As a man, the desire to dress well is often misunderstood by others. Some conflate this with vanity, for example, while others suggest that it’s indicative of an arrogant or self-important mindset.
We tend to agree with the author Charles Hix, who once wrote that “looking good isn’t self-importance’ it’s self-respect”. After all, dressing well and adopting good grooming practices enables you to do justice to your appearance and unique physical advantages, while this can also help to further your professional and personal objectives.
This is particularly important if you’re a bald gent, as losing your hair prematurely can be a traumatic experience that undermines your confidence and carefully cultivated sense of style. However, we’re here to help you redefine your look as a bald man, and learn how to dress in a stylish and suitable way.
A Step-by-step Guide to Styling yourself as a Bald Man – Start with your Wardrobe
When cultivating a bold new look as a bald man, it’s important that you start by redefining your wardrobe.
In truth, reviewing your wardrobe is a good habit to get into regardless of the state of your hair follicles, as this enables you to tailor your sense of style in real-time and ensure that you own clothes that suit the ever-changing shape of your body.
So, here’s a breakdown of some of the key considerations when dressing as a bald man, from the fit of your clothes to striking the right colour notes!
Get the Fit Right
The fit is all-important in male fashion, but this becomes an even more crucial consideration if you’ve started to go bald and subsequently shaved your scalp.
There’s a very simple reason for this; as a shaved head creates a sharp and defined look that can easily be undermined by loose, baggy or ill-fitting garments.
Bald men also have a distinct advantage in terms of their physique, as the absence of hair makes their heads look smaller and their upper bodies appear bigger (and naturally more muscular). This creates a greater sense of definition in typically hard-to-train muscle groups such as the shoulders, and it would be a shame to compromise this with loose or overly tight clothing.
So, try to focus on building your wardrobe with well and slim-fitting clothes, which sit tight to the skin without pinching it or making you feel constricted. If you feel as though you’re trapped between sizes, consider buying garments in the slightly large size while ensuring that it boasts a defined slim fit.
From experience, it also helps if you know your measurements, as this can help you to make informed decisions (particularly when shopping for suits, shirts and trousers). This way, you can cope with the size fluctuations that occur between different fashion brands, while also ensuring that you buy the right type of fit for small, medium or large garments.
Learn how to Layer your Clothes
The word ‘layering’ is relatively ambiguous, as it can be applied to mean different things depending on who you’re talking to.
It can often cause eyes to roll when discussed in the context of fashion, however, but it’s important to note that layering is actually nothing more than mastering the combination of different clothes to create stylish and functional outfits.
While it’s a relatively simple concept, however, layering requires a versatile wardrobe and one that can cope with the demands of any occasion or season.
In terms of practicality, layering enables you to add or remove garments depending on the weather conditions, all without forcing you to compromise on your sense of style.
Intelligent layering can also help to reduce the amounts of sweat and moisture that your body produces, which is important whether you’re at work or in the home.
Layering can also help you to create your own sense of style while wearing relatively staid garments, from eye-catching blazer and jeans combinations to standard collared shirts and trousers. These smart but subtle combinations can really help your outfits to pop while enabling to maintain a strong and inherently masculine look.
Below, we’ll delve a little deeper into the type of garments that can be used when layering your look, but just remember to adopt a simple approach and create multiple combinations for various different scenarios.
Leverage Colour to your Advantage
Different coloured garments can play a pivotal role when creating layered outfits, although there are several rules to adhere to if you’re to strike the ideal balance in terms of style and masculinity.
This is also far easier said than done, as us guys are often restricted in terms of colour choices when buying shirts, trousers and suits.
To overcome this challenge, the first thing you should do is focus on the staple colours that can create both a versatile wardrobe and define your style as a bald man.
To achieve this, you could do far worse than follow the example of bald heart-throbs like Jason Statham, who prioritises black, brown and navy blue shades and adopts a really simple and classic approach when combining colours.
This solid foundation should include no more than four complementary and versatile shades, and you can build on this and introduce more striking notes of colour through accessories such as scarves, hats, watches and pocket squares.
To experiment with your looks and build your wardrobe, we’d also recommend that you use the colour wheel for reference. This allows you to identify both complementary and contrasting shades, before creating different outfits that have been carefully formulated and designed to create a specific effect.
From a bald male perspective, outfits that contrast black and white shades are classic and inherently masculine, while the combination of brown and navy blue also creates a fluid look that’s smart and visually appealing.
At the same time, you’ll need to account for the fact that hair typically provides a natural colour contrast to your skin. Without out this, your clothes will need to pick up the slack, so focus on contrasting pale skin with darker hues and an olive-skinned complexion with lighter tones.
Try to adopt colours that bring out the colour of your eyes too, as this helps to draw attention away from the stark nature of your bald scalp and enhance one of your most striking facial features.
Exploring the Staples of a Masculine Wardrobe
With the basics of fit, layering and colour combinations covered, the next step is to consider the core staples that will contribute to your wardrobe.
We’ve explored some of these in further detail below, as you look to breathe life into your new look and dress in a way that compliments your recently shaved scalp.
- A Charcoal Suit: We start with a classic and versatile clothing option, and one that can be worn to a wedding, work and those hoity-toity dinner parties that you (and indeed all of us) dread. Just remember to ensure that this suit is fitted to your body type and regularly dry-cleaned while investing in alternatives outfits for more rarefied and unique occasions to ensure that your staple doesn’t get worn out too easily.
