Men’s Capsule Wardrobe: How to Build a Capsule Wardrobe
A men’s capsule wardrobe is less about owning more and more about owning better. The right pieces, the right fits, the right colours. All playing nicely together so you can get dressed half-asleep and still look put-together. It’s the cheat code of style: fewer clothes, endless outfits. Think of it as football’s tiki-taka but for your wardrobe, small squad, maximum impact.
What is a capsule wardrobe?
Capsule wardrobe is one of those phrases you might read or hear a lot without fully understanding what it means, but you nod along anyway because it seems like something you should know and you don’t want people to think you’re daft. Well, that ends today.
A capsule wardrobe describes a wardrobe that is made up of essentials that are never going to go out of fashion, and can form the solid bedrock of your style. It can be useful to have a different capsule wardrobe for different times of year or different settings. Stick with us and we’ll take you through some simple ways to declutter your wardrobe, and build a slick, streamlined base to get you through whatever life might throw at you.
How to build a men’s capsule wardrobe?
The key is to focus on items that don’t adhere to trends, but that you can realistically use as a component in at least three different outfits. This means certain items aren’t going to get lost in the back of your wardrobe and eventually emerge as the King of Narnia, having inexplicably aged a decade in the space of a month and made friends with a talking lion who’s supposed to represent Jesus Christ. The drop crotch trousers and fedora you bought in 2008 — Mr. Tumnus is sitting eating Turkish delight in them, in his little house, and he looks foolish.
How many items in a capsule wardrobe?
The whole idea of a capsule wardrobe is to limit the amount of items in your rotation and declutter your clothes racks. Of course, there’s no strict rules on this sort of thing, but three basic tees, a week’s worth of socks and underwear, and one each of everything else that doesn’t necessarily need to be washed as often (such as jeans, trousers, outerwear etc.) is a good rule of thumb. Depending on your lifestyle/job, you may want extras of certain items i.e. if you work in an office, you’re going to need more button-up shirts; if you work from home, nice quality sweatpants are going to be a bit more populous in your rotation.
Men’s capsule wardrobe essentials
Regardless of the situation, you’re going to need a few essentials in your capsule wardrobe. Here’s a list to help get you started:
- Seven or eight good quality pairs of socks
- Seven or eight pairs of underwear
- Three basic tees (go for neutral tones — black, white, grey, navy)
- Your go-to pair of jeans (straight leg or slim fit, a darkish wash denim for versatility)
- A crewneck sweatshirt
- A relaxed tee
- Classic button-up shirt
- Casual button-up shirt
- Sweatpants
- Hoodie
- Straight leg trousers/chinos
Now we’ve got the basics, we can get into specifics. The items listed above apply to all seasons. Below, we’re going to give you some examples of capsule wardrobes tailored toward specific situations or needs.
Men’s winter capsule wardrobe
- Wool Coat
- Chunky Knit Jumper
- Overshirt
- Heavyweight Trousers
- Roll Neck
- Wool Beanie
- Scarf
- Sturdy Boots
- Smart Shirt
- Tailored Blazer
Perfecto
Men’s minimalist capsule wardrobe
Light wash blue jeans and a white tee. That’s the whole sermon. Minimalism, nailed.
Men’s business capsule wardrobe
We actually have a handy tool for building your business capsule wardrobe. Head to the outfit builder page and all the thinking is done for you.
