The Player's Guide To Fashion And Style | Way of the Player - Become a PlayerWay of the Player

Part 1: Mastering the basics

We at Way of the Player want to make one thing crystal clear, players do not peacock.

Peacocking is a practice taught under the PUA (pick up artist) guidelines for attracting women, it revolves around sporting loud obnoxious attire for the purpose of attracting female attention to oneself.

Peacocking is for desperate hapless nerds with no sense of style or taste. Peacocking will attract attention, and to someone who has never attracted attention before this might seem like a wonderful new thing. It may appear to be opening up all sorts of cobweb covered doors that have never been opened before; but the reality is that the attention Peacocks get from dressing up like fools is not good attention, it wont make them cool or sexy, it will just get them noticed for the wrong reasons.

Some guys might fool themselves into believing that the attention they are getting is good. That attention from women equals them getting laid. But at the end of the night they will just end up being a fool in a furry hat; girls will come over to have a laugh and make fun of a peacock at his expense but only the most desperate and insecure would want to sleep with a man who dresses in such a manner.

That isn’t to say that you shouldn’t dress up, quite the opposite in fact, as a player you should always be the best dressed man in the room (even if you’re the best man at your buddies wedding). In this particular regard we are unmerciful, it is a part of our code (see “10 things a Player should never do“) but you will never see a player in a furry hat and leather pants because we don’t sacrifice our pride and masculinity for the sake of getting past a girls defences. Those defences are there in the first place because of men like us and only men like us can unashamedly and effortlessly bypass them. We achieve this by being unequivocally awesome.

One thing that is important to remember is, people will always judge us by our clothes before they judge us on the merit of our personality. Many of the men in this community have at some point tried to chat up beautiful women when they were dressed like crap and they all came to the same uniform conclusion… No matter how charming, good looking and confident they were, in most cases the girls simply couldn’t look past the horrible fashion sense and style because this is what constitutes 90 percent of your appearance.

Your face only accounts for a small part of your visual self and if you have unkept facial hair then even more of you is lost to bad style. So what’s left? your eyes, your nose and your hands? It doesn’t matter if you are the worlds top poster man for these particular features, it is all or nothing when it comes down to style there is no half way or acceptable median for the player.

Style is all about attention to detail, this is how we separate ourselves from the clueless horde of men out there who think that the bare minimum is enough and would rather be acceptable than exceptional. As player’s, our individual style has to be executed to perfection. If you are a goth then make sure you are wearing premium leather, if you prefer skater/hip-hop style then make sure you’re sneakers are spotless and avoid baggy jeans. And if you are a Hipster then please stop reading this page and leave this website because your kind is not welcome here.

Some men take this idea of style too far and wear bright flamboyant colours, women’s jewellery and tight jeans. These men will sacrifice their masculinity in order to appear trendy or chic. This behaviour is ridiculous , and it is the role of the player to put these people in their place. This is achieved by dressing in a way that demonstrates confidence, masculinity and power.

If you are reading this and you do not own a suit then take the money out of your wallet right now, put it in a piggy bank and start saving. Every man needs a nice suit, whether he’s a dock worker or a neurosurgeon. Owning a suit is no longer a luxury only affordable to the rich and socially elite. Anyone can put on the white collar and assume the status that comes with it. Therefore, any man with inspiration can attract the calibre of woman who appreciates a man in a suit.

If you naturally prefer the kind of brain dead, drugged up, venerial disease pedalling trollop who thinks that ‘Versace’ is ”that good looking Italian bloke who plays midfield for Manchester United”, then good for you. However, even the most poorly educated and style-less tramps still appreciate a man in a nice suit, so there really isn’t any kind of excuse (unless you have a fondness for celibacy).

A Players suit

Any man who has bought a tailored suit will swear by them; they are made to fit the contours of your body and allow you to move with an ease and comfort which is incomparable to your off the rack cheapo suits. However, buying a tailored suit is usually immensely more expensive than buying a generic suit from a store. Most guys can’t afford to spend the price of a used car on something that is more easily damaged and wears out quicker (you’re better off with the used car).

Fortunately there is a way that you can enjoy both the price of a cheap suit and have the comfort of a tailored. It’s pretty simple really; buy a cheap generic suit which is too big rather than too small and take it to an alterations specialist. By doing this you cut out the mark up tailors put on the material they make your suit out of and all you are paying for is the service of their labour and your suit will look and feel just as good as any tailored but for a fraction of the price.

Another clever trick is to have your suit made overseas and mailed back to you. Most people have at least heard of how cheap it can be to have tailored suits made in places such as China, Bali and Thailand. In these countries you’ll be paying a fraction of the price for the materials… but more importantly you’ll be paying practically nothing for the labour.

