Most "fashion advice" is catered to either rich people looking to waste money, or midwesterners white collar workers trying to fit in at the office.
But if you go out in public, no one dresses like that. They're wearing a lot of canvas, denim and plaid, lots of face piercings and tattoos, hoodies and beanies. On the fancier end, you'll see oversized flannel jackers and dad sneakers. On older people it's a lot of carhartt and Patagonia.
Out in the suburbs younger people wear athleisure, and older people wear cargo shorts and t shirts.
But when you look at style guides it's like "your guide to chinos and blazers" but only the most obnoxious finance and tech bros wear that shit.
Where do you find style guides for normal people?
If you want a fit that is tried and tested, simple, hard to go wrong - thrift a pair of Levi's that aren't skinny, but also aren't baggy. Sort of boxy. The denim must not be stretch denim.
Then get a black or white t shirt. Possibly graphic. Nothing recognisably branded. None of this Vans shite, or whatever. Go to a thrift store and find a t shirt that fits you nicely. Dont buy one that's merch for some boring dad-ass rock band, or The Rolling Stones or whatever.
Shoes are pretty easy. Find the right line between sneaker and smart. I recommend looking at the stock of Clarks. Or Adidas sambas, these days. Please, for the love of god don't buy Vans. They instantly mark you out as a dorky millennial. Doc Martens are just about fine, but honestly, with the wrong fit you'll look like a theatre kid. If you want boots, ideally look elsewhere. Docs don't have the quality that they used to.
I recommend a nice dark brown belt with it. If you've got an athletically shaped body I think tucking your shirt in is generally good and accommodates that. Even if you aren't, test the tuck out. Wearing a baggy t shirt over jeans makes you look like you have a weird long torso.
There you go. Simple. I just sorted your fashion life out. Experiment from there. The main thing is stick away from mainstream brands. They're all overproduced crap and look tacky. Their appeal is not quality fit or anything, it's brand recognition so consumers feel part of something.
I would reccomend against branded Docs. From what I'm told they changed manufacturing practices 10-15 years ago and the quality went to shit. So either try to find older ones or look up who makes a quality similar shoe.I would point out, though - theatre kids fuck, and they get real weird with it. If you want to have an interesting life you should try to find weird people to be friends with and theater kids are as weird as they get.
Solovair makes the original docs. They're the original company. Wood splint in them and all. There's other choices for good boots though - Redbacks, redwings, bluntstones, etc etc. Just gotta buy industrial wear.
Yeah, theatre kids do fuck, but if you're not one of them you don't wanna be involved. I did a theatre related degree at university. I'm a very strange person, and I would not say they're not the right type of strange. I really cannot stand to be around them. These mfers know Hamilton off by heart.