20 Pieces 20 Outfits: An Easy Summer Capsule Wardrobe for Men
Wanna know what one of the all-time most requested posts is here on INTO MIND? Yep, a post dedicated to capsule wardrobes for men. So, here we go: As part of the 20/20 series, I'll be showing you a stand-alone 20-piece wardrobe for men in this post, complete with 20 sample outfits and my reasoning behind it.
Disclaimer: This post is not going to cover how to build a male capsule wardrobe. Why? Because a wardrobe is a wardrobe and the process it takes to build the perfect one really does not change whether you put in women's or men's clothes. The steps I recommend are exactly the same: Define your style, create a style concept, figure out your proportions, colour palette, etc and then build your capsule wardrobe around 20-30 key pieces. Check out the 10 Step Revamp for a walk-through of the whole process.
Concept
The parameters: Late summer/early fall. Casual. Complementary colour palette. I wanted to create a daytime wardrobe for someone that does not work in a super corporate environment, e.g. a start-up, a creative business, from home, etc. That meant the wardrobe had to be generally casual, but also versatile enough to cover both ends of the spectrum of possible activties, i.e. anything from meetings with clients to casual walks through the city on a weekend.
The strategy I used to ensure this versatility was to create a 3-fold structure consisting of lots of pieces that are neither super casual nor dressy (the shirts, basic chinos, etc.) + a handful of dressier pieces like the jackets, dress shoes and classic navy chinos + a few truly casual clothes like the t-shirts, sneakers and espadrilles. With a structure like that (click here to see a female example) you can closely tailor your look to whichever activities you have planned for the day.
The colour palette for this wardrobe follows the complementary colour rule: several harmonizing shades of blue + white and light grey as neutrals + a light red as a summery accent shade. For a bit more variety the wardrobe also includes a few blue/white striped and check-patterned pieces.
Colour palette
Elements
Linen fabrics. Classic-fit shorts. Chambray. Stripes. Lightweight cotton. Crew-neck t-shirts. Rolled up Sleeves. Desert boots. Chinos. Popovers.
And here are twenty outfits that could be created with the twenty pieces:
where to find the above items
Jackets: J.Crew (blue), Todd Snyder (grey). Shoes: Tod's (blue desert boots), Soludos (espadrilles), Hugo (dress shoes), Diesel (white boots), Converse (sneakers). Trousers: Boss Orange (dark blue), Levi's (jeans), Mango (off-white). Shorts: J.Crew (red), J.Crew (grey). Shirts: J.Crew (red chambray), J.Crew (short-sleeved). T-shirts: Ben Sherman (red), COS (blue), American Vintage (white). Longsleeve tops: Orlebar Brown (light blue), Kiomi (grey).