The Appearance of Power

How Masculinity is Expressed Through Aesthetics

De: Tanner Guzy

Narrado por: Tanner Guzy

Power has an appearance and appearance has power. Ideally those two would line up together and the world would be full of good, masculine men who dress and look like good masculine men.

But all too often, reality is something different. There are good men and strong leaders out there who dress and look like children or bums. There are awful, lazy men in the world who dress in a way that hides their vices from those around them and makes them appear better than they truly are. In an attempt to correct for these disparities, our current culture tries to rob both appearance of its power and power of its appearance - to say that the way a person dresses or looks doesn’t - or at least shouldn’t matter.

We’re given platitudes like, “don’t judge a book by its cover” and there’s a often a cultural rush to prove ourselves as non-judgmental as we can.

But a man’s appearance has been an integral part of humanity since before the dawn of civilization. As human beings we use mental shortcuts when assessing our surroundings and the people within them. It is inefficient and dangerous to treat every object, scenario, and person as a blank slate or an unknown.

And, because it is our tendency to judge according to visual stimuli, we use physicality, body language, grooming, and clothing to quickly and effectively communicate who we are and how we want other people to perceive us.

Some men dress to appear more physically threatening, others to convey status and power within social spheres, some attempt to fit in and not draw attention to themselves, and others will use their clothing to show their disdain for the social norms around them.

Regardless of what your intentions are, your clothing says something about you. And no, this doesn’t just apply to you, but to every man who has ever interacted with another human being. From the ancient shaman, to the Wall Street banker, the Pope to the gutter punk, all men use clothing and appearance to tell the world who we are. Which means it’s worthwhile for you to understand how to use this tool effectively.

The purpose of this book is to outline the underlying principles of how clothing affects men and masculinity. Understanding and applying those principles will take you far beyond looking like you’ve been dressed by an image consultant, in one of his five variations of acceptable clothing, and into the realm of being well-dressed all the time.

©2017 Tanner Guzy (P)2018 Tanner Guzy

Missed opportunity

I got this because I saw a great interview with the author and was impressed with the principles.

I was hoping for some more actionable advice in order to improve my style. However the book's content is about 50% trying to convince men to care about style (um, we bought your book already, we don't need this convincing). Then 40% is philosophical musings on style, which I suppose are interesting to philosophers. Finally, about 10% of the book has some valuable tidbits on style.

Honestly, there is more value in his YouTube videos. I would skip this unless you are looking for the content I described above. I didn't return the book so that I could write this review and contribute a little to the author, but it was a challenge to get through the book since it lacked the content I was looking for.

Niche But Good

Guzy makes the case for male style, and he does a good job at it. If you’re interested in male style you should read this book.

Guzy will make you consider how you should present yourself through style while taking you around the world and throughout history showing you how powerful or respected men have styled themselves and why.

handbook for the psychology of masculine style

Guzy breaks readers into 3 definitive archetypes, then describes the psychology behind each. From there, he credibly teaches what key elements are involved in your individual style.

Compelling

This book makes a compelling argument for paying attention to the clothes and style of what you wear. I was impressed by the logical and historical data used to demonstrate why a man’s appearance is so valuable.

Good information!

Good read. A lot of good useful information on appearance. I recommend anyone this book.

Vague, Theoretical, Academic

If you want to learn the societal aspects of appearance in different scenarios, times in history, or anything of an academic nature this is your book.
If you are looking for anything actionable, applicable or specific, this is not your book.

Loved it.

Really interesting how male appearance has been important for a long time. Definitely going to start looking into my archetype.

Insightful but cloudy.

Very useful insights for normie men like myself. Change speed to 95 and skip ch1-4.

Mens Fashion 101

The Appearance of Power is a great introduction to masculine fashion concepts for men of all different types. Don't expect a prescribed list of what you can and can't wear, coupled with a personality assessment. Tanner Guzy introduces you to theories, tactics, and strategies behind selecting your wardrobe to suit you. It's an enjoyable listen, but owning a physical copy would be more practical to refer back to the different ideas presented here.

a history of how to dress

This book was okay, it doesn't tell you how to dress... But it does tell you why you should dress for a particular event occasional or location. listen itself is very valuable thing the most men need to know. there is a brief piece of advice about what to wear and what patterns might match and don't match. and there's also a way for you to determine what type of person you are when you're dressing. other than that, this book is a big history lesson. valuable, nonetheless... But don't come here looking for fashion guidance and how tos.