Menswear must-haves

[4567jhl]

Hello all, I'm a college student with an affinity for menswear. I recently secured a job at a high-end menswear store. My simple question is what would your starting capsule wardrobe include? I'm looking to look competent, but not spend egregious money on pieces that are hard to wear. Thanks for your time.

For more background: The main pieces I own now are: Zenga Half-Canvased suit, Hickey Freeman Navy Cashmere Blazer, A few pairs of navy pants, a pair of grey wool windowpane slacks, brown medium wale cords, and a few cashmere sweaters. Lastly, various dress shoes: Allen Edmonds, and Grenson. But I'm looking for a few other items that can be worn regularly that don't get boring.

Thank you for helping a starting aficionado!
-John

 

[Calanon]

Mid-grey flannel trousers.

 

[norMD]

You appear to be beyond the basics already.

Permanentstyle has a large wardrobe building section.

The best advice I have recieved is to be honest with what you actually need and wear, dont buy that flamboyant velvet dinner jacket that looks so cool on IG, and to go slow as your taste and needs may change with time.

 

[krudsma]

Wardrobe "essentials" are often overstated and it sounds like you've got a pretty good base down. Do your suit and blazer fit you well? One mistake I made when I was first building my wardrobe was buying a lot of stuff quickly because it sort of fit, and I wanted to have a substantial wardrobe. Go slow, really focus on fit and really think about how each purchase is going to work with what you wear already (ie. try and picture an outfit you could use something for before buying it).

In terms of actual essentials, you can't go wrong with a handful of OCBDs in white and light blue, grey flannel trousers, and penny loafers in burgundy or dark brown.

Edit: Also, don't talk yourself into spending lots and lots of money where you don't have to especially as a college student. Spier and Mackay, Meermin, Beckett Simonon, and good old ebay are great relatively inexpensive places to get some quality stuff. Most of my favorite and "best" pieces are things I bought from a dead guy on ebay.