Can I Show You the New West

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey man, and welcome to Cool Dudes, Fashion and Clothes
the podcast We're Looking Good and Feeling Good actually makes sense.
No fashion snobs, no weird runway stuff, just real talk
about clothes, style, and confidence for every day guys. Whether
it's throwing on the perfect pair of jeans, finding a

(00:23):
jacket that actually fits right, or just feeling like a
boss in your sneakers, We've got you covered. Chill out,
hang with us, and let's make sure that looking cool
is done right and we're going to make you feel easy.
So this is the podcast for you, guys. You're gonna
love this. Things that we get into and sometimes we

(00:45):
get off topic a little bit, you know, about some
guy things, you know, so it's kind of cool. So
stay with us, all right, y'all. So tell me this,
how many of y'all really like to go clothes shopping
and try on clothes? I mean, how often do you
do this? And you get you get to the store.
You don't want to go in the first place, but
you get to the store and then you get some

(01:07):
pushy sales guy who's probably a little too flamboyant, and
he's uh, you know, constantly up your butt, you know,
and you're like, dude, back off. I want to look
around see what I'm interested in, and then when I
figure something out, I'll come back and find you. But
that's not good enough for them, is it. It's like,

(01:27):
you know what, I know what's best for you, and
this is what you need to do. That infuriates me.
That's why you all need to find a men's clothing
store like I have, which is Gwynn's in Mount Pleasant, Man.
They they completely changed my style and my wardrobe and everything.

(01:48):
It's it's amazing. I mean, now it wasn't cheap, but
now I have my own style and I think it's
really cool. It's you know, cowboy boots. I don't mean
like you know, I'm talking like blue Casey's saved up
a while and bought two or three really nice pair
of boots or anywhere from seven hundred to two thousand

(02:10):
dollars piece. But I've had them for years. They've each
been resold probably between two and five times. They are
well broken in. I have some that I wear for dress,
some that I wear every day, and some just to
be a little bit different anyway, you know. And then
you put that with a really nice pair of jeans.

(02:31):
I can put a white shirt button down, and I
can put a sport coat on. I can put a
nice crisp black T shirt with a sport coat over
the top if I want, or a really nice, good
fitting vest. I'm not talking a fleece thing that just
hangs on you like you know, you're a blob, but
something that gives you a little shape, you know, or nothing,

(02:54):
just the T shirt. It kind of depends on what
kind of shape I'm in at the particular moment, right
and the worst shape I'm in the darker I go
with my clothes right, especially shirts, because you wear something
white and you got a little, you know, little muffin
top going on, or a little dunlop disease where you're

(03:16):
barely dune lapped over your belt. My grandfather used to
say that, you know, it happens to all of us,
through different stages of our life, learn how to dress appropriately.
So what looked great on you when you were in
great shape and now that you hadn't had time to
get in the gym. Maybe you just had a child

(03:36):
and you're helping your wife constantly. You're not getting sleep,
you're not eating well, you're not getting to the gym.
You're trying to make a living, and then you're trying
to take care of your baby and all of that.
I'm tired thinking about it. Man. I've gone through three
of those. I gained weight with each and every one
of them. So what I was wearing before I had
to modify. I didn't have to throw the clothes away,

(03:58):
but I had to like accessor a little bit differently
with different kinds of T shirts, Like I said, darker colors,
a lot of black, you know, and sometimes I would
if I didn't feel comfortable, I would wear that vest,
you know, because my you know, maybe my chest wasn't
looking as good as it should, or I got a
little love handle action going on helps conceal that. You know,

(04:19):
my best uh, I guess body accessory is my arms
and probably my legs. So I always want my arms out,
you know, not to be cocky or ego thing. That's
just what looks the best. So I could show those
and cover up the love handles and the and the
you know, saggy chest at that time and and feel

(04:44):
very confident and get a lot of compliments, you know,
with all that kind of stuff. So it's cool so
to day, let's talk a little bit about the power
of first impressions. Why don't I just have the he
Man cartoon just pop in my head? Remember, amen, I
am Adam, Prince of Attorneia and Guardian of the Castle

(05:06):
of Gray School. Just I don't know what I thought
about that. I'm weird, I get it. I'm that weird
guy in the store. Oh, let me tell you about
they were talking about pushy salesman, right, So personal experience.
When I was in college, I was playing football at
Clemson and I had to get a summer job. I
was a lifeguard and also I got a job at

(05:28):
the mall for Aramis Cologne. I was working in a
department store called Belk. I made like twenty dollars an hour,
which in nineteen eighty seven was unheard of. I mean,
you just didn't make that kind of money for the
part time summer job. But I was that spray guy.

