How To Dress Man & Cub Without Looking Like You Tried Too Hard. 

The Menoirs | MANCUB

Note from our Founder, Dominique

There is a very, very fine line between looking connected and looking like somebody's mother has booked you in for a professional staged Christmas photoshoot. 

I prefer the former. 

I've built an entire brand selling matching outfits with the strap line 'Style Inherited', so I'm hardly going to sit here and tell you matching is uncool. It isn't. 

However. There is a line...

For me, the best Man & Cub outfits have always had a sort of 'ooohhh I see what you've done there' quality to them.  The same energy. The same colour palette, and maybe the same hoodie. But never 'costume' vibes.

So, after seven years of thinking about this considerably more than any normal person should, these are my rules for doing #matchymatchy

1. Match the mood, not necessarily every item.

Matching doesnt have to mean wearing exactly the same thing. Infact, sometimes it's better when it doesnt. 

Dad in the plain side of our Reversible Gilet. Cub in the print side.

Same piece. Same colour story. Slightly different look. 

Connected, not cloned.

It's the easiest way to do father and son matching outfits, without feeling like you're doing father and son matching outfits. I appreciate that sentence sounds ridiculous, but you know what I mean. 

2. If you're matching exactly, keep it simple

The more obvious the match, the quieter the clothes should be. 

A really good sweatshirt? Fine. A clean t-shirt? Fine. 

A beautifully cut matching hoodie? Excellent. (Here's one we prepared earlier) 

Matching t-shirts with giant neon print saying 'BIG LEGEND', 'LITTLE LEGEND'. Absolutely not! There is already enough going on when a grown man and a six year old are wearing the same thing. The clothes don't also need to announce it. 

3. One matching piece is usually enough. 

Matching hoodie. Different trousers, different trainers.

They don't need matching joggers, matching caps, matching socks and matching shoes. By that point you stop looking connected and more like you're about to perform. If that's your vibe, we're here for it, but more often than not, less is more. We aren't suggesting you don't need to buy the whole collection (wink wink), but one shared piece usually does the job on any given day, and there is such a thing as 'mix & match'. 

4. Let Cub still look like a Cub. 

Cubs are not tiny men. In the literal sense, yes I guess they are - but they move differently, play differently, have different proportions, and have absolutely zero respect for keeping a white, white. 

So, although style can be shared (we like to say 'inherited'), the clothes still have to make sense on the person wearing them. That's always been part of how we design at MANCUB. 

The MAN version should feel like something a grown man would genuinely choose, and the CUB version should feel equally right on your Cub. Neither should look like an afterthought. 

We don't want Cubs dressed like they're about to attend a board meeting, or Men with repeated tractor motifs all over their body. 

5. Don't underestimate colour

You can make two outfits feel connected without sharing a single identical piece. 

Navy with navy. Stone with cream. Chocolate with caramel (yum!). Or think tonal MANCUB pairings - our Classic Sage T-shirt and Cabana Striped Swimshorts in Teal, or Palm Shadow Swim Shorts with the Linen Shirt 

One of the easiest ways to make the family style feel considered is to keep everyone in the same colour story. And it will photograph beautifully. 

6. It should still work when they are apart

If Dad wouldn't wear it without Cub beside him, don’t buy it! Likewise, if Cubs outfit only makes sense because Dad is wearing the corresponding half, don't buy that either. 

Let's be honest, we're all in a tough economy here. The best matching clothes should still be 'good clothes'. Matching is just the bonus. 

The test we come back to constantly at MANCUB - Would they both choose this anyway? If the answer isn't yes, it doesn't go into production. 

7. The match should be noticed second

We're all about the bond! 

Someone sees Man & Cub together and the first thing they notice isn't the clothes. It's the bond. The ease between them. The affection. The sense of a good man being properly present in his Cubs world.

It's only after that initial ahhhh, they go, 'oh wait, they're matching!' 

That's the sweet spot. They feel connected before you even notice why. The bond first. The match second. 

In summary, maybe my whole point is recognising the difference being 'matching' and 'belonging together'.  The clothes don't need to be identical, they don't need to shout, and they dont need a giant slogan explaining the relationship. 

Sometimes its just the same hoodie, worn two completely different ways, by two people who happen to think the other one is pretty cool.

That's the bit we care about. 

Dominique x