Getting dressed for work shouldn’t be a chore. If you ever find yourself fraught with indecision in your over-filled closet, you’re ready for a capsule wardrobe. This collection of suits, shirts, trousers, and shoes represents the key items you’ll need to get office-ready each day without anxiety or hassle.
In amassing a healthy volume of men’s apparel, you’ve worked hard to put your best foot forward. But there’s the rub: years of collecting various garments has created a closet full of items you rarely (or never) wear. You don’t need hundreds of choices to express your savvy sophistication and evolving sense of style at the office. Most people, even those with myriad outfit options, stick to a small rotation of their favorites.
What is a Capsule Wardrobe?
A capsule wardrobe is a collection of garments carefully selected to maximize possible outfit combinations while minimizing the number of items available. Each pairing of shirts, trousers, jackets, and shoes is (mostly) complementary. Each item is something you’ve picked carefully—something high-quality and well-tailored to ensure you always look and feel great.
The idea is to remove clothing-related stress and dissatisfaction by reducing your options. While we’re naturally attracted to having many choices (hence your cluttered closet), research shows that choice overload means difficultly in decision-making.
Still not convinced? From size to style and quality to age, there are many reasons why certain pieces no longer have a place in your wardrobe. Garments wear out. Styles change. Wardrobes and closets fill and stretch with unworn clothes. There comes a time when every man learns that it’s wise to make room for a sophisticated collection exclusively comprised of versatile staples.
You need to take an honest look at your suit jackets, trousers, shirts, and shoes to select the items you can live without and the ones you’re proud to wear frequently. Honesty and integrity is a big part of effectively creating any capsule wardrobe, because there is no place for pieces that take up space without any stylish or functional merit. Note, however, that this basic capsule wardrobe does not account for accessories, casual apparel, underwear, and workout gear. Feel free to apply this philosophy to other categories, but we’ll focus on your at-work wardrobe here.
Once you know what pieces works for you and how to create a number of appealing looks with your new, focused, small collection, your shopping trips will be less frequent and time-consuming. You’ll buy the right clothes the first time and have a sense of control over your style, which will, in turn, lead to more greater sense of confidence every time you open your closet door to assemble the next day’s look.
Basic Capsule Wardrobe for Men
Three to Four Suits
A well-fitting, stylish, and versatile suit forms the basis of any professional male’s wardrobe. You need three to four of them in rotation at any given time to reasonably accommodate an office-ready capsule that supports a five-day work week. With multiple suits, you will always be ready to pull together a polished look for any work-related function.
These different suits should be distinguished in color, material, and style to be sure you are laying a foundation for work attire that meet extrinsic standards for every business meeting, conference event, and client dinner. It’s also important to consider intrinsic standards around function and comfort when selecting your chosen suits because the whole point around creating a capsule wardrobe is that you’ll be happy with every piece.
Pro Tip: Always pick up an extra pair of trousers when purchasing each of the suits in your wardrobe capsule, thus allowing for a healthy rotation that will lengthen your suits’ lifespans. Pants tend to break down and depreciate more quickly than suit jackets due to the effect of repetitious—albeit necessary—walking, sitting, and standing.
Suit 1: Your Basic Navy Suit
Every professional male needs a classic and versatile suit in basic navy. Known as the standard suit color for any office-ready capsule wardrobe, navy complements a wide range of shirt colors and styles. You can play it safe with solid navy or opt for the soft texture of a sharkskin design that tends to retain a wrinkle-free appearance due to its lightweight and natural composition. Weaves like birdseye and nailhead create more interesting looks with textured dots that enrich the versatility of any classic, navy blue suit.
Suit 2: Your Grey Suit
The second suit in your new capsule wardrobe should come in medium gray or charcoal to maintain an appropriate level of formality required in an office setting. A grey suit also offers the potential for different color combinations than its basic navy counterpart so you mix and match chromatic varieties of all kinds when designing the right suit and shirt pairing.
