I always get asked how one could transform their closet and upgrade their wardrobe. Most recently nkboyd asked me a similar question but referenced a line from the film Crazy, Stupid, Love where Jacob Palmer (played by Ryan Gosling) mentions that a man can rebuild his entire wardrobe in 16 items. Now, I’ll admit, I wrote down the first 16 semi-essential items that came to mind and it was harder than I thought. Mainly because there are factors like color and style that need to be taken into account.
If your goal is to upgrade your look, go into it with the mindset that your starting items should be fairly versatile/work well together. ALSO! Don’t forget to keep everything slim or have them tailored to push the look even further. The list below is the 16 items I would grab to renew my wardrobe. As I mentioned above, color and style complicates things so there will be a lot of ‘or’ usage haha.
In no particular order:
1. Navy or grey suit
2. navy blazer or sports coat
3. slim fitting white button-up
4. navy blazer
5. black dress shoes or brown dress shoes
6. slim dark denim
7. slim fitting crew neck sweater , v-neck sweater or cardigan
8. a slim navy or black tie
9. simple brown or black belt
10. several pairs of dark and light slacks
11. a large variety of dress shirts
12. several fitted crew neck or v-neck shirts
13. peacoat or trench coat
14. sunglasses, perhaps Persols
15. dress watch
16. Other accessories to enhance the look (tie bar, pocket square, dress socks, etc)
It’s a lot of stuff but they don’t all need to be bought at the same time. Feel free to sound off on your list of essential stuff!
Cheers,
G.
