Cardiology fellow and fashion blogger Janish Kothari exudes easy GQ glamour with each polished tile of his Instagram account, @doctajayyy. Far from elite and inaccessible, his take on men’s fashion promises that this is a personal journey anyone can decide to embark on. Here’s how he did it and you can, too.
The Doctor Will DM You Now
Before even finishing medical school, and before Instagram influencers had proliferated, Kothari knew he wanted to share his combined passions for doctoring and style with the world. Brand partnerships followed, be they names he already favored or bespoke suits offered from Italian tailors, always consistent with his unique taste. “There are brands that reach out and want me to wear rompers,” he says. “That’s not my look, man. Some offer a lot of money, but it’s not about that.”
He grew up in Jersey City, New Jersey, and his first lesson in the importance of fashion came from his father. As a successful businessman in India, his father prided himself on a bespoke wardrobe communicating professionalism and power. Once he rebuilt his career stateside, he started to relay this to his son. “When I was six-seven-eight my dad would take me to the mall: J. Crew, Lord & Taylor, Banana Republic,” Kothari recalls. “He’d tell me, ‘Don’t leave the house without your clothes pressed, your hair done, your breath fresh.’”
People will talk, his father said, so give them something to talk about.
Align with Your Inspiration
At the barbershop Kothari frequented as a kid, mirrors were lined with pictures of Old Hollywood heroes: Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra and others, pillars of a cool, collected masculinity. Kothari read the visual message of these sharp-dressed men, the respect their clothes conferred.
“I was a scrawny kid,” Kothari says, describing a gauntlet of physical and verbal high school bullying, “but I’m actually thankful for my experience, because it gave me a thick skin.” He was able to stand up for himself effectively, winning a sense of confidence.
Cary Grant once said, “I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be and I finally became that person. Or he became me. Or we met at some point.” Kothari continued to create and discover his style as he met and became who he wanted to be, and as people around him responded positively to his aura of authenticity.
Trust Your Taste
So if you ask him how to look as cool as he does, he won’t tell you where to shop or how to marry vintage and modern style: “The first thing you have to do is be comfortable with who you are.
“We live in a clickbait age of fast fashion,” he says. “Go into H&M one day and a week later, it’s a completely different lineup of styles.” The trends Kothari is following aren’t imposed from a marketing department trying to create perpetual obsolescence. “It’s taken two decades to get comfortable with who I am, my emotions, what I want to express with fashion, speech and body language.” Be your own inspiration and connect with the style that resonates, because if others are looking closely, they can see through a facade.
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Get Thee to a Tailor
There are a few people everyone needs in life: a doctor, a best friend and a tailor.
“I often get DMs saying, ‘You must be so rich, your closet is so expensive,’” Kothari says. “That’s how I know their concept of fashion is skewed by pop culture.”
Take an ill-fitting $5,000 suit, he points out, and put it side by side with a $100 suit from H&M that’s been tailored and pressed, and the cheaper suit will win out. “In a thrift store you can find something like a vintage Ralph Lauren suit for $12 and have it tailored to your size for $50.”
You don’t need thousands of dollars to build a wardrobe that gets your vibe across to a tee. Chances are a tailor can make vintage or other finds fit.
Empowered to Accessorize
Kothari’s use of bold hats, glasses and other accessories to set off his signature style makes extra ornamentation look effortless. If you’re unsure where to start, he suggests a timepiece.
“It represents your hard work, your craft, to be able to purchase a nice watch,” Kothari says, remarking on the fascinating history of horology. “It doesn’t have to be $50,000—just the thing that you can afford that becomes your heirloom.”
Practical, valuable and a symbol of your achievements, the timepiece shows how accessories and fashion communicate.
Especially as a doctor, it’s evident how exuding confidence gives others confidence, too. “They know I took time to care for myself,” Kothari says. “One patient told me it gave him confidence that I was going to care for him the same way. That’s what my dad was trying to teach me.”
Published as "Ask the Expert" in the February 2023 edition of Lehigh Valley Style magazine.
