Category: Manly Skills

How to Shuffle a Deck of Cards

Post author By Max Winters
Post date February 10, 2017
2 Comments on How to Shuffle a Deck of Cards

Afternoon gents! I sincerely apologize for the lack of posts as of late. Things have been incredibly hectic with the start of a new semester. Hopefully, now that I’ve settled into a new semester, I should be having new posts up once a week. With that out of the way, let’s move on to the topic of today’s post.

Now, it’s probably happened to a lot of us. You’re having a poker (or any other card game) night with the guys, and it’s your turn to deal. And obviously, if you’re dealing the cards, you should know how to shuffle the deck. With this in mind, there is a simple step-by-step process in how to do it. Let’s get started!

The first thing you want to do is take half of the deck in each hand. Then, hold one end of the half-deck with each thumb, curve each index finger inward and press it into the center of each half-deck, holding the other side of the deck in the remaining three fingers. Refer to the image below if you need a visual.

With your cards in hand, you’ll want to bend the cards by pulling up your thumbs. Before releasing the cards, bring your hands as close together as you can without having the cards touch. Keep pulling your thumbs up until the cards are let loose. You should let them loose slowly, one card at a time, so as not to bunch up the cards. When done properly, your cards should be properly randomized after a few shuffles. And with that, your cards would be ready to deal! This probably will not go perfectly the first time, and will require quite a bit of practice. But with enough practice, you’ll have it down in no time!

So there you have it! Follow these steps, and you’re on your way to being the best card dealer around! I hope all who are reading this have found it helpful, and if you did, please share it with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or wherever you see fit! If you’d like to submit suggestions for what The Young Gentleman’s Guide to post, be sure to send an e-mail to younggentlemansguide@gmail.com. Until next time, this is The Young Gentleman’s Guide, and we’ll see you next time!

Manly Skills

A Gentleman’s Guide to Proper Dining Etiquette

Post author By Max Winters
Post date January 3, 2017
2 Comments on A Gentleman’s Guide to Proper Dining Etiquette

Evening gents, welcome back to The Young Gentleman’s Guide! Now, we’ve all gone to eat at someone else’s house or at a restaurant before (like a real, sit-down restaurant, not a fast food place). And I would hope that you try to keep proper table manners and common decency in mind, because they do in fact still apply past your days as a kid when your mom asked you to keep your elbows off the table. By doing that, you’ll create a much more positive self-image for your hosts, show respect to them, and it will overall make your dining experience all the more enjoyable (especially if you’re on a dinner date, fellas). So just in case you don’t keep table manners in mind for any reason, today, I’m going to give you five (5) easy steps to improving your dining etiquette.

1. When do you start eating?

This can be a difficult question to answer. Most people will say to start eating when other people do, but that can be a bit hard to gauge. I was always taught to wait until everyone has their food served to them. However, it may take a while to get for everyone to get their food, especially if you have a large group. So a good rule to follow is that if hot food is being served, if at least two (2) people are seated and served, then you can start eating, provided you yourself have been served. Of course, this is all assuming you’re eating in a group larger than four (4). If your group is four (4) or fewer, just wait for everyone to be served. In general, you do not want to be the only person eating, but you also want to eat hot food while it’s still hot.

2. Mind your elbows

This is a simple rule. You should not put your elbows on the table while in the middle of the meal is NOT ALLOWED! It’s simply improper, plus you’ll run the risk of getting a stain on your shirt (if you’re wearing long sleeves, that is). However, it is perfectly ok to put your elbows on the table in between courses or during coffee is perfectly okay. It’s only when there’s food on the table that you should keep your elbows off the table. That actually brings me to my next rule.

3. Do not reach

Whether you’re eating at a restaurant or at someone’s house, there is likely to a large spread of food across the table. So there might be something you’d like to eat that’s halfway across the table. With that in mind, how should you go about obtaining that item? It’s fairly simple. If you have to reach across the table, meaning you have to get up out of your seat to get it, don’t even bother. Simply ask someone else at the table to pass it over to you. Simple as that

4. Bring the food to you; don’t bring yourself to the food

Let’s face it, we’re guys. Our natural instinct is to shovel food into our face like an animal. This is fine if you’re eating by yourself in the privacy of your own home, but if you’re out eating with someone, you’ll want to make a good impression on whoever you’re eating with. It could be family, a co-worker, or a lady friend. So if you want to leave said impression, it would be smart to not eat like an animal. A couple of good general rules is that you should not put as much food on your fork or spoon as you possibly can and to let the food to travel at least a good ten inches to your mouth.

