When clients ask us to help build a wardrobe, we begin with the clothes they already wear. A new jacket should work with trousers they own. A shirt should serve more than one suit. We would rather make a few useful pieces than fill a closet with garments that only work one way.
The starting point is your actual week, not a prescribed list of essentials. Someone who wears a suit four days a week needs a different wardrobe from someone who wants to feel well dressed at dinners and weddings. We ask which pieces you wear often, which you avoid, and what is missing between them.
Begin with a foundation
For one client, that may be a navy suit with an additional pair of trousers. For another, a sport coat and two well-cut trousers may be more useful than a second suit. Cloth makes a difference here. A textured wool can move between dressed-up and relaxed settings, while a smoother worsted may belong more naturally to work and formal occasions.
Color does not have to be limited to navy and gray. Brown, olive, and deeper shades can be remarkably versatile when they relate to the clothes you own. We consider how many ways you might wear each garment before deciding what to make.
Shirts and coats have a role
A white shirt and a blue shirt may sound ordinary until the collar, cloth, and fit are chosen for the person wearing them. Oxford cloth gives a different mood from a smooth dress shirt. An overcoat can connect a tailored wardrobe to the rest of your life, especially if it is cut to work over both a suit and more casual clothes.
One client's seven pieces
For a Denver photographer, we developed a seven-piece wardrobe: a copper wool, linen, and silk three-piece suit; a dark green checked sport coat; navy corduroy trousers; black cotton chinos; a white royal Oxford shirt; a white and navy striped Oxford shirt; and a blue chambray shirt. Each piece has its own character. Together, they offer far more combinations than seven isolated outfits would.
That is what we mean by a capsule wardrobe. It reflects the person and makes the clothing more useful. We can begin with one garment and build gradually, choosing each addition to work with what is already there.
Before adding anything, try a few new combinations from your own closet. Lay out the jackets, trousers, shirts, and shoes you reach for most. You may find that one missing shirt or pair of trousers would make several existing pieces easier to wear.
