DjangoV's renewed sartorial awareness a.k.a.: Help me rebuild my wardrobe

[DjangoV]

Hi all and welcome to the thread that will change my wardrobe (and hopefully will also help others on their way to a good foundation for sartorial excellence). The following story may be a bit long/boring. Some may even cry out in desperation or just simply laugh. But please bear with me on this one.

I have been buying clothing at random for the past few years, without giving much thought to color matching, style and decent fits. Only recently have I found this forum, which has already enlightened me quite a bit. But damage has already been done. I own a hodgepodge of lower quality, non (or at least not optimal) combinable and fittable clothes.

To get my wardrobe in a decent state I have already thrown out all shirts and pants that are not even a near decent fit. Especially the casual section of my closet seems empty now, so i would like some help. But the more formal section should also be updated a bit, since I wear a suit to work every day. Here's the deal:

Since I tend to select clothing in my safe zone, I would like some advice on less monotonous styling/matching. So based on the contents of my wardrobe I would like to hear from you guys what item (so no full outfits) you would add to achieve a decent basic wardrobe. Offcourse don't forget to specify fabric, colors and whatnot. Depending on how confident I feel wearing the mentioned items, I will then prioritize on finding the clothing that is mentioned most often (+1, 2 ,3 etc also counts).

I really enjoy thrifting, so I will try and get as much of the items by just doing that. Offcourse if thrifting doesn't succeed (and I find thrifting in the Netherlands is pretty hard) new clothing is always nice to shop for

Thanks for having reading the full story. Top of the list at the moment are a navy blazer (what should I look for?) and some slacks (guessing grey is a good option here). Here comes the current, slimmed down, wardrobe (and sorry in advance for the bad pics):

I only own 2 suits (2-piece) really, a mid grey pinstripe and a navy (with barely visible pinstripe). Both are from the local SuitSupply:


I got this 3-piece Mexx suit from my uncle. It's a decent fit, apart from the pants being way to long. I find it an odd model though. The jacket has 4 buttons and very high-closed lapels. And yes it is black.

I bought a nice chocolate brown Corneliani suit for my wedding and wore it to work for quite some years afterwards. The pants are now totally worn out (didn't think to buy a second pair), so the jacket is orphaned. I'm thinking of ordering a pair of pants (if still available) from Corneliani.

Currently I own 8 lower quality ties (spot the polyester anyone?). I am currently on the lookout for solids I guess, which found me my first decent thrift: a bronze Corneliani solid:


At the moment I only wear solid white or light blue dress shirts (own 3 of each). Please feel free to opt the best suits-shirt-tie combination. PS are work in progress: i only own a solid silk white one.

I own 2 pairs of dress shoes which suffice for now: 1 med. brown pair and 1 mid grey pair (I know, don't ask)

All shirts that are left are pretty loud I think; bright blue and lilac (colors are off somehow, they really are bright). I have no clue what to combine them with, apart from wearing them solo on jeans (of which I own 2, no pics). I should also have a black shirt somewhere!?


1 grey lambswool sweater with squares:


The outfit I currently wear.

• light-blue with small red squares shirt
• red lambswool sweater
• brown (lighter squares) khakis
• black block toe shoes (what can I say, I have wide feet):

I know I am almost starting from scratch. Please be gentle

Besides, how often do you get a chance to dress up a real-life mannequin

 

[GBR]

Navy blazer and grey trousers will make you look like a security person.

 

[DjangoV]

Totally forgot: I also have 2 odd jackets: a light brown cord one and an off-white linen.

Navy blazer and grey trousers will make you look like a security person.

What would he a better option? Dark brown solid maybe?

 

[LuNa23]

I will be watching this closely. Im also from the Netherlands and will be starting a new job where i will wear a suit everyday. I will be starting from scratch as well. Next to that, i find the selection in shops that we have here limited and clothing tends to be more expensive.

I find myself buying a lot of stuff on the occasional trips i make to the US.

