Just in case you're a guy looking for some handy fashion tips, then you ought to checkout Alex Kang's Tumblr blog.

Alex is a style blogger who specializes in helping boys dress like men.

Like any college student out of school, Alex realized the need of dressing well, in fact more appropriate and so he started surfing the internet and saving the images he found helpful. With time, Alex had collected a lot of images on his laptop and in order to organize things he took to blogging; sharing things he found useful with others.

Alex's blog has 2 million page hits and since January 2012, his blog has had over 2 million unique visitors. Wow!

Apart from giving basic fashion tips and answering style queries of the readers, Alex also shares his own personal style with the readers on his blog and trust me, he's the most stylist guy on the block. Alex also sells skull and leather braided bracelets on his blog.

Alex is currently studying Digital Marketing in New York. To know more about Alex read our exclusive interview with him.

Happy Reading!

1. Alex, please introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi! My name is Alex Kang, I'm currently a college student in New York City. I am studying Digital Marketing with an emphasis on web design and entrepreneurship. I'm an avid blogger, tweeter, instagrammer, and totally obsessed with my dog #Oliver

2. What inspired you to start blogging about fashion on your blog?

In high-school, I dressed like a typical 17 year old boy from the suburbs; ill-fitting jeans, sneakers two sizes big, and a plethora of graphic tees and hoodies. Once I graduated and started school in the city, there was a desire a need to dress more appropriately, so I would look through #menswear Tumblrs and just save images of guys I thought were dressed well onto my laptop. Over time though, my desktop was taken over by images with no real way to organize anything so I decided to actually create an account on Tumblr and start reblogging everything. Eventually, I started to build a following from the reblogs, and then an even bigger following once I started posting my own fits and Oliver :P

3. What prompted you to choose Tumblr as your blogging platform?

I used to have a personal Blogspot and Wordpress but I think those blogs are a bit more "text-friendly" whereas Tumblr is mostly image based. Since I knew absolutely nothing about fashion, all I needed for inspiration to dress better were images of how to dress, so I chose Tumblr.

4. What is your idea of a perfect style statement for a man and a woman?

The perfect style statement for a man or woman is to just show character. I've been saying this from the beginning on my blog that I HATE super clean white sneakers; especially clean Vans Authentics. White sneakers should be beaten up to show some character. I recognize when a man dresses well, but if he looks like he came out of last month's GQ article: Summer must-haves for every man, it doesn't say anything about him except that he knows how to read, and he has some money. I respect people who aren't afraid to show their own personal style, and those who stand by it. People who aren't afraid to break the rules. I'll admit, when I first started, I bought everything on everyone's "must-have" list, but that wasn't me, I was merely emulating someone else's style, and that's totally lame. The perfect style statement is to show one's character through their outfit/style.

5. Since you are a style blogger, you must do a lot of photography. What sort of hardware and software do you use for your photography?

I am trying to learn photography. Luckily, I have some good friends and mentors around me that give me pointers and advice on what hardware to pick up, and just how to use it properly. Right now I am working with a Nikon D3100 (my first camera) with a few different lenses, a Fuji X100 (more as a point and shoot), and of course my Samsung Note 2 (to feed my Instagram obsession). Oh, and you should never underestimate the power of a disposable camera. I love carrying a disposable camera. It really gets to the heart of photography; capturing a single moment in time. With the kind of technology we have these days, people are always wanting to "re-do" photos. I really hate when I take a group picture and they run over to see it right away, and ask to re-do it because their hair isn't perfect, or they want to put their hand on their other hip. The point of taking a picture isn't to look perfect, it's to capture that exact moment. That time you're spending with friends, or that time you ate your first exotic fruit.

6. What according to you is going to be the next big fad in the fashion world?

I think slowly, but surely, guys will start to recognize the brain-washing abilities of big name fashion blogs such as GQ or Esquire and this will push them toward discovering their own personal style. Sure, GQ will always be there to offer information about brands; who the designers are, their credentials, news about brands and events. However, guys will start to realize we've let these #menswear blogs/bloggers dictate too much of our style. We've let them play the role of our mom before the first day of kindergarten, or on picture day when she lays out an outfit for us. We need to grow up and start dressing ourselves.