5. Put the phone away!

It always surprises me how often I sit down at a dinner table and see so many people glued to their phones, as if they’ve forgotten what the purpose of going out to dinner is! The whole point of going out to dinner is to interact and socialize with whoever you’re eating with. And just like I said earlier, you’ll want to leave a positive impression the host, whether it be your boss, your family member you haven’t seen in a long time, or your date. So in order to avoid making things awkward and leaving other diners feeling offended, just turn your phone off. You’ll be fine without having to check Facebook or Instagram for an hour or two.

So there we go! Follow these simple steps, and you’ll end up leaving a very nice and positive impression on your dinner hosts. As a result, they might invite you to even more dinner plans! Thank you all so much for checking in on The Young Gentleman’s Guide. Please comment down below if there are other ways to improve your dining etiquette that I missed, and be sure to follow The Young Gentleman’s Guide on Facebook and Twitter. We have a pretty big announcement coming in the next few days, so be sure to keep an eye out for that. But until next time, this is Max from The Young Gentleman’s Guide signing out!

Tags dining, dining etiquette, gentlemen, young gentlemen's guide

Manly Skills

The Gentleman’s Guide to the Perfect Suit/Tuxedo

Post author By Max Winters
Post date December 7, 2016
1 Comment on The Gentleman’s Guide to the Perfect Suit/Tuxedo

Evening gents! Now, you might have a big event coming up where you’ll need to dress up a bit. It could be a wedding, a job interview, a school dance, or anything similar. With so many of such events happening in a gentleman’s life, it’s always a good idea for a gentleman to have a decent suit or tuxedo in his closet. So today, I’m going to give you a guide about how to talk to a tailor and get your tux or suit ordered (or rented), but first things first!

Suit vs. Tuxedo

One thing that most men wonder is this: what is the difference between a suit and a tux? I didn’t even know for a while. I only found out when I started doing research for this post, and the difference is simple. The main physical difference is the presence of satin. Tuxedos have satin lining in the lapel, pocket trim, buttons, and a satin stripe on the pants. Suits are devoid of satin and the buttons are often made of either plastic or the same material that the jacket is made of. Tuxedos are traditionally worn with a bowtie and either a cummerbund or a vest, whereas a suit is traditionally worn with just a long tie. Now, there are some who like to wear a long tie with a tuxedo (like in the photo shown above) or a bowtie with a suit, and that’s perfectly fine. Just keep in mind that the other way around is more common and traditional. Be sure you know what kind of outfit you want when you talk to a tailor.

Know your measurements

Now that you know what the difference between a suit and a tux, it’s time to get it ordered. Now in today’s day and age, you can find multiple websites where you can order a suit or tux online and have it delivered. Such sites will likely ask for your measurements. Now, there are four (4) main measurements you should be concerned about when dealing with this: neck, arm, waist, and leg. Your neck measurement will determine the cut of your shirt’s collar and tie (which will most likely be a clip-on), and your arm measurements will also determine the cut of your shirt’s sleeves as well as your jacket. Your waist and leg measurements will determine the cut of your pants. If you don’t know your measurements, they’re rather easy to figure out. Your natural body proportions will determine most of the cuts of your tux. Start with your pants. Since I’m hoping most of you reading this have bought pants before and have learned your measurements for your legs and waist, you should have this part down. My pants size is 34 waist 32 legs. As such, my body proportions determine that my shirt size is 16 – 34/35 and my jacket size is 40 short. If you’re confused about all this, use this link. https://www.besttuxedo.com/index.php?action=help2

That link will help determine the size of the elements of your tux; pants, jacket, and all. My height, 5’10” matches up with most of the measurements found on the website, so check it out for yourself! But if you’re going to buy or rent your tux from an actual tailor, you can just ask the tailor to take your actual measurements, and they’ll cut your suit or tux accordingly.

Know what color/material you want

For those getting ready for prom or senior ball, this is a big one. Now, if you’re renting your tux or suit for something like what I do with with orchestra performances, a traditional black tux is generally the best option. However, if you need your tux or suit needs to fit a certain theme or match your date’s outfit for prom or senior ball, as is tradition, then simply let the tailor know so. In the case of my sister’s wedding (a picture of which is shown above), there was a prevalent lavender theme, so the bridesmaids all wore lavender dresses, and the groomsmen all rented grey tuxes with lavender ties and pocket squares. If you’re renting a tux for prom or senior ball, it’s smart to show the tailor a picture of your date’s dress so they can get an idea of what material to use for the accents (which generally consist of the tie, vest, and pocket square).