Good luck with building up your wardrobe.

 

[unbelragazzo]

My humble and honest opinions:

1) Don't listen to GBR.
2) Throw out all the ties in that first picture.
3) Get rid of that black suit.
4) Wouldn't hold out much hope of getting trousers for that Corneliani jacket
5) You need a suit that doesn't have pinstripes
6) You need some button-down collar shirts
7) Blue blazer, gray flannel trousers, and cotton trousers in a lighter color - light brown/tan/off-white - is a good place to start.

 

[unbelragazzo]

Other threads/articles you might find useful:

http://www.styleforum.net/a/how-should-i-start-my-business-wardrobe
http://www.styleforum.net/t/309783/if-you-do-not-own-the-following-things-you-are-not-well-dressed

 

[DjangoV]

I will be watching this closely. Im also from the Netherlands and will be starting a new job where i will wear a suit everyday. I will be starting from scratch as well. Next to that, i find the selection in shops that we have here limited and clothing tends to be more expensive.

I find that classic menswear (or even menswear in general) in the Netherlands has little to no attention from most of the population. Pocket squares are near non-existent apart from very formal occasions (even a bit frowned upon when worn regularly I think). Same goes for ties, which are mostly worn in more conservative professions (as mine). Poly ties are totally accepted and the most commonly bought/worn suits are solid blacks. Although I do see some improvement over the last few years (as is the case with me

). This is also why most decent classic menswear is a bit expensive I guess: only the really high-end stores carry decent outfits. I find SuitSupply to be very affordable at a decent quality (although some salesmen really have no clue).

From what part of the Netherlands are you? I live in the The Hague area.

Quote:

My humble and honest opinions:

1) Don't listen to GBR.
2) Throw out all the ties in that first picture.
3) Get rid of that black suit.
4) Wouldn't hold out much hope of getting trousers for that Corneliani jacket
5) You need a suit that doesn't have pinstripes
6) You need some button-down collar shirts
7) Blue blazer, gray flannel trousers, and cotton trousers in a lighter color - light brown/tan/off-white - is a good place to start.

Thanks for the very complete answer. I will take it to heart.

2) I already decided to replace all ties in that picture by the end of the year. Apart from maybe the solid purple one and the black/olive black Paisley from Hugo Boss. I am mainly on the lookout for some grenadines, but they seem to be unavailable here in the Netherlands (new let alone thriftable). Also for my casual wardrobe I would like some wool ties.

3) I totally agree. It has been in my closet for almost a year now. I haven't had it altered since I am unsure about the model (only recently have I learned to avoid black suits). Just wanted to make sure.

4) I thought as much. I keep it around for now and may visit some shops that sell Corneliani to see if they have some leftovers or something. Last resort would be putting it on eBay (or its Dutch equivalent). I guess it is to obviously orphaned to be worn separately?

5) *Check* I am on the lookout for a solid charcoal suit.

6) I totally agree. Due to the lack of a basic casual wardrobe I however feel I shouldn't prioritize on these.

7) *Check* I will be on the lookout for a blue blazer, grey flannel trousers and light-brown cotton trousers.

Due to the lack of high-end brands (to SF standards, not Dutch standards; see also my comment at the top of this post) in thrift stores I find it hard to find very decent (brag-worthy) thrifts.So I am mainly looking at fabric type and manfacturing quality as far as thrifting goes. Any advice on do's and donts for non-brand thrifting would be greatly appreciated.

Also feel free to suggest some non-standard items as I also started this thread to get me out of my comfort zone. Whenever I look through SF I find many totally stunning outfits which I however feel I would never be able to pull off.

 

[LuNa23]

Quote:
Agree completely. I bought my first suit at SuSu and am looking to buy a second one. I am also looking at buying a suit from ehaberdasher (affiliate vendor here) but not having my measurements, a tailor or a lot of experience with suits has he holding off on that one for now. I am currently living in Tilburg.