I recently read some interviews and articles of Chris Collins, who was a Ralph Lauren model for 20 years. In one he says, “Twenty years as a Ralph Lauren model taught me more than how to dress.” Here is my summary of what I gleaned from this research on Mr. Collins and from Ralph Lauren (who lives next door to our friend in Ridgeway), both of whom are point with what I have been doing since I dated my haberdasher in law school (yes, all of my suits since then are custom made). This idea that your style tells your story has been further bolstered for me by my daughter’s modeling jobs, which have helped her frame her own style.
From playing polo with millionaires and billionaires around the United States, to mounted hunting with vast estate owners here and abroad, to hanging out with cowboys and Coors in Colorado, and working or adventuring alongside or for everyone in between, I have found a few things worth noting on style and decor.
My Rules of Style What a lifetime of living well taught me about dressing with intention
Style found me before I went looking for it. Growing up in the West — Colorado ranches, Montana rivers, New Mexico desert — I learned early that the way a man carries himself tells a story before he says a word. The men I admired most weren’t the most fashionable. They were the most authentic. A turquoise ring worn every single day. A broken-in pair of boots that had actually been somewhere. A wild rag tied just so over a worn denim shirt, possibly topped off with an Argentine gaucho beret. They dressed like themselves, completely and unapologetically.
I’ve spent decades building a life around that same instinct — traveling, ranching, raising a family, exploring the American West and beyond. Along the way, what I wore became something more personal than trend. It became a language.
Here’s what I’ve learned.
1. Your style tells your story
Clothing is a self-portrait. The most compelling men I know don’t follow trends — they follow their own instincts. My favorite things are a pair of Anderson Bean cowboy boots I found at a rodeo, a worn leather belt with a hand-stamped silver buckle from MSU where my daughter attends, and a silver bracelet that I’ve worn so long it feels like part of my wrist.
There are no rules — only intention. When you wear something that means something to you, people feel it without knowing why.
I realized early that my sense of style was tied to my sense of place and heritage. I grew up around men who wore their history on their bodies — silver jewelry with stories behind it, denim worn soft from actual work, boots broken in on real ground. That authenticity never left me. Express your heritage, your history, your contradictions. The combinations that shouldn’t work often work best. A tuxedo jacket over a pair of RRL jeans. A wild rag with a sport coat. Wear what you’ve actually lived in.
2. Know your body — and dress for it honestly
The most powerful thing a man can wear is clothing that actually fits. Not the size you were ten years ago, not the cut that looks sharp on someone with a different build — what fits and flatters you, right now, as you actually are.
I can tell a great deal about a man’s relationship with himself by the way he dresses. A man in well-fitted, simple clothing will always command more respect than one in expensive clothes that don’t fit. Wear what honors your body rather than fights it.
When you get dressed, consider time and place. Think about proportion and color. Learn what works for your frame, your coloring, your actual life — then dress accordingly, with care and without overthinking it.
3. Invest in the classics
A perfectly cut navy blazer is the single most hardworking piece in any man’s wardrobe. Dress it up with grey trousers and leather shoes for a dinner, dress it down with dark denim and boots on a Saturday. It never fails.
Build your wardrobe around timeless staples: a great white oxford shirt, well-cut dark denim, a quality crewneck sweater in a neutral you’ll reach for constantly, a simple leather belt, and one excellent leather bag or briefcase built to last decades. Add a classic wool pea coat— mine goes over a distressed tee on the motorcycle just as naturally as it does over a shirt and tie at dinner.
And every man should own a great pair of boots. Whether that’s a sleek chukka or a worn-in Western pair of boots, boots carry history. They go everywhere and only get better with time. Mine have been to the barn, rodeos, litigation meetings, river banks, and ranch tables — often in the same week.
4. The small things speak loudest
A great pair of sunglasses. A simple watch worn every day until it becomes part of you. A pocket square that adds just enough. A beautiful pen. These quiet details are what people notice long after the outfit is forgotten.
Keep your accessories considered — a few meaningful pieces worn with consistency say far more than an overloaded look that doesn’t connect. A turquoise ring with a story, a silver belt buckle earned rather than bought, a well-worn wallet nobody sees but you know is quality — wear what carries weight for you personally.
And never underestimate fragrance. It is the most powerful thing you wear and the last thing people remember after you’ve left the room. Find one that is unmistakably yours and commit to it. Anyone who knows me knows when I’ve walked into a room — or left it. Scent is invisible and says everything.
5. Your home is an extension of your wardrobe
The men with the most impressive homes aren’t the ones with the biggest budgets. They’re the ones with a point of view. A worn leather chair by the fireplace. Good whiskey in a proper decanter. Books stacked on a coffee table with a good lamp beside them. A Navajo blanket draped over the arm of a sofa. A set of antlers above the mantle. Candles that actually get lit.
Your space should feel like you on your best day. The same instinct you bring to getting dressed — for quality, for authenticity, for things that carry a story — should extend to how you live. Collect slowly. Choose well. Keep only what you love and let everything else go.
6. Great style creates an experience for everyone in the room
There is a kind of man whose presence you feel before he speaks. He’s not necessarily the most dressed-up person there. He’s simply the most considered. Everything about him — the way he’s put himself together, the scent he wears, the quiet care he’s taken — communicates that he values the occasion and the people in it.
Style at its highest level is generous. It says: I took care today, and I took care for you. That’s the standard worth holding yourself to — not a mirror standard, but a room standard. How does my presence make this moment feel?
7. Stay open to inspiration
The most stylish men I know are endlessly curious. They notice the silversmith’s technique at a Pueblo market, the cut of a 1940s western shirt in a vintage store window, the precise color of sage on a high desert morning, the way an old vaquero wears his spurs like they grew there. Inspiration isn’t in magazines — it’s in living attentively.
Dress the part every day, even when no one is watching. Especially then. The habit of taking care with your appearance is really the habit of taking care with your life. Ralph Lauren understood this better than anyone — in his world, every day was an opportunity to be inspired, and to inspire in return. I’ve carried that philosophy with me for decades.
For my daughter, the excitement of designing and creating Navajo inspired silverworks starts in the mind’s eye. So wearing those custom made inspirations drives us on a daily basis to get up and put our favorite pieces back on again. Navajo silversmithing produces quality, “classic and timeless” western art, the kind of product you will pass down thru generations, and cherish forever. Handcrafting is fast becoming a lost art in our world of instant gratification and over sea factory production. My goal is to thrill you with photography of her art, mine in the kitchen, our family’s in the field, all inspired by our western lifestyle.
8. This is the age of the intentional man
Men today have more freedom in dress than any generation before us — and with that comes the responsibility of genuine choice. The most powerful thing you can do is opt out of dressing for anyone but yourself. Not for approval, not for trend, not for a role someone else assigned you.
Wear what you love. Wear what lasts. Wear what tells the truth about who you are.
The old “metrosexual” label never fit what was really happening. What’s actually changed is simpler and more significant: men are paying attention. To quality, to craft, to the stories their clothes tell. That’s not vanity — that’s respect for yourself and for the people around you.
Style, at its best, was never about fashion. It was always about knowing yourself well enough — and being confident enough — to show it. Quietly, consistently, and with complete conviction.