Now Way of the Player knows that no one in their right mind would book a return to ticket to Bangkok just for the sake of a fitted suit or two. But there is a devious work around for that. Many major tailors overseas can produce a perfectly fitted suit while their clients sit comfortably at home on the couch watching Entourage. All you need to do is supply your measurements and fabric selection and they’ll be good to go.

Now every Player should have two types of suit, a casual and a formal. The casual is sexy, complimenting to your form and you can wear it out without people thinking you are coming from a wedding. The casual suit is almost always pinstripe on either blue, grey or black material (generally it’s safer to stay away from brown suits unless you happen to be a 70′s porn star named Brock Hardballs)

A suit vest will always make your suit stand out amoungst a group of other men wearing only the blazer; it looks sophisticated, slimming and if you are going out after work then you can always leave your blazer in the cloak room, loosen your tie and look ready to party in a suit vest. A vest says a lot about your style; it says ‘If you think I look awesome now, you should see how awesome I look with the full suit on baby’. There is a reason why so many people pick up at weddings… men in nice suits are sexy.

Now paying full homage to the awesomeness of the fitted suit, one does have to admit that there are some places where a suit is not appropriate attire. Aside from the obvious places like public beaches and mosh pits, there are many ‘casual places’ where you would not wear a fitted suit such as a house party or a dance orientated nightclub. Wearing a suit in these places would make you look like a bit of a tool because everyone would assume that you either don’t understand what is appropriate attire, or that you are trying too hard to impress everyone.

A Players shirt

Like suits, the best shirts are tailored, however it is substantially cheaper to buy a tailored ‘shirt’ compared to buying a tailored ‘suit’, so everyone should be able to afford at least a couple of these.

The good thing about a nice shirt is you can wear them for almost any occassion and still look stylish and dressed up. With all the varieties of shirt out there it can be hard to know where to start when matching it to your suit. However, white and blue are always safe options for men and are guaranteed to go with most ties and suits.

Pink will make you look gay (men who wear pink shirts think they are being liberal but they really just look like they’ve recently grown a vagina)

Green often looks like snot after a few washes and rarely goes with anything, it is okay to own a green shirt if you are Irish or it’s Saint Patricks day.

Black is sexy and debonair but only really goes with white, red or more black, there is also always a chance that you will get mistaken for a bus boy when out.

Red can be very sexy as it is the colour of passion but is usually reserved for flamenco dancing Latinos and slippery Gypsies.

Purple can work well with the right tie as long as you don’t wear any gaudy jewellery that makes you look like one of the Joker’s henchman.

Yellow and orange don’t go with anything and will make you look like one of the Wiggles.

Whatever the colour you choose pay close attention to the collar and the cuffs. With collars, make sure that you get the appropriate style for your particular purpose. Some are considered more formal than others. The only shirt a stylish man should wear is one with French cuffs, it is often the same price but is so much more attractive than the button up shirts popular with many white collar workers due to their practicality.

French cuffs will make you stand out and says a lot about your taste and attention to detail. When you buy cufflinks don’t try and be cute either and wear ‘Homer Simpson’ cufflinks because your auntie bought them for you for Christmas once and thought they would be fun. Such kitsch accessories they will ruin your entire outfit. Fashion is a serious business and creativity can be dangerous; if you’re unsure then stick to what you know looks good.

A Players shoes

What many men don’t realise is that upon meeting a man for the first time one of the first places women will instinctively look is at his feet to ascertain what kind of footwear he is wearing.

If you are dressed in exemplary fashion but you have not bothered to put on nice shoes then you have ruined an otherwise perfect facade, wearing old runners or ugly shoes with otherwise nice clothing is akin to an artist painting a beautiful Vinetian landscape only to put the canvas on the ground and drop a huge smelly turd in the middle of it.

As a player you should not own a pair of crap shoes. You should have a pair of sports shoes for playing sport, a pair of thongs for going to the beach, a pair of slippers for wearing around the house and a variety of dress shoes for when you are going out on the town. If you must wear sneakers then they should be simple, stylish and clean. No-one wants to see the stained and patched up hobo kicks you’ve had since the stone age. When you leave the house you should always be dressed in your best, it is the way of the player, anything less and you are less than a player.

If you don’t understand what a dress shoe is, it is quite simple. If you can polish it then it is a dress shoe, they are normally made of leather or something artificial which looks just as good. Dress shoes don’t have big letters or logos on the sides of them, they don’t have velcro, they don’t pump up, AND they don’t sparkle. Dress shoes just look good: their cleanliness and style is a reflection of their owners wealth and refinement.

Some men prefer laces on shoes, others prefer slip ons. It doesn’t make a difference which you choose, both styles are considered stylish so long as they fit the aforementioned criteria. If you accept that your shoes are important to your overall image and adjust your wardrobe accordingly then you will experience an instant improvement to your first impressions, we guarantee it.

