Before meeting my wife, I had absolutely zero interest in fashion. I wore the same pair of trainers for years on end, mainly wore brown and wore clothing that I can now see was 2 sizes too big. At least.

You see I had no confidence in myself or in my appearance and I really could not have cared less what I looked like.

Then I met my wife. A woman so beautiful that I felt she deserved better than to be with a man in brown oversized hoodies and smelly trainers. I wanted to impress her. To look good for her. I suddenly saw the point in making an effort.

My now wife, but then hot girlfriend, gave me confidence like I had never known. She made me feel good about myself and made me feel body confident. I’m by no means calendar material but I am sporty and I do like to keep fit. I’m also fairly young in the grand scheme of things. My wife made me realise that my twenties were the years I should feel proud of the body I had and that there were plenty of years ahead for baggy clothing to hide behind.

She showed me the light. The light of wearing clothes that fitted!

I feel much happier in myself. I dress for myself and wear what makes me feel good and makes me feel confident. It also helps knowing that my wife finds my new look attractive. A man can never tire of being called fit right?!

So… from not a fashion care in the world to vaguely fashionable. Here are 11 tips for men’s summer style.

#1 Choose clothing that makes you feel comfortable and confident – no matter how good the clothes you buy are, if you don’t feel comfortable in them it will show. It’s much better to wear something that makes you feel good rather than something that you think is on trend but makes you twitchy and sweaty! I ditched the ‘Scoop’ neckline straight away!

#2 Know your body shape and your ‘problem areas’ Skinny jeans are not for me. My thighs are too big (muscular…) and they don’t suit me. Even when every man in the land was wearing them, I avoided them like the plague. My ‘cyclers’ thighs are my ‘problem area’ so I keep away from any clothing that accentuates them and choose items I feel confident in. If you don’t have abs like Peter Andre, then get tops that are loose fitting over the stomach area. Dress for your body shape.

#3 Find a good tracksuit. Even though we’re coming into summer, a good tracksuit is a great item to have in your wardrobe. For those cool evenings, they provide a little more warmth but they’re also wonderfully comfortable to slouch about the house in. This tracksuit, yes, the one that I am awkwardly modelling, was from Protest. Protest have plenty of men’s summer clothes from board shorts to T-shirts to flip-flops. You can get this hoody, trousers & T-shirt by following the links.

#4 Know what matches. Some colours just do not go together. Some patterns do not work together. There is such a thing as too many stripes- sadly! Don’t just choose a top you like and put it with the trousers you like. Put both together as an outfit and decide if they work together. The other alternative here is to make sure that everything in your wardrobe matches so you don’t have that kind of decisions first thing in the morning!

#5 As the sun comes out so do the toes – I love a pair of flip flops and could happily live in them all summer long. They’re airy, comfy and on trend. But I’ve learnt the importance of looking after your feet; manky feet aren’t great to look at!

#6 Warmer weather means less clothing- if you’re hairy you might want to think about the body parts that are usually hidden that are now on show. My wife likes the natural look but if you’re not as lucky as me you might need to get yourself off for a wax to keep that back hair in check!

#7 Find a good accessory – Women have the joy of variety and summer fashion for men, can get boring. Find a good accessory, like a leather backpack or a hat, can be the answer to this! Plus, a hat is good protection from the sun!

#8 Summer is a colourful season, so why not add more colour into your wardrobe. I just purchased a bright salmon T-shirt, which I would never have chosen before. It’s summer and works well.

#9 Dress to impress but don’t forget the power of a great aftershave. Get the right one and you’ve hit a whole new level of attractiveness.

#10 Just because it suits someone else doesn’t mean it suits you. We might like to think we look like David Beckham but we don’t. It might be ok to wear t-shirts down to your tummy button on TOWIE but in real life it isn’t. Dress for the situation.

#11 You’re supposed to wear sunscreen all year round, but I doubt many of you wear it at all. I know I said that colour was good during the summer, but a bright red face from sun burn isn’t just dangerous, but uncool!

Men’s summer style isn’t such a mystery after all! Follow a few simple rules and you’ll be looking sharp as the sun (yeah right) beams down on you all through the summer.

*This was a sponsored post but all opinions expressed were my own.