- A V-Neck Sweater and T-shirt: Make no mistake; V-neck garments are your friend as a bald man, as they are visually interesting and capable of framing your bare scalp. These items are also capable of being layered to create professional and smart-casual looks, as the sweater can be combined with a dress shirt to develop a really stylish outfit. Just opt for darker shades like grey and navy blue, as these really help to look to pop and distract from your hairless scalp.
- Dark Jeans: In the interests of versatility, a few pairs of dark and fitted jeans are must-have garments. We’d recommend going for straight or boot-cut legs and unwashed denim, which are also slim fit rather than being skinny. Try to avoid overly flamboyant colours and crazy stitching too, as the idea is to dress stylishly as a man while making the most of this masculine and striking look.
- Polo-neck Garments: The short-sleeve polo shirt is an extremely simplistic but classic garment and one that works particularly well when it’s purchased in a plain colour such as grey, black or white. Make no mistake; this represents an upmarket and a stylish upgrade on the traditional T-shirt during the warm months of summer while wearing relatively casual garments with a collar can really frame your bald head and contribute to a genuinely smart look.
- A Classic Navy Blazer: If you’re aiming for a smart casual look that encompasses your dark jeans, you can do far worse than investing in a sleek navy blazer. This can not only upgrade your outfit and create an innate sense of style, but it also frames your upper body well and can show-off well-sculpted or defined chest muscles. If your aim is to wow others and embellish your bald scalp, this should be one of the go-to options in your wardrobe.
- A Smart Pair of Shoes: Apparently, women are most likely to notice your shoes and your smile as a man, so it’s important that you dress your feet as well as the rest of your body. Dress shoes are particularly striking, and in terms of staples, we’d recommend investing in black oxford products and brown lace-ups. These can be worn as part of smart casual and formal looks as required, while they’ll help you to adapt different outfits while retaining a genuine sense of style.
Be Trendy, but Avoid Becoming a Slave to Fashion
Believe it or not, there’s an inexact science to the tips that we’ve offered so far. More specifically, our advice enables you to create a stylish wardrobe that’s tailored to your own sense of style, without forcing you to reinvent the wheel or become a slave to fashion.
This is important, as fashion trends come and go and can be almost impossible to keep up with over time. Being preoccupied with current fashion trends may also cause you to avoid versatile garments such as turtle necks, which really compliment a shaved head as they frame the scalp and cover up some of your skin to create a starker contrast.
Ultimately, your goal should be to dress like a man and create a wardrobe that suits your preferences and shaved head, and adhering to this objective will deliver results over time.
While this does not mean that trends should influence some of your real-time fashion choices, it should prevent you from being enslaved to fashion and the front covers of magazines.
Consider the Construction and the Fabric of your Garments
We’re going to get a little technical now, as the construction of your garments can have a deceptively significant impact on your look and how it’s perceived by others.
Ideally, we’d aim for clothing that boasts 100% construction and is manufactured from a single material where possible, whether you’re a fan of cotton or wool.
Sure, a small percentage of synthetics can be liveable in some instances, but when you dip below 95% in terms of the base material the chances are that you’re buying cheap and poorer quality garments.
This brings us neatly onto fabric too, which should be considered alongside the fit of your garments when building your new wardrobe. Being discerning in your choice of fabrics can really help you to get the most of your outfits while enabling you to realise the potential of premium fabrics such as cashmere!
Accessorise with Hats – But Choose your Headwear Wisely
We spoke earlier about accessorising your bald look, as a way of drawing attention away from your scalp and breaking up larger areas of excess skin.
Headwear is the most effective accessory when looking to vary your look as a bald man, but it’s important to note that not all hats have been created equal and you’ll need to choose wisely when dressing your shaved scalp.
Many of the best and most stylish hats are designed for winter, including the aviator design that provides the optimal level of warmth and makes a striking fashion statement.
By the same token, the fisherman beanie is practical, masculine and classically stylish, while it also boasts excellent heat retention qualities.
If you’re looking for a summer hat, you should consider a traditional flat-pack design that has recently been popularised by fashion icon David Beckham. This is light and compact, while it frames your bald head well and softens what is an empowering but initially harsh look as you become accustomed to it.
Develop a New and Tailored Grooming Regime
The notion of covering up larger areas of skin is an important (but often underrated) consideration for bald men, and in this respect, grooming can play a pivotal role in defining your new look.
More pointedly, you should definitely consider growing a beard as a shaven-headed male, as this reinforces the masculinity of your look and helps to draw attention away from your newly-shorn scalp.
In simple terms, growing a beard reintroduces a sense of balance to your face, which can often be lost when you initially lose your hair. With the right choice of beard and style of facial hair, you can also frame your face shape and create a greater sense of definition around your jawline and cheekbone.
It can take up to six months to grow a fulsome or thick beard, and once you’ve struck the desired look you’ll need to trim and style this regularly.
Invest in a decent beard trimmer and a high-quality pair of scissors to sculpt your beard neatly, while using all-natural oils and specialist shampoos to keep your facial hair clean, smooth and manageable.
The Last Word
Hopefully, our detailed eight-point guide will help you to redefine your look and sense of style as a bald man, while continuing to dress in a masculine way that enables you to leverage your shaved scalp to your advantage.
It’s also important that you retain an open mind and strive to experiment with different looks if you’ve recently lost your hair, however, particularly if you boast unusual fashion preferences or want to push new boundaries as a bald male!