There we go! Follow these steps and you’ll have a fine looking suit or tuxedo for any of life’s big events! Be sure to follow me on all social medias found in the Social Media tab of the blog’s homepage and send me pics of your tuxes. Make sure to read any of the blog’s recent posts as well, which you can find links to in the sidebar. Until next time, gents, this is Max from Men in the Making, and I’ll see you next time!

Manly Skills

4 Steps To Being A Good Party Guest

Post author By Max Winters
Post date November 29, 2016
1 Comment on 4 Steps To Being A Good Party Guest

Evening gents! Sorry about the lack of posts lately, I’ve extremely busy with work and performances, but from this point, I’m going to try and get a post out once a week. Anyways, onto the topic of today’s post!

So the holidays are in full swing, now that Thanksgiving has just recently passed and Christmas is on the horizon. And with the holidays now going strong, it’s likely that many who read this will be or have already been invited to a holiday party of some sort. Now, for those attending a party, it can be a great time to relax and spend time with friends. However, for the host, they will be incredibly stressed out trying to get the food ready, keep the guests entertained, and generally keep things moving along. If you follow these simple steps, not only will it ease the host’s stress but it will also create a much better environment for the other guests. So, before this turns into a full-length novel, let’s start the list!

1. Make sure to RSVP

Now, this is something that can help the host before the party even begins. “RSVP” stands for “Réspondez s’il vous plait,” which is “please respond” in French. If an invitation requests that you RSVP, it simply means that the host wants to know whether or not you will attend. Unfortunately, in recent years, people have started to view the RSVP as optional, even though it’s one of the most important things you can do to show respect to your host. When you RSVP, you are helping your host prepare various things for the party, i.e. how much food to prepare, where to hold the party, and how many places at the table to prepare if it’s a dinner party. If you don’t RSVP, you end up leaving your host guessing as to how many people to prepare for, which only creates more stress for them.

2. If it’s a dinner party, offer to bring something

Speaking of dinner parties, the biggest part of a dinner party is, obviously, the dinner. Your host will obviously be scrambling to get everything ready for all their guests. So in order to ease some of that stress, offer to bring something to help them. A gentleman never arrives empty-handed. When you RSVP, just ask if you can bring something. Such things can be an hors d’oeuvre, a salad, a dessert, or even a bottle of wine (if you’re older than 21, that is). And it doesn’t have to be anything extremely elaborate, it can just be a plate of cheese & crackers, a pan of brownies, or a simple tossed-together bowl of salad. Doing so will not only put less stress on your host, but also add some variety to whatever is being served.

3. Come with conversation in mind

Don’t be the burnout. The whole reason you even go to the party in the first place is to hang out with friends and have a good time, but if you’re not prepared to talk to them, you’ll just end up bored and embarrassed. Think of some conversation topics on your way over. You could talk about a recent trip you went on, a movie you saw recently, something colloquial. Another thing is to consider the host and other guests. What are they interested in? What to you and they have in common? And just like in my last post about how to date, divisive and controversial subjects like politics and religion should generally be avoided.

4. Eat and drink responsibly

Finally, we come to possibly the most important part of the list: don’t overdo it! If you come to a party absolutely starving, piling everything you can onto your plate, you’ll just look like a slob, which would be embarrassing to the host as well as other guests. On the other hand, don’t come to the party completely stuffed, and unwilling to eat anything. This is simply rude to your host, as they have prepared all this food for you, yet you don’t want to eat it. And as far as drinking goes (again, only if you’re over 21), just know your limits. Don’t leave the party feeling like you could pass out on their front porch as you’re leaving. But you should never arrive after having a few drinks either.

So there we go! Follow these four (4) steps and you’ll be on your way to being the life of any party (but hopefully not the center of attention). Hopefully if you follow them, your host will not only invite you to more of their parties, but they’ll most likely accept invitations to your own parties. Be sure to follow me on all my social media, all found on the front page of the blog, and let me know how all your party experiences go! So until next time gents, this is Max from Men in the Making and I’ll see you next time!