(05:49):
I was the guy that when you walked into the
store and you saw me, you went the other way.
I mean that's just the way it was. It was
you could not have an ego but you but at
the same time you had to have one because you
would have to inflate that ego because by the time
I left it had gotten beaten down severely. You know,

(06:10):
they put me in the worst clothes, Aramis Man, I
swear if you didn't pay me so well, in no
way I would have done that. They put me in
these like little plastic shorts that had slits, and I
was playing football, is in great shape way up the
side to my almost like girls shorts to me they're
bright yellow. And then these shirts. I mean, I just

(06:31):
felt so awful I'm doing. And they would put me
in flip flops and on a mechanical surfboard, and that's
no lie, a mechanical surfboard. Who and the what? What
dude is going to walk up to me and say, hey, man,
you know, nice shorts and surfboard. What kind of colone

(06:52):
you got? Would you think would work for me? You
know how many times that happened? Z Row. But you
know what did happen. I had a lot of mothers,
I got a lot of girlfriends and wives that would
come up and strike up a conversation. So in that
way it worked. But as far as attracting the men
to buy their own cologne, no, sir, And we had

(07:14):
this one new release. It was called New West. It
actually it smelled pretty good. They were Aramis, which was
the old Man Clone was trying to get a little
bit younger. It was a good marketing move. I don't
think they did it exactly right. They did not. They
did not ask me ahead of time anyway, you know,
so I had to say I had this shirt that

(07:36):
was like these weird colors, and the bottle of New
West was blue, and I'd have that in my hand.
And they wanted me to go to people in the
in Belt, which is a big, big department store, and
just find them and say, oh, excuse me, sir, but
can I show you the way to the New West.

(07:59):
You think I did that? No, hell no. Somebody would
have hit me or slapped me or I don't know.
I mean, they called me a lot of names. I
never got called so many names, very feminine names, if
you know what I mean, which is the opposite of
me and man. I mean, I just wanted to like
unleash on some of these guys, you know, because they

(08:22):
had no idea what they were getting into when they
started messing with me. I mean to the point where
the security guy would follow me around sometimes because I
had a little bit of a short fuse and people
called me certain things. There's really anything wrong with those things,
but that's not who I am, and I didn't want
to be called those things. So anyway, yeah, you know,

(08:42):
can I show you the way to the New West? No, no,
you really can't. I mean, let me tell you right now.
The last thing I want to do right now is
head out west anyway because California, No, no, thanks, not
going there. Don't need to. That's the most messed up
almost passed up and said the wrong word up states

(09:03):
of all time. I mean, what a crappy show that is,
and right now it seems like it's getting worse. They
need to get a hold of it. And I'm totally
rambled about something else. So you know, when I was
working there, you know, I would just end up walking
down to Sears or one of the other stores, and

(09:25):
or I spend a lot of time at the food
court and watching you know, football, and it was like
USFL whatever it was back then. It played in the
off season for the NFL and college football. So I
would go, I would that's where they'd find me. I'd
be down on there. But I got paid my four
or five hours every day. I increased their sales by

(09:48):
like forty fifty percent. They loved me. I hated it.
They took me. I don't know why I'm on this tangent.
They took me. They flew me from Greenville, South Carolina
to Charlotte, North Carolina, which is like an hour drive.
You know why we had to fly, I don't know,
but you had to and you had to be on

(10:09):
the plane in your suit so you could go straight
to a meeting. I showed up in a tank top
and shorts and tennis shoes and oh, she tried to
yell at me. I'm like, you know what, I got
all my stuff right there. I'm gonna check into the room.
I'm gonna change clothes. I'll meet you downstairs in plenty
of time to go to this meeting. Obviously, I did
not take it real seriously. So I walk into my room.

