Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette!
Today's video is about the ten basic clothing items every man or gentleman should have.
The first item you should have is a white dress shirt.
The fabric should be either made of plain poplin weave or a fine herringbone twill.
Ideally, you want a medium spread collar because it can be worn with many things and it works
with every face shape.
You also want no chest pocket because it's a formal shirt and formal shirts don't have
chest pockets.
For the same reason, you want a double cuffed shirt for cufflinks.
Avoid single cuffs because they're only appropriate for white tie when they're starched or otherwise,
they're just an in-between substitute that should never be worn.
Now if you have a shirt with a French cuff, you obviously need cufflinks.
In my experience, the cufflinks I've worn most over the years are knotted cufflinks
in plain gold, silver, or rose gold.
If you like these, you can find them in our store here.
The second item you should have is a light blue dress shirt.
However, that should have a barrel cuff or button cuff because you want something that
contrasts your formal shirt.
Ideally, you want it to be made from a rugged fabric such as Oxford.
You can also go with poplin, maybe a twill weave or anything else that stands the test
of time.
If you live in warmer regions, you can also get an open weave fabric, but overall, I suggest
you stay clear of the chest pocket even though you could wear it because it's a less formal
shirt.
You can still wear it with business outfits, and it's very versatile and works with basically,
anything you have whether it's casual or formal.
Once you have those two shirts, I'd invest in a cream, off-white, or ecru colored shirt
because it's not as dark a pure white and therefore it goes really well with things
like tweed, any forms of brown tones, reds, greens, oranges, you name it.
To learn more about dress shirts, please check out our in-depth guide here on the website.
The third item I invested in when I was new to men's clothing is a navy suit.
To start, I'd invest in a single breasted suit with notched lapels, not too skinny,
not too wide, about 10cm or 4 inches for the lapel width.
I would choose side vents and flap pockets.
If you don't like the single-breasted style, you can also go for double-breasted with six
buttons and two closing buttons.
For pants, I would choose cuffed, and since I have bigger thighs, I would go pleated.
Of course, that's up to you.
If you have slim legs, a flat front may look more attractive.if you can, also invest in
a vest or waistcoat of matching material simply because it allows you to go to more formal
events with basically the same garment.
It's very important that you don't get a fabric that is too lightweight because they wrinkle
too easily and they also don't drape well.
Ideally, you should look for something in the 330-350 gram range which is about 11 ounces.
I think you should skip fine things like cashmere because they're soft, they may wear out faster,
and if this is your first suit, you'll get a little wear out of it.
You want a hard wearing, a 100% worsted wool cloth.
To learn more about worsteds, please check out this guide here.
If you wear a suit regularly to the office, I suggest you get a second pair of pants maybe
one without cuffs, that way, you get a lot more wear out of your suit and you have a
different style, so it just looks like an entirely different suit even though it's the
same.
The fourth item you should invest in is a classic navy blazer.
No, not the one from your suit.
While you can wear that jacket as a separate with khakis, if you get a navy blazer, you
should get something distinctly different.
That being said, get a lighter shade of navy than your suit because it has to look different
and a lighter color is usually more casual which is the origin if the blazer hence, you
should go with that.
I also suggest you go with patch pockets rather than flap pockets and have contrasting buttons,
maybe mother of pearl or pewter and if you want to learn more about blazers, with all
the details and everything there is to know, please check out our video guide, here.
The fifth most important garment is the gray flannel suit.
It's a classic wardrobe staple and men like Cary Grant wore it in North by Northwest;
Gianni Agnelli made it world-famous with a specific shade from Vitale Barberis Canonico.
It's not just so popular because some famous people wore it, it's very functional, versatile,
and for example, you can take the pants and wear it with a navy blazer which is another
very classic combination.
If you got a single-breasted navy suit, I suggest you get a double-breasted gray flannel
and the other way around.
Personally, I like the style with six buttons and two closing buttons.
You also want flap pockets that can be tucked in so it would look like jetted pockets, it
just gives you more versatility.
It's a wonderful suit for the fall/winter season when it's cold outside and super comfortable,
and you can wear it for a casual setting and for something more formal.
To learn more about flannel, please check out our in-depth guide here.
The sixth most important item in a classic man's wardrobe is the tweed sportcoat.
I'm wearing one right now; it's a twill weave with a nice windowpane overcheck.
There are lots of other options, for example, with a houndstooth, or a regular twill, or
a shepherd's check or simply a Donegal tweed, no matter how old you are or what your style
is.
There's a tweed sports coat out there that suits you perfectly.
To learn more about tweed and the different outfit combinations and their versatility,
please check out this guide here.
A seventh item I'd invest in is a classic gabardine trench coat.
It's a timeless classic that has a military history; it's a perfect raincoat.
It can have a liner for colder months of the year, and in a double-breasted silhouette,
it's simply elegant, and you can pair it with formal suits as well as casual combinations.
We have an in*depth guide about this wonderful garment here.
The eighth piece I'd invest in is a pair of classic chinos.
Chinos are cotton pants that come in a tone of khaki, sand, or stone, and they're more
casual and very versatile.
You can wear them with all kinds of jackets or just a shirt or a sweater and they're often
office appropriate.
They come flat fronted or pleated with cuffs or without and it's basically a matter of
choice.
To learn much more about this wonderful pair of pants, please check out our in-depth guide
on chinos, here.
The ninth item you should invest in is a classic vest or waistcoat.
Personally, I love vests; I have lots of them.
If I'd have to pick just one vest, I'd go with a burgundy collar, maybe a flannel, or
doe skin, because it's contrasting and you can pair it with anything else I discussed
today and a lot more.
The great thing about vests is that they cost a lot less than a suit, but they allow you
to really change up outfits and just by having a new vest or two more vests, you basically
multiply the use of the rest of your wardrobe.
Of course, we have another in-depth guide about vests here.
Last but not the least, the tenth piece I'd invest in is a sweater.
More specifically a bottle green wool sweater with a V-neck because I like to wear them
all the time.
If you don't, go with a crew neck that is round and it just looks better than a V-neck.
It's perfect to layer over shirts, you can have it under jackets, you can wear it on
its own, or with an overcoat, and just keeps you warm in the winter.
You can invest a little more; you can get a blend with a higher end three ply of 4 ply
cashmere or an all-cashmere sweater, but that's a lot more expensive.
Of course, it's also softer.
I like bottle green because it's a slightly more casual color, it's dark, but you can
pair it with all kinds of casual things as well as formal colors such as navy or gray.
If you want to invest in more sweaters, you can extend to colors like camel, navy, gray,
or personally; I like orange.
Of course, burgundy red is an all-time classic.
Now, no outfit is complete without shoes and you can ruin your entire look by wearing a
cheap pair of shoes.
Even though you know the ten most important pieces of clothing to wear, please check out
this video where I discuss the must have dress shoes for men.
If you're more into boots, please check out this video about the two most important ones.
Now, all of these items are super versatile and therefore you will wear them a lot, for
that reason, it's important to invest in quality over quantity.
I suggest you buy the most expensive item you can afford at any point in time simply
because the cost per wear will be so low and you'll thank me for it.
For more information on how to build your wardrobe and what items to buy and which ones
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