Tanner Guzy

Ben is one of the more interesting people I’ve had the opportunity to interact with over the years. His style is a strong blend of 19th century cowboy with modern skater and he somehow pulls it off in a way that’s interesting without looking like a costume

In order to understand the relationship between appearance and masculinity we need to know what it is to be a man. And, while most of the world tries to tie up masculinity into moral virtues, my guest today articulately makes the point that masculinity is amoral – that regardless of how good or bad a person you are – whether or not you can be deemed a man is on a separate scale. Jack and his work have largely influenced my own approach to masculinity and, in this episode, we talk about how deeply rooted the principles of appearance are in the amoral world of being good at being a man.

And he’s been a powerful player the entire time. However, Dan wasn’t content to just write about the importance of a man’s appearance, he wanted to do something more. So he created Articles of Style, and commerce menswear brand with a killer style and focus on everyday clothes for successful men. In this episode Dan and I talk about his own style evolution from rural farmer, to athlete, to sartorialist; his take on the current state of menswear; and his views on how companies can do more than just make clothing.

If you’re like most men, you probably have a strong dislike – if not outright hatred – for shopping Part of it is because we’ve been told that being a man means hating shopping Not knowing how to find things that fit Not wanting to be pressured by or even talk to sales associates Thinking it needs to take hours and not wanting spend the time Not knowing the right questions to ask to find what you want Feeling frustrated that the models don’t look like you at all Not wanting to spend money without knowing you’ll really love what you get Fear of liking something in the store and then never wearing it once you pay for it Dislike for the environment of the mall or stores And a multitude of other reasons But when we dive down into the center of all of this, there’s only one real reason you have a dislike for shopping That perceived pressure may come from a bunch of different places – time, sales associates, your budget, not knowing what to buy, not knowing where to look, etc. Which means if you can’t find the right place, or don’t know the best questions to ask (just show them the photo from yesterday’s challenge), or can’t decide if it’s worth the money – you don’t have to.