(10:34):
Nice hotel, right, nice hotel, and there's this guy and
he's like, you know, all sprawled out on the bed,
and I'll walk in. Don't remember his name, but he
looks at me and in this voice he has the
first thing he says to me, you're either Sangutarius or Aquarius.

(10:57):
I looked at him like, what the hell did you
you just say? Man? And the thing is I got more.
I got pissed off because he was right about the
Aquarius thing. You know, that was just so wrong. But
the whole trip I ended up not even sleeping in
that room. I met some other people, actually, a couple

(11:21):
of girls that I was for became pretty good friends
with and slept in their bathtub for two nights. How
about that. Man, I've changed a little bit since then.
I'm not quite so you know, against certain things anymore.
But that was and that was a time. Can I

(11:42):
show you the way to the New West anyway? So
first impressions, I don't even have time to read half
of this stuff I wrote. The power of first impressions
is undeniable. Right in the fleeting moment of initial encounters,
whether in a professional network event or or a casual
social gathering, we form judgment that significantly influences subsequent interactions,

(12:07):
right or wrong. That's what we do. While personality and
character undoubtedly play crucial roles. Our attire That's what and
hopefully it's not your spare tire often acts as the
silent ambassador, shaping the initial perceptions others have of us.
This isn't about superficiality. It's about leveraging nonverbal communication to

(12:32):
present the best version of ourselves. Now, doesn't that make sense?
I could probably stop this whole thing right now and
shut it down until next week, because that's all you
need to know right there. But consider the professional arena,
a job interview, a crucial client meeting, or a presentation
to a board of directors. These situations demand carefully considered

(12:54):
approach to attire. While the specifics depend on the industry
and the company's culture, or the underlying principle remains consistent.
Your clothing should project competence, professionalism, and respect. A well
tailored suit, a crisp shirt, polished shoes. These are not

(13:15):
just articles of clothing. They are visual cues that communicate preparedness,
attention to detail, and seriousness of purpose, a whisper confidence,
setting the stage for positive and productive exchange. Conversely, a
rumpled upsuit that doesn't fit well, mixed matched to tire,

(13:35):
or overly casual clothing can unintentionally undermine your credibility, creating
an immediate disadvantage. It suggests a lack of preparation or
perhaps even a disregard for the occasion, sending a potential
damaging message before you even utter a word. The impact
extends beyond formal business contexts. Imagine attending a networking event.

(14:00):
Clothing contributes to the first impression you make, influencing whether
people approach you, engage in conversation, or remember you. Appropriate
attire reflecting the event is the event's atmosphere and your
personality can significantly boost your chances of making meaningful connections.
A stylist yet comfortable outfit outfit something reflecting your individual

(14:24):
style speaks volumes about your self awareness and confidence. The confidence,
in turn attracts positive interactions, creating a self fulfilling prophecy
of success. So the same principle holds true to social settings,
first dates, casual gatherings, even meeting meeting new friends. Your

(14:46):
clothes play a pivotal role. While there is no need
for excessive formality, choosing a tire that is clean, well fitting,
and appropriate for the setting demonstrates respect for the occasions
and those that you're meeting. So you certainly don't want
to wear dirty clothes that smell and all that, and
then show up and expect people to want to come

(15:07):
talk to you. It's not going to happen. It speaks
to your attention to detail, your social awareness, and your
self respect. This translates to more positive interactions in a
more welcoming atmosphere, facilitating connections and fostering a sense of ease.
Imagine showing up to a casual outdoor gathering in a

(15:27):
three piece suit. While not inherently inappropriate, it might appear
jarring and create an unintentional barrier between you and the
other normal attendees. The key is to find the balance
between appropriate and expressive. Letting your clothes reflect your personality
while respecting the contents and the context is vital. And

(15:50):
that's something that only you really know. So that's something
that you can certainly figure out. You're smart enough to
listen to me. You're smart enough to figure that out.
So I'm like way over my time here, but I
certainly enjoyed it well, I mean, and and when I
when I leave you, guys, I'm heading straight to the
New West on my mechanical surfboard, just so you know,

(16:11):
Till I see you next time. God bless