7. How have you been promoting your blog? According to you how has eCommerce changed the business models? Your take on social media promotion vs word-of-mouth promotion?

I rarely ever talk about my blog in person. I think these days, everyone and their mom has a blog and it doesn't make me any more special to have one. eCommerce has changed the game all across the board. We see new brands investing more into their products because they are saving tons by not opening up a brick-n-mortor shop. Due to this, brands recognize that quality of their products and marketing is the key, so certain brands and stores will work with me on marketing. I will help them market their product, in exchange they will create a special discount that I can share with only my followers. This helps both my blog and the brand's exposure. Word-of-mouth promotion for a blog is almost useless in my opinion. The way to go is social media. You need to interact with people by offering them content. I can't possibly go to each person at a party and hand them a printout of a photo I took at the runway show last week. It's far easier and more efficient to have things posted on a social media medium, and have people come through to view it, and interact with you.

8. How did you come up with the idea of selling the skull and the leather braided bracelets?

I really like wearing accessories; watches and bracelets especially. There was a time where beaded bracelets were the trendiest/hottest accessory for men. I wanted to stay current, but I didn't want to have the same bracelet as every guy on the block. So I went out and acquired some wooden skulls and made a bracelet out of it. After a few upgrades (wood to ox-bone, thicker string), I had friends and random people on the street ask me where they could get one too, so I started to make a few for my friends. Friends of friends hit me up for them. I was giving them out for free at first, but when people started offering money for them, I figured I could make some extra money on the side and offer something different for people.

































I really like eating haha. For anyone that follows my Instagram or my food blog (which I've been really lazy to update), you know I eat like a monster. Due to the excessive eating, I've picked up exercising. With the amount of food I consume, regular exercise is pretty much mandatory, but luckily I really like working out. I love researching new workout programs and trying out different exercises, it really keeps me motivated to go back each day. But out of all the other random things I do throughout the day, the single activity that I enjoy most is playing basketball. I was a really chubby kid growing up and basketball helped me shed the weight to be more confident with myself and helped me stay out of trouble as well. I'm not very good, but I love playing with people who know what they're doing on the court because it challenges me to get better. Playing with guys who are better than me will only make me better and I love that. I will play basketball for as long as my body can handle it.

10. Where do you see yourself as a blogger in the future? Now that you are studying Finance where do you see yourself five years down the line?

As a blogger, I don't see much financial gain, but I really enjoy it. I love interacting with everyone on my blog, from all the compliments, to random questions about the plot of Looper. I am also really grateful that my blog has allowed me to meet other amazing bloggers in the area. With my education I would ideally want to work for a major corporation for about 2-3 years to get an idea of how a major company implements their marketing strategies. I want to experience and learn how a big company micromanages it's departments and see what it's like to be a tiny piece to a huge puzzle. Once I gain some knowledge in that aspect, I'd love to start my own company, or work for a start-up and be part of everything from choosing a new office location, to signing new clients, to figuring out which Chinese food place to take out from.

11. What tips would you like to give to budding style bloggers and would-be finance wizards?

For other bloggers; be different. Don't dress like everyone on GQ or on Tumblr. We've seen it and it's been done to death. Don't dress like a celebrity style icon, they get enough coverage. Dress like you, show us something we can't see in the tabloids or on the magazine rack at the grocery store. I think what appeals to people about me is that, especially for guys my age, I suit up for the occasion and I dress casually most other days. I mean, as much as I want to rock a dope suit everyday, it's just not practical for me to be wearing a suit everyday since I'm still a student. I think its a little pretentious for a college student, even as a business student, to be wearing a suit to class. I also wear clothes that most of us can afford. I have a few expensive, but quality, pieces and the rest are things you can pick up at the mall.

For business majors; don't rely completely on textbooks. Gain the basic knowledge from lectures but starting your own business, or having something on the side is a priceless lesson that cannot be learned in the classroom or from textbooks. If you have an idea, don't sit on it and wait for something to happen, go make it happen. If you fail, know that you've gained priceless knowledge/ experience of what went wrong, and what to do better, so you can try again and get even further next time.

Thanks Alex for taking out the time and doing this interview with us. We'd like to wish you the very best for the future.

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