What Makes a Man celebrates men.
We write about stylish men, brave men, devilishly attractive men, poets, daredevils and mavericks. Men like you. We write about men’s style, which is every man’s birthright. What is style? Here is our working definition:
Style is the visible evidence that you are winning the game of life.
And at the risk of making this a circular argument we believe that men who have style make light of life.
A very wise man once said “It takes effort to be an adult in the world today”
Once you know this, the important question is are you willing to make the effort? The better you get, the less effort and the more style.
Style is what you create, not what you buy.
We write about the things that mature men love, clothes, movies, cars, women.
Our credibility - what we know and what we write.
When you read articles in the newspaper about how every man will be wearing a kilt “this year” because a designer has put one on the catwalk, does it make you grin with contempt? Us too.
We write about real clothes and the men who wear them. We love Savile Row and we make a great case for buying a bespoke suit and that is what we write about. We hope you are entertained and interested, but only you can judge whether Savile Row is your look. If it is, glad to have been of service.
We celebrate men’s style, we have an opinion and we hope that is useful to you. We write about what we know, we are men of the world.
We write about the things that you are expected to know about style and which no-one tells you. The information that brands do a poor job of giving you. We write about the history of brands, why their products are considered good and who buys them, like in this article on classic shoes. You want to know what brands match your lifestyle? Read us. How much it costs / where to buy? Read us.
We write about authors who are manly and mean something, strike a chord in a man’s soul. We write about the writer and a give you a way into their work, like the article here. We do the same for movies, grooming products and all the other things listed in our sidebar.
We want information
(With apologies to Patrick McGoohan in The Prisoner)
What do you want to know about? We are here to help, email us here. If you want to know about an aspect of manliness or men’s style then drop us a mail.
Men’s Journey
What does it mean to be a man in the world today? Men’s traditional roles are gone, new roles are unclear, unrecognized, controversial. Is each man on his own? In Men’s Journey at What Makes a Man we look at how men manage the world and suggest some things that might help. Men find their style on their journey through life, heroes, fathers and stars.
Women and their world
A loving relationship with a woman is the single best thing in the world and to be strived for. But men and women are not a perfect fit and any man who thinks that is deluding himself. Sometimes it’s a sex war out there and we are here to give men the necessary ammunition. We love women, and we write about how to live with them.
What Makes a Man team
Editor
I am John Van Rijn, well-dressed, well-travelled, cultured, a mature man. I am married. I have run a bar, worked in investment banking, been a Karate instructor.
I love the courage that real men have. I admire men who go out and shake life up, bring something new. Sometimes we fail, but the adrenaline rush when we succeed is worth all the failures we ever had. And if we crash and burn, other men should still celebrate us.
Writers
Our writers all have the distinction of having thought about what makes a man. They are men of character, with their own original style, and mostly not professional writers. Their columns carry their bios.
How we do what we do.
We write about what we love and what we know. We choose what we write about. We do not write articles for money or on behalf of brands. There is no Pay for Play at What Makes a Man, because if there was you would not trust what we write. It is that simple.
Why we do it
Because no-one else celebrates men the way we want to.