Consider swapping in a gray or even oatmeal flannel in place of your more formal button-up shirts for added texture and protection in the colder months. It’s always a good idea to plan for varying temperatures and different climates when assembling your capsule wardrobe basics.
Suit 3: Your Suit with a Subtle Pattern
Now that you’ve chosen two very classic suit designs, you can get a little more creative with your third suit and consider understated patterns and textures. Adding a suit with interesting patterns like windowpane, a handsome alternative to solid colors will have a profound impact on your capsule wardrobe’s overall appeal. Stick to classic colors like navy, gray, charcoal, or even brown in the colder months—from September through February—even if you venture to select a suit with an attractive glen check or chalk stripe design.
Suit 4: Your Alternative Suit
The final suit to round out your capsule collection should be a combination of two of your other suit choices. For example, allow yourself to be inspired by your solid charcoal suit and the one with a birdseye pattern by selecting a charcoal birdseye suit design to add to your office-ready capsule wardrobe. The point is to leverage the foundation you’ve already created thus expounding upon the value provided by the first three suits that compose your functional and stylish compilation.
Eight to Ten Shirts
The truth is, you can include as many white shirts as you want as long as they are simple, clean, and classic since they tend to go with everything. But it’s important to integrate alternative standards into your new shirt collection including textured options like piquet, herringbone, and even diamond. These attractive alternatives provide subtle but elegant distinctions from your ubiquitous white, light blue, and sky blue shirts.
Add enhanced interest and appeal with medium-check shirts of any color (especially blue), tattersall for multi-color options, or go micro check to create depth, intrigue, and a spirited sense of style. These dynamic options will bring a refined look to your office-ready capsule wardrobe while cultivating the original vision that you want your collection to embody.
Trousers
As mentioned, you can ensure the proper longevity of your suits by investing in an extra pair of trousers with each new purchase. Even pants of the highest quality withstand a lot of wear and tear in the daily routine of repetitious movement so it’s best to have multiple pairs of trousers in rotation.
You can add more casual yet refined selections like chinos in navy, gray, or khaki, as needed. Chinos are known for their distinctive indoor style that impose sophistication without the hefty price tag. They look and feel good in any season thus cementing their status as must-haves for any capsule wardrobe because of their durable and adaptable qualities.
Shoes
A man’s office-ready capsule wardrobe is never complete until he is standing in a pair of durable shoes that support his habitual need to comfortably but stylishly get from point A to point B.
A minimalistic approach is necessary in collecting the only shoes you’ll need to complement the various looks that you’ve created with your suits and shirts. From loafers and oxford to brogues and boots, there are four key pairs that will cover your office-ready footwear needs across seasons, degrees of formality, and standards around function and design.
A loafer or driving shoe in mid-brown or cordovan will not only have you fielding compliments but these beautiful shoes are said to be durable and comfortable enough to wear around the office day after day. Of course, you may also need a classic cap-toe oxford in black for more formal occasions. Pack these during your commute as you’ll want to save them for elite business dinners or night-time events.
For more ornamental footwear, secure a pair of brown or mid-brown full-brogue oxford or derby. Characterized by closed lacing and perforated designs, these options offer discerning features that can enliven any overall look in your collection.
With an ever-present focus on function, any capsule wardrobe should also consider a pair of boots, especially in regions that experience colder temperatures for at least part of the year. Consider a pair of black Chelsea boots that provide a dashing complement to any dark-colored suit ensemble.
Your New Office-Ready Capsule Wardrobe
Armed with the advice, guidance, and inside knowledge required to create an office-ready capsule wardrobe for men, you should feel good about your new project. By committing to only saving and investing in the most durable, versatile, and stylish pieces that occupy space in your closet, you will be saving time, money, and energy better left for other professional pursuits.
Contact us at Alton Lane to learn more about how to create your office-ready capsule wardrobe or to learn more about any of the items featured here.