Empower yourself to dress stylishly by letting the world teach you how.

If you want to learn how to dress well, the best way to start isn’t to turn to style experts. It’s to pay attention to the people around you. Develop an ear for what people say with their clothes and you’ll have an army of strangers providing free lessons every time you go outside.

Here’s how I learned style: I started translating people’s outfits into words. You should try it. Go somewhere crowded. Pick a subject. Imagine they put together their look to deliberately say something about themselves. Write it down.

You’re going to hear a lot of different sentences. Everything from “I have never untucked a shirt” to “I’m a rapper from the sixth dimension who came back in time to sell you Xanax.” It’ll be confusing for a while, until patterns emerge.

With men, it boils down to a handful of statements. About 2/3 of them are a variation of “I dunno, I’m just a normal guy, I guess.” You’ll also hear a lot of “Please, please, please look at me,” with the occasional “Behold how rich and powerful I am, peasant.”

Occasionally, someone will say something captivating. Along the lines of “I know exactly what I’m doing,” or “I am successful but have nothing to prove.” Commit their outfits to memory.

Now, go to thrift stores and find clothes that mimic their aesthetic. With time and effort, you can have the same wardrobe for about one fifth what they paid for it. You probably have a Goodwill or a Salvation Army close to you. All their San Diego locations have large clothing inventories. Expect to pay around $7 for shirts, $12 for pants, and $5-15 for shoes.

Learn the language of apparel, then speak it clearly. You’ll belong to the tiny minority of people who can.