Our New Year's Style Resolutions

The Editors of GQ
·6 min read
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Illustration by Michael Houtz

Forget “going to the gym” or “meditating.” The truest New Year's resolutions are all about what you wear. Here's how the GQ staff is shaking things up in 2024.

Show skin. Look, when the kids on TikTok are right, they're right—and every shirt looks better cropped. —Joel Pavelski

Embrace discomfort. It’s not that I want my clothes to be uncomfortable, but in the past few years I’ve gradually allowed myself to get too swaddled. Oversized turtlenecks, too much Uniqlo Heattech, Blundstones more often than not. With my colleague Noah Johnson’s cri de coeur “In Defense of Hard Clothes” ringing in my head, I’m going for more tactile awareness in 2024. —Gabriella Paiella

Become the world's best stylist. Nothing has given me more joy the last year than dressing up my toddler. While I wear the same Nike sweats and coffee-shop sweater nearly everyday, I've put all my dressing-up efforts into my two-year-old. He looks great. Also, I find that I get a lot more ROI on making him look awesome than myself. Although, as a sub-resolution, I wouldn't mind finding my own dad style while we're at it. —Cam Wolf

Plan ahead. I pride myself on being something of a nimble freestyler when it comes to piecing outfits together. In truth, that just means I spend way too long in the mornings frantically pulling on look after look like some demented ‘80s movie montage, leaving both my closet and my brain in a catatonic state by the time I’m finished. In 2024, I’ll be taking a page out of David Beckham’s impeccable wardrobe—prepping all of my ensembles for the week on Sunday afternoon, and then hanging them up in a neat row to maximize my pre-coffee efficiency. —Yang-Yi Goh

Fitness over fits. I’m taking some advice from fashion designer and hardcore wellness guru Rick Owens, who once declared that working out was “modern couture.” In his words: “Buy less clothing and go to the gym instead.” Hey—it worked for him. —Samuel Hine

Own less. Having earthly possessions is a pleasure, but it is also a drag. Wanting to do a whole closet overhaul isn’t exactly novel, but I have found myself feeling more strongly about what I do and don’t like, and it would be nice if my process of deciding what to wear in the morning felt more like figure skating and less like bushwhacking. So—prioritize the clothes I wear, relinquish the clothes I probably won’t. (How else, of course, can I bring in anything new?) —Eileen Cartter

Wear more ties. The tie is back, and while I bought and wore a bunch of them in 2023, they were generally in expected contexts: weddings, classical music concerts.This year I’m committing to just throwing one on because I feel like it. If anyone asks me why I’m so dressed up, I’ve got the all-purpose answer: “I’ve got a thing later.” (They don’t have to know if that “thing” is loosening my tie to look at Instagram while I brush my teeth before bed.) —Chris Cohen

Repeat outfits. In middle school, this kid made fun of me for wearing the same shoes every day. Thus my villain origin story was written, and I’ve made a conscious effort to never wear the same outfit in front of the the same people. (Same outfit, different friend group? No problem.) I’ve overly dramatized the effects that kid had on my shoe-wearing habits, which I’ve since applied to my whole outfit, but dammit this is the year I embrace wearing the same looks over and over and over again. I don’t go on a monthly hunt for sick jawnz just to wear it once. So folks, if you see me in a ’fit that you’ve already seen before, yes, you did. But please rest assured I did do my laundry. —Tyler Chin

Wild out. Black, navy, Mary Jane shoes, straight-leg pants, and tailored lines are the pillars of my closet. Because after 30-something years of dressing myself, I’ve figured out the clearest and easiest way to not feel hideous when I give myself a once-over before heading out the door. As a creature of habit, I’ve gotten a little too comfortable in my ways, so I’m challenging myself to be a little less safe, wear more color, embrace uncertainty, and invest in a couple things that feel full-on frivolous in the subway. Life is too short to not let your freak flag fly. —Lori Keong

Dress practically. Sometimes, prioritizing style over everything will leave you excruciatingly cold, uncomfortably hot, or simply in pain (partially from the price of grail pieces, partially from the blisters caused by great shoes). But in the new year, when New York feels like Antarctica, I plan to wear an actual winter coat. And when it's excruciatingly hot in the summer, I'll wear an actual breathable button-down. —Anthony O'Baner Jr.

Condense and concentrate. I'm not talking about minimalism. Nor am I necessarily talking about a “buy less, buy better” ethos. What I want to do this year is boil down my closet to a tiny little bouillon cube that's loaded with flavor. That means constantly getting rid of clothes that water down the aesthetic and only adding pieces that bring depth. Yes, chef! —Gerald Ortiz

Accessorize like a pro. I have always kept outfits pretty simple in the name of minimalism, but I recently bought a belt and it's been pretty fun to style over sweaters, with skirts, etc. So bows, belts, maybe even brooches—I'm open to any fun additions to all fits in the New Year. —Carolina Gonzalez

Fall in love. The lesser-known downside of being an elite window shopper is that at some point, you begin to feel a little numb to what you're shopping for. This year that creeping sense of fatigue finally set in. The clothes that once set my heart on fire failed to move me the way they used to, which wasn’t all bad—I bought a lot less stuff. The biggest upside? When I did fall for something, I fell hard, stoking the embers of that early passion in the process. In 2024, I’ll be chasing that feeling like I’m sprinting through the airport ready to risk it all on a big, cheesy romantic gesture. Here's hoping the love is reciprocated. —Avidan Grossman

Originally Appeared on GQ

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