The Distinguished Kenyan Man’s Guide to dressing up for Important Functions – The Ultimate Guide

Has this ever happened to you?

You buy a book on amazon. You had read a few excerpts and one or two reviews so in your mind this would definitely be a good read. The book lands on your Kindle.

You struggle through the first few chapters.

Not your cup of tea. But that’s just the first two chapters.

You’re sure the book will get better as you read along.

It doesn’t.

It’s not until you get to the fifth chapter that it finally dawns on you. This book was not for you. Like a bad relationship, it dragged on a lot longer than it should have.

I hate that. And I’m sure you do too.

I understand that some of you may have downloaded the book based simply on the beauty of its cover. Those are some nice outfits, right?

First of all, thank you for the compliment. It took us a few years to get to the level where we could create those outfits. But more importantly, secondly, I don’t want you to feel deceived. So I’ll go ahead and do us both a huge favor.

I’ll start right off the bat with a vivid description of who this book is for. And consequently, who it’s NOT for. You’re a busy man, so I would never dream of wasting your precious time.

• If you fully understand that your presentation and style can have a huge impact on your financial bottom line, then this book is for you.

• If you’ve always been a fan of dressing up because of the respect it seems to accord from people whenever you step out of the house, then this book is for you.
• If you absolutely love it when a woman you don’t know (or one you do know, like your wife/girlfriend) stares at you

Aggressively with that suggestive gaze simply because of the beauty of the color coordination of your statement jacket outfit, then this book is for you.

• And lastly, if you’re at a point in life where you understand that you will be judged at first glance within two seconds because that’s all they have to go on and that’s just the way the world works whether you like it or not, then this book is definitely for you.

• If you wear an office suit to every single type of function, formal or non-formal, well, this guide may not be for you. You may be at the beginning of your style journey. But if the reason you’re wearing a suit is that you’re not really concerned with how you look, it just happens to be the most presentable option in your closet, then this book is not for you.
• If you believe that having a great sense of style is not important to you, then this book is not for you.

• If your preference tends to lean towards clothing that others often the term ‘boring’ i.e…. plain white shirt, plain grey suit, bland black shoes, then this guide is not for you.
• If you wouldn’t consider yourself a stylish individual but you have a singular important function in which you really need to impress your peers and/or a VIP crowd, then no need to read the entire guide. Simply skip to the end, pick up the contacts, give us a shout and let’s see what we have readily available for you.

We love our customers. Therefore, we fondly refer to them as Kings.

If you visit our website www.kingsidney.co.ke you’ll find a list of Kings on the very front page.

That list of course is by no means extensive. Some are private individuals and don’t want to feature on it.

Inasmuch as they may be different in terms of their privacy concerns or their walks of life, what ties them all together is their strong desire to make themselves better. Particularly in high-impact social situations.

This is not a guide about fashion. It’s a guide about taking things to the next level at any important function.

It’s about electrifying the crowd so much with your sense of style that it inevitably leads to improved quality of life for you long after the event in question.

So what makes a King when it comes to special occasion style? Well a King is all about being seen vs. being felt.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the way the gentleman on the left is dressed. He’s actually pulled off some sweet color coordination.

However, from a style perspective, he doesn’t come anywhere near the swag of the gentleman on the right. The guy on the right looks a lot more powerful.

But here’s the kicker.

The guy on the right also FEELS a lot more powerful. And not just to onlookers but also from within as well. That jacket would make any man’s self-confidence soar through the freaking roof.

We want you to look the part, feel the part, and therefore by extension, play the part. And the trick to accomplishing that is to get a lot more deliberate about each specific piece as well as about how well it all comes together.

Back when I was a teenager, I used to watch romantic teen movies in anticipation of my first ever girlfriend. I’m sure we all did. Now, there would always be a point where the main female protagonist would be stuck in an emotional choice between two men. So she’d begin listing advantages of guy number 1. He’s strong, he’s dependable, he’s kind, he’s, etc… Then when it got to the disadvantages, she’d list only 1. He’s not guy number two.

We want you to dress up to be guy number two. We want you to evoke such a strong emotional reaction in your audience that nothing else matters.

So without further ado, let’s go through a few different uniquely

Kenyan functions that you could possibly be dressing up for, and give styling advice on how you can leave a powerful impression in each scenario.

What we’re going to do is take an event that you may need to dress up for and go ahead and show you how you can shine elegantly for each one.

Please note. Because of the quality and uniqueness of our power jackets, it is highly unlikely that any one of the following looks will still be in stock at the time of your reading of this guide.

That being said, we believe the styling knowledge you receive regardless will be valuable to you either way as you develop your individual style when it comes to making an impact on any important occasion you choose to attend.

Individual looks are not as important as the underlying style principle. The principle will serve as a foundation for your decision-making process whenever you shop for occasion wear.

Let’s go.

This is the most common function for a lot of Kenyans. Weddings occur nearly every weekend. If you lead a very active social life, then you probably attend quite a number every year. Now, let me expound on two things about this category. The reason I put them together is that if you’re a groom, I’d like you to:

It makes absolutely no sense to splash all that money on something you’ll only wear for a few hours and never wear again. 

And I’m not saying that you shouldn’t get fancy and creative. If there is a group of people who cannot stand plain and boring office suits it’s us.

We specialize in the spectacular. As you may have already seen from the quality of our work. 

