Help Me Achieve My 'Look' PLEASE!

Hey there everyone I thought I'd join the forum as I'd like to chat with you all about fashion, trends, music etc...

I'm Benji I'm 25 and I'm from Sheffield(UK) I DJ house, garage, techno, bass music as Muskman Muskman's sounds on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free (for anyone thats interested)

Anyways I thought I'd see if you could give me some inspiration on what to wear!

Basically I'll break down what I currently wear and what I'm looking to achieve.

As I DJ in an 'urban' environment I have a lot of street style clothing.

A couple of examples of stuff I wear to DJ and be in those kind of nights would be...

A pair of Creative Recreation or Common Projects trainers, some slim tailored jeans(most recently from Karmaloop) RVCA for example, a plain tshirt maybe RAF, H&M or American Apparel, an American Apparel Hoody or an over shirt from Asos/Shore Leave then when I can't be bothered to do my 'thinning' :-( hair I'll put on a HUF cap(most recently backwards)

I'll always have a few accesories like a G-Shock watch, 1 silver plain ring, some wristband/beads I've picked up on my travels, a plain black belt and a skater style key chain.

I'm happy with this element of my 'looks' in general, but it's quite generic now. I love the looks of people like Pharrell, not the crazy blingy styles but some of the lesser more cooler elements are very inspirational in an 'urban' way.

If anyone has any tips/places to look at urban styles but in a slightly less generic way, I'm all ears :-)

NOW

Most recently I've been trying to piece together some more 'looks' for Autumn/Winter cold day/night out looks.

Looking through my wardrobe I'll explain my thought process and hopefully you guys can help me piece together some cool 'looks'

For the day time I've got a nice pair of suede green Kurt Geiger boots, a couple of pairs of navy demin jeans(April 77 & RVCA) a Shore Leave heavy blue over shirt, and a plain t-shirt from H&M underneath. With stanrdard accesories like my Raymond Weil watch, rings, plain ear stud etc...

I've also got some Kin Hiking boots(in brown) from Present in Shoreditch which are a bit on the bulky side so I hav e to wear with some quite straight cut navy chinos from Asos or H&M then on the top I've got a brown puffer cotton style Gillet from Karmaloop which I wear with a plain while tshirt and a heavy knit button up cardigan in a kinda brown-beige colour.

Where I'm struggling most is when it comes to night times cause where I come from(Sheffield) on a night out there aren't too many people who are really 'fashionable' yeah you've got people following the trends that the high street make them follow, or you've got the urban studenty casual type with their over sized t's and 5 panel caps(but for me I'm no 25 I feel the need to look more smarter) but if you wear something a little too like the looks we see on Fashion Beans I feel like I will turn heads and not in a good way!

I've gone past the wanting to draw attention to my clothes era that I wen't through at 18-21 and now I want to wear some smart ish clothes which people who know will appreciate.

Here's my plan and I hope you guys can help me achieve what I wan't.

For the nights out, I have got the following...

Kurt Geiger green suede boots(redi wing style) Suede tan brogues & I plan on buying some suede leather brogues, maybe trickers, grenson or Paul Smith in tan as I feel black are too 'old man' for me :-)

I've just bought a pair of mustard slim fitting jean from Asos to roll up, some slim navy chinos again from Asos to roll up and I have a pair of Navy Jeans by RCVA which look good with the Geigers. I need some advice on a good solid pair of jeans which can be worn in this kinda situation.

Shirts wise, I have an array of plain tshirts in various colours from H&M, American Apparel etc...
I have various over shirts, navy, wine red cord, an aztec in white and washed out pastel colours, then more smarter oxford shirts in pastels eg... yellow, mint etc...

It's when I get to the jacket department I struggle! I usually wear the Geigers, dark denim(with a small turn up) a grey tshirt and the Shore Leave navy heavy over shirt(I think this look is ok but maybe too casual)?

I've bought the chinos with the intention of rolling them up, wearing an oxford shirt 'tucked' in with a nice belt and either the Geigers or suede brogues but then what kinda jacket do I wear?? A suit jacket?? A nice crew neck jumper?? A leather jacket??

I do have a grey tweed style suit jacket which is from ahem mmmm sorry Burton(it does fit very nice) but I think that maybe could be too smart and generic!

