The Stylish Modest Men of StyleCon 2017

At StyleCon, you expect to see lots of well-dressed men. Tall, short, skinny, athletic, hefty…whatever. They’re all well above average in terms of style.

But I was particularly impressed this year with the men of modest height. You know that it takes a lot of extra effort to dress well as a shorter man – mostly because nothing fits properly off the rack.

So when I see a shorter gent in a perfectly tailored, thoughtful outfit, I’m dually impressed. Luckily, I had my camera with me to document all of the awesome getups I saw this year at StyleCon.

Note: StyleCon has been renamed Menfluential, so next year’s conference will be called Menfluential 2018).

This post is just a showcase of some of the most stylish shorter men who attended the conference. If you want my full recap of StyleCon 2017, watch this video:

StyleCon 2017 Pictures and Reflections ←

Ok, let’s look at the photos!

It was a pleasure to meet Kian this year. Above is our outfits from day one of StyleCon. I went with a conservative navy/grey/black color scheme.

From left to right: Pete Sveen, me and Paul McGregor. Pete is a fellow man of modest height and an extremely successful entrepreneur.

His main focus right now is DIY Pete, a blog and YouTube channel that teaches people how to do all sorts of cool DIY projects.

Pete has also been stepping up his style game, and he was looking very sharp this year!

Paul McGregor isn’t a man of modest height, but he is a very handsome and charming Brit who gave an awesome talk about personal development. Be sure to check out his website and subscribe to his YouTube channel.

Robert Ordway (around 5’8″) actually ran a custom menswear boutique, so he knows a thing or two about style and fit. I wish I had captured his suit from the first day, but this casual outfit is on point too!

This is an example of expert color coordination between the shirt, pocket square and lapel flower. They don’t match exactly (i.e., not the same colors), but they look great together.

Love this picture of me and Robert. This is my outfit from day two. I thought it would be warm and humid in Atlanta, so I went with lighter materials and an unlined jacket. Turns out it’s actually kind of cool in February…

These two young(ish) entrepreneurs were so well dressed, I just had to take a picture. Christopher Williams (left) and Jacob Clayton co-founded Iconic Impressions, an image consulting company based in Chicago.

I saw several men choosing to swap their traditional dress shirts for turtlenecks. Definitely a trend to experiment with this year if you think it might suit your style!

Bret learned the importance of classic tailoring in the military. His suit from day one was amazing, but you’ll have to take my word for it.

For day two, he chose to go with a classic blue sport coat, paisley tie and tan chinos.

Trevin (right) and Bret showcasing their day two style. Trevin, an international trade expert and classical music enthusiast, got this pony jacket from a John Varvatos runway collection.

Word on the street is that Aaron Marino nearly stole it for his own collection!

It was great to see Montreal native, Claude, again this year! His tailoring game is always on point, and this outfit is no exception.

These gentlemen know a thing or two about tailoring.

My buddy Khoi, founder of Gentleman Within, is a layering expert. A graphic designer by trade, Khoi has an inherent appreciation for balance and color.

I caught Nico in the stairwell and pretty much barred him from going any farther until he let me snap some photos.

He runs a YouTube channel and actually kept a pretty thorough vlog about his StyleCon experience. If you want to see what it’s like from a first time attendee’s perspective, definitely check out his videos.

I happen to love elephants, so I thought Nico’s optical illusion tattoo was amazing.

Justin Stenstrom is a blogger, speaker and podcaster from outside Boston. He runs Elite Man Magazine and The Justin Stenstrom Show.

He actually invited me onto his Elite Man podcast to talk about style, business and confidence (listen here).

One of the best things about StyleCon is getting to meet people you already know in real life. I’m talking about people like Ryan Rosario, an OG of the Modest Men Facebook group.

Check out Ryan’s awesome one minute recap of StyleCon.

This was Kian’s outfit from day two. Love the color of that jacket!

Kian and Ryan are showing me how to pose for photos. I’m telling you, these guys are naturals!

I think there are two takeaways from this post:

First, dressing well is a choice. Once you decide to be a well-dressed man, you commit to the effort required to make it happen. Going to the tailor is no longer a chore – it’s just part of the routine.

The men in the above photos have this mindset.

Second, it’s a good idea to surround yourself with stylish, driven, successful people. It’s especially empowering to see shorter men achieving their goals and dreams, since we’re often at an inherent disadvantage.

One of the best ways to surround yourself with these types of people is to go to conferences like Menfluential 2018.

Questions? Thoughts? Leave a comment below!