot of attention. This is a pricey recommendation, though. You can get good attention, but you will pay for it. You can also go into smaller stores like Eddie Bauer, etc. and buy based ont he outfits you see displayed. The sales staff can probably help you in coordinationg and mixing and matching things as well.

I can't wait to see future blog posts on how this transformation is going!

James said...

I'd say all of Bunny's advice is pretty good. Definitely get a recommendation from a friend before you let someone cut your hair and have a general idea about what you're looking for. Or, if you're like me, just let Bunny cut your hair! :-) As for clothes, I'd say get some help from a salesperson and be willing to spend some money on a few basic items, like one or two nice pairs of jeans or pants, and a nice pair of shoes. Then you can get different shirts to go with them. In the end, it is much about you feeling good about the way you look so you project that energy to others. I'm not sure if that's worded exactly right, but you get the drift. Good luck, and keep us posted!

Ryan said...

Thanks for the feedback! I'm going into this with the idea of having to put some money down. I found this place called 'Hair Attractions' that is not too far from me that offer free consultations so I think I'm going to give them a call.

I didn't realize those higher end places could outfit you. So I can just in there and say 'Hey, I need a new wardrobe. What would look good on me?' :)

James said...

Hah, guess you've never been to Nordstorm's then! They assault you when you walk through the door. I've never been willing to shop there because I can't justify the prices, but you get what you pay for, and there you are paying for a service. Check this article out: http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2002/10/20/bz20.htm