A Solid White tee is a Wardrobe Essential. What Are the Other 8?
So you want to start rebuilding your wardrobe, but you just don’t know where to begin?
It’s a common problem, and it’s quite understandable. When you’re a novice at style, all the information out there can get confusing.
This confusion often leads to paralysis.
You’re doing your research, but one article says to buy one thing and then another says to buy another thing. You just don’t know what to invest in first. You feel overwhelmed by all the things you have to buy, and you end up buying nothing at all. You just stick to what you know.
Or maybe you just pick something, and then you don’t really know what to do with it. You only bought the item because they told you it was THE item to get this season, but you don’t really know how to pull it off.
In either case, you’re not making any headway.
When you’re in the early stages of your style reinvention, you should just ignore all these confusing sources. Instead, your focus should be on establishing a good wardrobe foundation.
Most Guys Don’t Have a Good Wardrobe Foundation
Building a wardrobe foundation is a step that is often skipped, but it’s essential to building a solid wardrobe. It makes everything else a lot easier.
A good wardrobe foundation exists out of timeless menswear basics that will help you put stylish outfits together. They will be the supporting pieces that will make your trendier items pop.
You see, when most men want to start dressing better, they think they need all their clothes to stand out. They look up all the latest trends and they start wearing all kinds of color in their outfits.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, but when every item in your outfit is trying to grab the eye’s attention, then it only ends up looking messy. That’s why you need supporting pieces to anchor these flashier clothes.
Having a good wardrobe foundation means you always have plenty of supporting pieces in your closet.
So why don’t we all have one already?
You need basic items like these for supporting pieces
Foundational Items Aren’t Promoted
Fashion magazines, blogs and shops don’t promote these menswear essentials. Their main focus is on promoting the latest styles and trends.
When you walk into a clothing store, you won’t often see a mannequin wearing a plain white T-shirt. Of course not; the store would much rather have you buy something a bit more expensive.
Besides, how is a plain white tee going to draw in customers? The attention-grabbing clothes are on display, because they grab your attention.
So what about magazines and blogs?
Well, most of these sources simply aren’t aimed at the style novice. They speak to an audience that has already established their sense of style and that has already built a solid wardrobe. Everything they add serves only as a compliment to what they already have.
At the beginning of your wardrobe rebuilding, it’s not in your best interest to buy any of the clothes they promote.
You need a foundation of versatile clothes that will work with almost anything you add to it; a foundation like the Restart Capsule.
Introducing the Restart Capsule
I can almost hear you asking it: What is the Restart Capsule?
Well, it’s a selection of basic wardrobe essentials that every man should have in his closet. These items will be the foundation on which you’ll build your future wardrobe.
They’re timeless classics that never go out of style, which means, unless you outgrow or ruin them, you will be able to wear them for a long time.
What you’ll notice about the clothes below is that they are all Grade A versatile. This is what makes them easy to mix and match. It’s practically impossible to combine them into a bad outfit (unless you get the fit wrong, of course).
These are the items that should be your first investments. They are the clothes that will help you restart your style.
The Restart Capsule exists out of the following clothes:
- Solid white T-shirt
- Solid white shirt
- Dark blue jeans
- Camel chinos
- Grey V-neck sweater
- Navy blazer
- Brown leather loafers
- Brown leather belt
- Grown-up coat
I will give a short explanation why these items make excellent foundation pieces.
The Solid White T-Shirt
The solid white tee is one of the most versatile pieces you could own.
You can wear it with anything. It’s like having a blank canvas to do with what you want.
You should have a couple of these in your closet. Go for V-necks as well as crew necks for variety’s sake.
The Solid White Shirt
The solid white shirt is the ultimate menswear staple.
Like the previous item, you can wear it with anything, but you can also create new looks by playing around with the buttons and sleeves.
Wear it buttoned up with a tie and blazer for a dressy look, or wear it unbuttoned over a T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and look ultra-casual .
It just doesn’t get more versatile than a solid white shirt.
The Dark Blue Jeans
Know what? I’ll just let Barron Cuadro tell you all the reasons you need a pair of dark blues.
It’s the only pair of jeans you will ever need.
The Camel Chinos
With only 1 pair of jeans in your closet, you’ll need some alternative legwear. That’s where chinos come in.
See, chinos give you a lot more variety than having a couple of jeans in different shades and washes. They create a much more different look.
If you don’t have a pair already, make sure your first chino pants are camel.
The Grey V-Neck Sweater
A grey V-neck sweater is an excellent layering piece.
Wear it over your shirts and T-shirt to stay warm during the winter months. You can also wear a blazer over it when it gets especially cold.
