By Jemi Ekunkunbor

The days were when men maintained strict rules when dressing for work. The work place and boardroom remain a very serious setting. With suits, classic dressers still adhere to strict rules of adorning conservative colours of black, navy blue, midnight blue, grey and brown.

But times are changing and even the classic dresser is beginning to accept the fact that fashion boundaries and restrictions are beginning to disappear. Today, men are “talking about being conservatively stylish” says Tex Egbedi, Creative head of the Texen label.

The younger generation of men are breaking out of convention. It is not a strange sight anymore to see a man in a red suit or purple suit but these colours are often rocked at night. They are made popular by celebrities and entertainers at award ceremonies and other entertainment shows. So for the trendy dresser, care is the word when breaking out of convention. But for a more sober show like business dinners, such bright colours may just be out of place.

Which ever side of the divide you are in, age appropriateness is very key.

Accessories

As with suits, the choice of accessory is also changing. While the classic dresser adheres to lace up shoes such as leather brogues, the trend dresser subscribes to footwear like trainers and other non classic shoes.

While the classic dresser wears black or grey or navy blue pair of socks, trendy man subscribe to a bit of colour such as a pair of red socks peeping out of his trousers hem.