A Collected Gentleman

A Collected Style Interview Feature- MensStylePro

In September 2010, Sabir, a Philladelphia native, was featured in Esquire Magazine as one of the five “Best Dressed Real Men in America.”  Sabir was the fan favorite for that competition. Currently, Sabir is the author and creator of the website “Men’s Style Pro” (www.MensStylePro.com) where Sabir offers style tips and consultations. This past year, Sabir  teamed up with NBC Philadelphia to do weekly critiques of stylish guys in the Philadelphia area. The project is called That Girl, That Guy.

 @MensStylePro

 @MensStylePro

ACG-What’s your definition of Style?

 MSP-To me, style is something that embodies everything about the way a person lives. Style of dress, how you keep your house and even down to the things you eat. When it comes to clothing my overall style is a mix of collegiate, a bit European and American all wrapped into an sometimes unpredictable package.

ACG-What inspired your Style?

MSP-There are a lot of things that inspired my style. My grandmother was the original influencer in my upkeep of my clothing. She worked in a dry cleaner for 35 years and made sure my clothes were always pressed and clean. As I got older, my style was more inspired by my surroundings, as well as, becoming more educated about international menswear.

 ACG-The do’s and don’t’s of Style/Fashion?

 Do’s of Style/Fashion

·         Understand the classics and “rules” of menswear

·         Once you know the rules, break them and make them your own

·         Never try to outshine your lady (it’s just poor taste)

·         Always shine your leather shoes

·         Get a tailor and stick with them.

Don’t of Style/Fashion

·         Copy someone’s style 100% that you’ve seen (use them as inspiration)

·         Wear every trend at once (you will just look silly)

·         Dress completely out of season (save your linen suits for the Spring/Summer)

·         As man, dress like man. Leaves the women’s fits and clothes to the women.

ACG-How does your style of dress reflect who you are to people?

 MSP-The first impression people get from you is from how you look and dress. I would hope that my style of dress reflects to people that I am put together and at the same time an interesting individual. Personally, my style of dress can say a lot things because there is no one thing that is “uniform” about my style.

 ACG-What’s one thing you would take out of Fashion World and one thing you would add?

 MSP-The one thing that I have been taking away from the fashion world is the whimsy in style. Sometimes people take this menswear culture way to seriously, so being able to take away the lighter side has been great. On the flipside, I would like to add to the Fashion World a bit of practicality. I feel that guys are starting to get caught up with what they see in editorials and don’t understand they are created for inspiration and not complete imitation.

ACG-Tips for up and coming Fashion/Style bloggers?

 ·         You will need solid content

·         Develop a posting schedule. When you get a steady pace of posting, your readers will be excited when the next post is published.

·         Be professional. Don’t get caught up in trying to be better than everyone. If you make your blog the best people will know.

·         Reach out to companies, brands and other bloggers with a solid plan. Don’t just email people saying, “Send me your clothes. You should feature me. You should advertise on my blog”.

 ACG-What’s going to be big this fall season?

MSP-This fall you will see a fair amount of tailored wool cargo trousers. Brands like Cucinelli and Ovadia & Sons have taking the lead on that style trend.

ACG-What’s your dream job?

MSP-Potentially working in a creative director role either in an editorial or menswear facet.  

ACG-All-time favorite item clothing or shoe?

MSP-My all-time favorite piece of clothing would have to be my Johnston & Murphy Oxblood Tassel Loafers. Those loafers can be worn with just about anything and the Oxblood color is just a nice little twist for an understated classic color splash.

ACG-Who’s your style icon and why?

MSP-Sammie Davis Jr. is my style icon 110%. The ability to rock well-tailored pieces and perform in them is something that I admire.