The grey sweater is very easy to pull off, as it’s hard to find anything that clashes with it.
The Navy Blazer
The easiest way to smarten up any outfit is to add a blazer. It just makes everything look better. I suggest you get one in navy.
A navy blazer is a classic choice that will never let you down. It will match especially well with the camel chinos mentioned above, and will also look great with your dark blue jeans.
The Brown Leather Loafers
Brown leather loafers are a great choice of footwear.
They’re a lot dressier than sneakers, but not dressy enough that you can’t wear them with your casual wear. They actually look amazing under jeans.
If penny loafers seem like too big a step, try wearing a pair of venetian loafers first. They tend to have a bit less embellishment, which makes them look a tad more casual.
The Brown Leather Belt
Your brown leather shoes need a brown leather belt to compliment them. Although, they don’t have to be a complete match shade-wise. It’s okay if there’s a bit of difference.
The Grown-up Coat
Now that you’re improving your style, you will need a grown-up coat to top the look off, as it’s often the first thing people see you in during colder times.
Personally, I’m a big fan of the pea coat, but something like an overcoat or duffle coat will work just as well.
I’ll let you pick the color yourself, but make sure it’s a neutral. That means either grey, navy or brown.
Action Step: Put the Restart Capsule on Your Shopping List
Put every piece mentioned above on your shopping list. These should be the first investments you make. They will stay with you for a long time, if you take good care of them.
Get every item on the restart capsule, and then experiment to figure out how to put these clothes together in a way that you like.
Until you own the complete Restart Capsule, I don’t want you spending your money on any other clothes.
Remember, you need to start investing in versatility! Don’t get sidetracked by the attention-grabbing pieces on display.
Like I said, having a solid wardrobe foundation is crucial, so do not skip this step!
Can you see how the Restart Capsule will help you rebuild your wardrobe? Are there any items in it you already own? Let us know in the comments!
Also, if you found this information useful, and you think more guys should benefit from it, then click here to tweet it or here to share it on Facebook.
Image sources: hm.com, mrporter.com
Hey guys, I'm Robert, and I used to be a terrible dresser. But after a long time trying to make sense of personal style, I now walk out my door every day, looking (and feeling) my best. I want the same for you, so I'm here to simplify the process. 
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I don’t like V-necks. They never look good on me. Would you consider a regular, round neck grey sweater still an essential?
Yes, feel free to make changes to this list to suit your own tastes. The main point is that you build a wardrobe foundation of neutral pieces.
What loafers are those?
Penny loafers. Couldn’t tell you the exact model.
Okay, thanks anyway.
http://www.mrporter.com/product/180041
Awesome, thank you!
I’m curious about the plain white shirt: Dress or Sport?
Does it matter here?
Thanks.
The shirt I’m wearing is kind of an in-betweener — short enough to wear untucked, but long enough to stay inside my pants if I choose to tuck it.
I don’t really like wearing a blazer with an untucked shirt, so I’d choose a dress shirt over a sport shirt that I couldn’t tuck.
As a slightly overweight man, I tend to avoid tucking in my shirts like the plague unless I’ve got a blazer or jacket to wear over them–if I tuck in a shirt without something over it, I always feel more self-conscious about my weight. Is there any way other than simply losing weight (which I’ve been trying with only mild success) to keep tucked shirts from bulging out?
Yes! Get them tailored.
As another overweight guy, let me tell you… People can clearly see that you’re overweight whether you try to hide your belly or not. Would you rather be the overweight guy who dresses nicely anyway, or the overweight guy who looks sloppy?
Agreed! You want to show people you’re comfortable with your body and you’re in control of how people should see you. Own your frame.
This helped me out immensely. I am a high school student and just recently started caring about how I looked. When I went back to school shopping I chose some nice new clothes that I thought would look nice to wear but nothing like this ever crossed my mind! It’s an amazing article and I can’t wait to go shopping this weekend to start dressing even nicer than I already have this year!
Glad it helped, Sean! Good luck on looking awesome this year!
Thanks for this blog. I am trying to help my bf to try different things, he’s not into fashion at all but since he knows it is important to me he allows me to pick his outfits sometimes. His closet is full of jeans and plain T-shirts, so I can’t really work it out! I’ve been buying him fancy shirts and jerseys but I think he does need more than that. He said he’d try anything I’d want except pink shirts. I hadn’t the foggiest about what ‘essentials’ I should get for him, so this website has been of massive help. Thanks again!
You’re welcome, Jasmine. Great that you’re trying to help your bf.
Great article and lot of thanks for having the pictures!
Thanks Benson, and you’re very welcome