Just because it’s winter, it doesn’t have to be that you should forget about style. You can’t just give up and wear oversized jacket and a beanie from high school that has pompoms. By the way, I’ve got nothing against beanies, but there is a time and place for a beanie just as there are different styles of beanies. Some of them are more stylish and some are less. Maybe it was a bit cute back in high school, but you are a grownup now and you don’t want to be cute; you want to be taken seriously and you want people not to think of you as immature or irresponsible. You are a real man and you have to act and dress like one.

In order to accomplish this, you will have to give up the oversized jacket that provides you with zero style points and substitute it with some real men’s winter wear. You will have to do much more mixing of clothes, much more layering and what’s probably most important for us at this moment, you will have to do a lot more accessorizing. Starting from the top, your winter outfit should, ideally, look something like this:

Winter hats

There is a wide range of winter hats for men to choose from, some of which were presented in one of our previous articles. This time, we’ll try to keep it short.

The point with hats is to keep it classic. You don’t need some goofy, childish hat that will entertain your friends and make you a class clown. You need a real hat, that will keep your head and, possibly, ears warm and that will look cool while doing so. You can choose from wide range of men’s beanies, flat caps, trapper hats and others. Each of them has certain advantages and disadvantages, and for example a flat cap won’t keep you warm as a trapper hat, but a trapper hat won’t look as stylish as flat cap.

It all depends on the particular day in the winter. If it’s a bit warmer, you can probably go for a flat cap, but if it’s really cold I don’t recommend sacrificing comfort and body heat for style. At that point, your best choice is a nice, thick trapper hat, or at least a beanie.

Neckwear

Bling-bling and other necklaces won’t help you much against the cold weather, and truthfully, they won’t help you much with style either. What can help you with both, on the other hand, is a cool scarf. A scarf is a very potent stylish weapon, if not put in Lenny Kravitz’s hands. Even though he wears everything with such confidence, some of his fashion statements aren’t all that fashionable. Actually, maybe they are too fashionable.

To avoid ending up like a middle-aged, pop-rock star, you have to control your scarf and not let your scarf control you. You have to show him who’s the boss and tame that thing. Don’t wear holiday scarves that match your holiday sweater your great-grandma knitted. That should stay within the boundaries of family gatherings. A stylish scarf can be almost any (other) scarf, but the key is how you implement it in your clothes. For example, if you are dressed a bit more formal, with the maximum of two (usually neutral) colors on you, you can break the whole outfit with a patterned scarf. Match it with a pocket square (if you are suited up) to get even more spicy looks.

Eye protection

It may not sound that way, but eye protection is almost equally as important in the winter as it is in the summer. Of course, sun is much stronger and the radiation much more harmful in the summer, but that’s exactly where the problem occurs. People are prepared for the possible harm in the summer so they wear sunglasses, but they are also often unaware of the harm that could happen in the winter. That’s why, even on the sunny days, most people don’t wear sunglasses and that’s when eyes suffer.

My personal favorites are timeless types that were in the fashion world since their invention, and probably will be until fashion exists as a phenomenon. There is nothing better than incorporating timeless design with modern, extravagant fashion. Even better, make every accessory you put on a retro accessory, and all the rest of your clothes modern. And I don’t mean like those futuristic modern sneakers everyone is wearing right now; I mean classy modern clothes that are trendy and fashionable. Pure and simple if you ask me.

Gloves

Since boots aren’t really accessories and belts don’t do enough when it comes to heating to get on this list (nor is all that visible), the last accessory we will deal with are gloves.

Gloves are not all that crucial for winter survival because, you know – pockets. Nonetheless, gloves do provide a lot of heat (if chosen properly) and, unlike pockets they enable you to actually use your hands. Two major arguments in favor of wearing gloves are more than enough to start wearing gloves.

There is one thing to keep in mind – warmest gloves aren’t necessarily the best gloves or the most stylish ones. Sometimes, woolen gloves might prove to be the warmest, but when soaked in snow, they absorb all the moisture and your hands might get wet and thus very, very cold. On the other hand (both literally and figuratively), there are gloves made from synthetic materials that not only keep your hands warm throughout the day, but also prevent them from getting wet. However, those are often ski gloves that honestly lack in style. They are great and stylish enough for ski trails, but they don’t match your coat all that good.

Don’t just give up yet. This is the part where you will have to compromise and add some style at the expense of warmth. But still, not all warmth is lost and your hands are still heated and protected by gloves. Some leather gloves are always a good idea, while cotton should be avoided because of its unbelievable (non)absorbing properties, which isn’t great for when you need your hands dry.