I think my biggest problem is what kinda jacket/outerwear to wear on a night out?

I think I could do with some advice on what to wear for outerwear on a night out!

I've been looking at buying a Norse Projects knit in grey as I think that could maybe fill the gap, and it could also be used with layering other day time outfits?

So after all that writing(hopefully your still with me) I'm hoping some of you guys could point me in the direction of what I need to do!

Oh and one last thing I've been thinking recently is keeping my style down to these simple rules of good footwear(Geiger, Trickers, Lanvin, RAF) a decent pair of jeans(Dior, Prps, Acne, Edwin, Raf) plain tshirts, nice outerwear(which I need advice with) and a good watch and accessories!

Would you agree with the above? Do you think it's probably a good idea to invest in some key items like some good quality jeans and maybe a quite chilled out plain knit?

Thanks in advance for reading(if you get this far)
Benji

Wow, a lot of information to digest. I thought my posts were lengthy, but you take it to another level!

I think you need to concentrate on the basics first, without worrying too much about individual items/accessories - personal tastes can be added later. In other words, build up a capsule wardrobe first with things such as:

- basic slim indigo jeans
- a lighter pair of jeans (slim)
- a pair of navy slim chinos
- some other pair of jeans/trousers/cords of a different colour - grey/tan/brighter colour
- basic tees
- a few shirts in colours like light blue
- crew neck jumper in grey/navy

By the sounds of it you have a lot of this stuff already. But concentrate on getting some core items like these first. Any guy, no matter what his style or age or tastes can buy these things. The difference between them is how you wear these capsule items, and what with. So, if you have certain pieces of jewellery/watches/belts or distinct looking shirts and tops already that match your DJ vibe and style, these can be incorporated with the basic items. Wear a stand out shirt/tee that is your style that you already own with the slim jeans or navy chinos. Then if you want to have a bit of an edge on a night out, keep the slim jeans on and swap your distinct top/shirt with a basic plain tee and slim fitting blue shirt on top which if slim and well fitted, looks great not tucked in. A bit colder? Put on a crew neck. Need to be smarter? Wear the shirt alone and tucked in to the dark jeans. Or swap the jeans for dark chinos.

What I am trying to show you is how you can mix and match these basic capsule pieces, alone with themselves for a muted and sophisticated look, or together with some pieces from your current wardrobe to mix it up and still maintain your own dj urban style. And depending on the social circumstances, you can sometimes mix it up, and sometimes keep it simple.

All the while, you can personalise the look with your own choices of footwear (to smarten or make more casual) and accessorise, again to be true to your own style, just in more discrete and sophisticated ways.

I know everyone talks about the basic clothes I listed above, but notice how even if 10 guys got exactly the same basic items, the way they style them up would always be different, whether they put different things together from the basic wardrobe alone, or whether they add accessories and selected clothing items from their own more distinct styles, to work together with the capsule wardrobe.

The capsule wardrobe is designed to work fluidly alongside your current things, not to be seen as a separate entity.

As for outerwear, it again depends on the situation. On a night out you might not want to be too hot, and a crew jumper would be enough, but again you could wear a navy harrington jacket? But if that's not your style, go for a padded puffer jacket either in plain navy or a bright colour which would look casual in the day and brighten up some of the more muted basic wardrobe?
Or for a night out go for a bomber jacket in navy, or a casual leather jacket.
Judging by what you have said, something versatile and muted and smart/casual would be perfect, so a bomber jacket in navy would look good for day and night.

You could get a navy blazer to smarten your look at night, but from what you've said, it might be a bit too smart and a standard jacket that you can incorporate into day and night looks would be better. Basically, a navy jacket (be it bomber/harrington/quilted) will go just as well with a basic or distinctive tee as it would over a smarter shirt and also goes with items, whatever your style - urban, indie, preppy or sophisticated.

I hope this response helps in some way.

Hey thanks for the reply!
A friend of mine has a RAF Simons navy padded bomber jacket that I might have to persuade him to sell to me, this may fit with what your advising!
And I really appreciate all your other advice and thoughts, I know I'm going in the right direction but it's quite hard as being a DJ/wanting to look kinda smart on nights out are two very different things!

Thanks again
Benji