When I started this account in 2019 I thought I was running a fashion page. I was wrong. After six years and 204,000 followers, I think I'm running a permission-slip factory. Most of the DMs I get aren't asking "what should I wear" — they're asking "is it okay if I wear this." Which is a different problem.
1. Indian men over-formal by default
If in doubt, we default to more formal. Office: full shirt. Wedding: full suit. Brunch: full polo + chinos. Walk into any rooftop bar in Bandra on a Saturday and 80% of the men there are dressed for a meeting. The bar is dressed for the weekend; we are dressed for Monday.
The fix isn't to "dress down" — it's to give yourself permission to read the room. A linen shirt half-tucked is not less effort than a starched shirt buttoned to the top. It's a different effort, calibrated to a different setting.
2. We dress for our parents, not our peers
About a third of the DMs I get are some variant of "my dad will say I look like a beggar." The piece in question is usually a sneaker, a tee, or anything that isn't a shirt-and-trousers. The dad in this story is a man whose taste was formed in a time when ready-made was new and "respectable" meant tucked-in formal.
The thing is, your colleagues, your partner, your photo-worthy moments — they're not your dad. You can love and respect him and still dress for the life you actually live. Your father may have approved a particular kurta cut; your wedding photos will be looked at by your future self in 20 years, not by your dad's 1990 brain.
3. Indian men massively under-spend on grooming
The single biggest gap I see in DM photos: hair, beard and skin care that's stuck at 2012. ₹300 supermarket shampoo. No moisturiser. No SPF. A haircut every six weeks "when it gets too long" instead of every three weeks scheduled.
The math: ₹2,000 of grooming products (cleanser + SPF moisturiser + beard oil + finishing product) lasts three months and changes how you photograph more than ₹20,000 of clothes. The grooming kit under ₹2,000 is one of the few real shortcuts in style.
4. Fit is a class signal we ignore
Quick test: look at men in old movies (Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh '70s, Dharmendra). Their fits are off. Sleeves too long, shoulders too wide, trousers puddling at the shoe. Now look at the same age range in 2026 — fit has tightened almost everywhere. The new under-class signal is loose, ill-fitted clothes, regardless of price.
The ₹500 alteration tailor is a class-mobility tool. Use him.
5. Colour is the easiest unlock
Most Indian men wear three colours: white, black, and "denim blue." The palette that flatters most of us — warm earth tones (olive, terracotta, cream, burgundy, forest green) — is genuinely under-used in our wardrobes. Add one terracotta polo to your rotation and you'll get more compliments in the next month than you did all of last year.
Why don't we? Permission again. Earth tones read as "trying," and most men are afraid of looking like they tried. Worth getting over. The colour-matching guide walks through it.
6. The 30-day rule actually works
The men who genuinely level up over a year aren't the ones who spent the most. They're the ones who picked one thing — fit, grooming, colour, shoes — and stuck with it for 30 days before moving on. Compounding works in style too.
If you've read this far and you're thinking "okay, but where do I start" — start with shoes. Buy one good pair. Brush them every morning for 30 days. Come back here and tell me what changed. (My DMs are open.)
If any of this resonates, the daily Instagram is where I post the actual examples — @dressingschool.