A Players socks

The Player should only own two types of socks, black socks for dressing up and white socks for casual and sporting occassions.

Never mismatch socks, most people get out of this habit once they hit puberty but some men are lazy and think that it doesn’t matter. Well the truth is, it might not matter much to us but it matters a lot to beautiful women and they are the ones we want to impress.

When you buy socks it is better to buy the thinner variety, because although wollier socks may be warmer they will puff out above your shoes and give you mushroom ankles.

A Players jeans

A good pair of jeans is hard to find. Finding the right pair of jeans takes time and hard work and some men don’t have the aptitude for the process. It often involves trying on ten different pairs in front of pushy shop assistants only to find that none of them look good or they have every size but yours.

When you do find that pair of jeans which fits and looks good, make sure they don’t hug your legs like stockings and make your testicals scream out for oxygen.

Jeans should fit comfortably; you shouldn’t need to wear a belt for a good pair of jeans, they should stay up on their own accord. You should only want to wear a belt because they look sexy and draw attention (hopefully female) to your crotch.

Tears and rips can look quite cool and fashionable on jeans but only if the rips are done by a designer, wearing a pair of jeans that has ripped overtime due to over-use is socially quite risky. The reason designer jeans look good is because they’re artistic, people can see they were meant to be that way and that makes them cool.

If a pair of jeans just looks like they have been worn in by a hobo for the past decade then they will look shabby and unattractive and achieve the opposite affect to what you intended.

A Players T-shirt

Avoid generic ”print t-shirts”; they might look cool and artistic but they are worn by the bulk of men who believe that this is what attracts women. Particularly bold designs will make you stand out for the wrong reasons. The cast of Jersey Shore might pick up women with their Ed Hardy ensemble but the mega-douche tactic works for a very select few.

Either way, as Player’s we prefer to be exceptional for our good taste and style and it is not tasteful to wear loud print t-shirts out in public. There might be many women who will still hook up with a guy wearing a t-shirt like that but as Player’s we want to be attractive to ALL women not just the tasteless underclass.

A t-shirt is not supposed to be the focal point of your attire; you want girls to notice your eyes, your smile, your confident personality which combined with your accessories and attention to detail, makes the plain clothes you are wearing suddenly cool and fashionable.

A good example of this is the character of Hank Moody from the hit HBO series ‘Californication’. Hank Moody has a very individual style usually consisting of jeans, a black t-shirt and the occasional blazer. His look is fundamentally quite plain yet Hank Moody exudes confidence and class through his powerful personality and women are naturally drawn to him.

If Hank Moody went about wearing a loud print t-shirt with diamond encrusted skull designs, then it would be hard to take him seriously and it would ruin his appeal as a tasteful artist.

With t-shirts you can hardly go wrong with black, white or grey, V-necks are definitely preferable as they appear far more masculine, mature and sexy compared their round collar counterparts. If you are over the age of 10 then all of your t-shirts should be V-necks.

A Players Jacket… Or jumper

The same ‘no prints’ rule applies to jackets and jumpers. When it comes to what you wear over your shirt/t-shirt, plain and classy is the way to go. Down’t cheapen your appearance with big branded sports jackets or skater style hoodies. Depending on the climate you live, in a jumper/jacket can be an essential part of your outfit so it is important to get it right.

Naturally you want to make sure you are warm, so the number one priority when getting a jumper or jacket is that it is comfortable lest you become a very stylish stalagmite. However, there is such a large variety of jumper/jacket options out there, there is no reason why you can’t be stylish and warm at the same time.

Much like suits the safest colours for jumpers and jackets are blue, grey or black, if you have something with a hood make sure that it has either buttons or a zipper because overly youthful clothing is detrimental to serious style. White jackets can look fantastic but it is quite difficult to keep them white and even harder to wash stains out, so only buy them if you are prepared to lose them or you have a miracle working mother who can maintain it for you.

Whatever you choose to wear when you go out make sure you are 100% confident in your outfit. If there are little things that are throwing you off (like a seemingly invincible chocolate stain in the centre of your t-shirt, or a colour of pants that you feel uncomfortable in) then they will continue to bother you for the entire day/night. This will ultimately affect your confidence and therefore your ability to approach and seduce women.

It is worth taking the extra time to make sure your hair, outfit, nails etc. are ready for the spotlight because when you put yourself in a social place like a bar or a nightclub you are asking to be critiqued by the masses and you never know when you might meet the girl of your dreams. What a shame it would be if she was put off by your horrible fashion sense before she even got a chance to know you.

Lastly but importantly, never be caught wearing camouflage clothing, no matter what the emergency. It’s not the zombie apocalypse out there so leave the camo at the thrift store and dress to impress instead. There is nothing as sad and hopeless as someone trying to pick up a quality girl while wearing camouflage (unless you’re in the armed forces).