A new 2024 Men’s Style Survey by Modern Fellows, has uncovered some intriguing trends, notably that men significantly favour buying in brick-and-mortar stores and have a surprising zest for dressing smartly.
The survey engaged American men aged over 18, asking them various questions about their shopping behaviours, preferred brands, and current trends, and identifying their go-to sources for style guidance. Some of the key findings include:
- Men love dressing up, but almost nobody wears a suit to work. Nearly 80% of guys are enthusiastic about custom suits, casual blazers and workleisure, but less than 4% are required to wear formal business attire at the office.
- Guys overwhelmingly like shopping in stores. Nearly 80% of guys like to shop at a physical store exclusively or sometimes. Less than a quarter of men prefer to shop for clothes only online.
- Social media is the place for style advice: More men turn to social media for style advice (68%) than friends (46.5%), magazines and newspapers (30%), or bloggers (10.5%). Nearly 31% of guys leverage TikTok for style advice, more than Reddit (23.5%) and Twitter/X (20.5%).
Men’s Fashion Trends
Dressing up comfortably is hot for 2024. Significant majorities of men are enthusiastic about custom-made suits (78.5%), workleisure clothing (77.5%), casual blazers (76.5%), and dress sneakers (64%). Conversely, 65% of men are unenthusiastic about the cross-body bag trend.
Guys overwhelmingly expressed an openness to wearing jewelry. Large majorities of men wear an old-fashioned wristwatch (60.5%) and either wear, or are open to wearing, a ring (besides a wedding ring) (82%), necklace (64%), and bracelet (57%). But that openness does not extend to makeup. While 71.5% wear moisturizer frequently or occasionally, only 22% of men wear or are willing to try makeup like concealer.
Workplace Dress Codes
The survey also explored workplace dress codes for men and found that there is no consensus in the wake of the pandemic. Around a third of guys’ workplaces (31.5%) follow “business casual” dress codes, while 22.5% are “Smart Casual.” Just 4% of guys are required to wear a suit to work, while nearly 30% of workplaces don’t have a dress code.
Popular Brands and Department Stores
In the survey, highly-visible athletic brands dominated mindshare for guys, with 39% of men citing adidas, Nike or Under Armour as their favorite clothing brand. Levi’s (16.5%) and Ralph Lauren (12.5%) also registered strong results. Guys also surfaced a number of independent men’s brands and startups including Ministry of Supply, Olikai, Todd Snyder, Fair Harbor, Outlier, Off-White, Faherty Brands and Kuhl.
In response to a separate question, 44% of men called out Amazon as their favorite multi-brand department store or online retailer, followed by Macy’s (22%) and Nordstrom (13.5%).
See additional findings and download the presentation deck for Modern Fellows 2024 Men’s Style Survey at modernfellows.com/survey2024