Even a fancy tailcoat can be worn to 1-2 high-profile dinners long after the wedding.

I’m talking about that outlandish luminous green piece done strictly to fit the color scheme of the wedding.

We’re men. That wear-once-throw-away wedding gown mathematics makes zero sense to most of us.

We haven’t been dreaming about a wedding since we were little boys. We dream about respect and recognition for our achievements.

We’ve sold tuxedos to many Kenyan grooms. And in the few instances where the outfit was outlandish and un-wearable the day after the wedding, there was always a sense of regret.

Both on their part as well as on ours.

Here’s a rule of thumb. If you can’t wear it anywhere next weekend then we’d strongly advise against making it this weekend.

I totally understand that the high of the wedding can be as real for men as it can be for women. It’s a celebration of love.

The best feeling in the world.

However, that’s why you have us. To prevent you from making such errors of judgment.

You want to aim for a multipurpose wedding jacket.

Once the wedding is over and you have a different important function elsewhere, simply switch up the white tuxedo shirt for a black turtleneck and you’re good to go.

And if you’re a wedding guest at an important VIP wedding as opposed to the wedding groom, then there’s a glorious dress jacket outfit for your consideration towards the last third the video below.

If you have an important client meeting or a presentation that requires you to stand behind the dais in front of potential future customers, then we want you to leave a powerful impression on them.

Yes, you could wear a suit. And if the setting insists on it, a suit might be the only way to go.

Our main issue with a suit has always been that there is often no real sense of differentiation between you and every other Tom, Dick, and Harry wearing a suit (unless we’re talking about a super fancy two thousand dollar suit)

A visibly high-quality differentiation is extremely important because:

Remember the example of the teenage girl choosing between two guys? Not to say that your clients are like teenage girls.

My point is that you’re always in competition with others within your industry. Always. So you have to find a way to stand out.

Stand out in a positive light, not stand out like a clown. Yes, the mastery of your content is important, but a huge part of that content is your presentation.

The fact of the matter is people who do not know you do not have anything else to work with outside of a visual of your aesthetic.

And once that visual is powerful, they are more inclined to listen attentively to what you have to say.

Therefore in this instance, you’ve got to keep it unique but still extremely powerful. Not over the top.

Subtle yet strong. One of the two power jackets looks below:

One very important thing to consider when dressing up for an award ceremony is:

More often than not you may find that you will need to go over the top with both the uniqueness and quality of your outfit. Here, let me show you.

Award ceremonies often require a tuxedo right? So when we were dressing up the King below for an international award ceremony, we went with this unique rendition of an award ceremony tux.

Yes, in case you’re wondering, that is indeed a leather lapel.

Complete with James-Bond-like leather gauntlet cuffs. That strong outfit would be a touch too elaborate to wear to cocktails on a random Tuesday evening right?

It was, however, extremely essential to wear for this particular occasion because we were not dressing him up just for himself, but for an international crowd as well.

And the results spoke for themselves.

Here’s the thing.

The fact is, if you win an award, your picture could end up in the social section in the middle of the newspaper.

It’s a very real possibility.

Therefore, you want to wear something where the picture taken would make you extremely proud of yourself. Proud enough to cut out and frame in your office for your guests to see.

Proud enough that whoever comes across it immediately understands that they’re dealing with a man of substance.

Whether you’re married, single, or freshly divorced and getting back out into the market, there’s nothing more fun to dress up for than a hot date.

Yes, the respect from other men when you’re dressed to the nines can feel very good. But to be frank, nothing in this world feels as good as the look of lust/love in a woman’s eyes when she sees you in a powerful outfit and can’t stop gushing about how handsome you look.

Dressing for a hot date is a lot of fun because:

 A private date is a perfect chance to let it hang loose (Metaphorically. Mind out of the gutter tafadhali) and remind your partner of the King she has.

If you’ve lost someone close or are simply attending a VIP funeral, one thing is for certain.

Again, this is not necessarily about you and shining at the event. It’s about putting your absolute best foot forward, despite your state of mind at that particular moment in time, because that’s what the person would’ve wanted.

If your friend invited you to an important function, you’d attend it extremely well dressed right? So why take shortcuts if the function is sending someone off to heaven? That’s perhaps the most important function of all.

You can keep it black/dark-colored as most funeral etiquette dictates. But shoot for a strong stylish black as opposed to a lazy office suit.

Because lazy is just not a word that features anywhere in your vocabulary. At all.

Maybe you’re aspiring for political office (MCA, MP, Senator, or Governor). Or it has finally dawned on you after living in the dark for a few decades that your sense of style is important and can be utilized as the ultimate tool to bring you closer to your desired life outcome.

Or you’re starting a new business and scoring some high-profile meetings. Or your old business is finally picking up and you’re getting invitations to some pretty serious functions.

Whatever the case may be, a total wardrobe overhaul is required. Because, and this is important:

We do not have any specific pictorial examples for this scenario. That’s because goals and dreams are very individual. It would be the equivalent of a doctor giving a prescription without ever having met the patient.

A sit-down is in order.

If that function is truly very important to you, then it’s time to invest in the power of your aesthetic. Give us a call and let’s talk about the impact you will make.

If you’re not ready just yet, then sign up for the email list. We will send you weekly outfits and style tips by email to help you in your quest to look and feel like the King you are at that upcoming function.

Here’s the form.