The slow move into more 'formal' clothes styles

[SomeGuy]

Forgive me if the title doesn't make much sense, the meds I'm taking have rendered my brain somewhat inoperable. For the last few months I've been building and, slowly, refining a clothing 'to buy' list. Stumbling upon this forum a few weeks ago has *greatly* helped in the refining process. While going through my list again just now (further culling) I realised that the majority of the list (apart from shoes) are very definitely casual-dress oriented. I have no particular desire to change that at this point because for the most part, I don't really *need* to wear anything other than casual wear. However, I'd really like to add a few things just to add a bit of nice, formal-ish, style to my wardrobe-to-be and would like to hear a few recommendations. From previous posts that I've read I should probably start out looking at navy or charcoal suits/blazers (sorry forget which at the moment) and learn how to do those right. Right? Are there any other things I should consider? I should also add that I don't particularly want to buy a suit at the moment. I'm not going to have *that* much money when I go shopping

 

[mensimageconsultant]

Dressy sweaters, trousers, dress socks, etc.

Here's a self-serving article you might find helpful.

 

[josepidal]

Start buying good leather shoes and upgrade t-shirts to sport shirts.

mensimageconsultant, that was a nice, quick piece, but could you elaborate on why you advise cargo pants over jeans? I honestly think cargo pants look far, far more casual, though I've always had the darker, less baggy jeans preferred on these fora in mind when I think of jeans.

 

[Quirk]

Cargo pants can easily look sloppier and more casual than a nice pair of jeans. There are neat and sloppy examples of cargoes and jeans, of course, but I would sooner wear a relatively neat pair of jeans with a sportcoat than a relatively neat pair of cargoes.

 

[kitonbrioni]

A decent sportscoat can go with a shirt or sweater and wool, linen or silk pants. A pair of monk-straps can take you about anywhere. Loafers can do for sneakers for many events.

 

[josepidal]

Ditto especially on the monk straps. I have a cherished pair of dark brown John Lobb Jermyn IIs that I wear with jeans all the time, but go just as well with a suit.

 

[SomeGuy]

No cargos. Sorry. I just don't do cargos

I suppose this is pretty irrelevant without posting a snapshot of my actual 'to buy' list:

Shirts T-Shirts:\t\twhite, black, heather grey, blue, red, white, off-whites Polo Shirts:\t\twhite, black, blue, red, brown (ralph lauren purple label) Oxfords:\t\twhite, pink Dress Shirts:\twhite, blue, stripes (inc. pinstripes), french cuff (herringbone, ralph lauren purple label, zegna) Pants Jeans:\t\t(nudies, dry japanese selvedge, straight sven) Dress Pants:\t\t(charcoal, navy) Jackets Windbreaker:\t\t(khaki, charcoal, no hood, cotton) Leather:\t\tDainese Merx (blue/ice/red) + (black leather) Denim:\t\t(nudie, connie dry) Peacoat: Blazer:\t\t(charcoal, navy) Shoes Sneakers:\t\t(adidas, onitsuka) Oxford Lace-Ups: Boots:

Before commenting on the list please note that it's been pared down a *lot* since it started some weeks ago, it's pretty much at a bare bones level. Also, things in brackets are comments rather than final decisions, brands in brackets are more in the sense of, 'i liked something to do with this particular brand for this type of clothing'. Ok, that should cover my backside enough, now you can comment

Oh, and this is also not a complete list, I've chopped out the accessories (wallet, watch, etc.) and the underwear sections for the sake of relevancy. I've been thinking about this a lot more than I probably should be and as a result I'm rather confused about the whole thing, even more so than before. Regarding nice shoes, I rather like these: http://www.polo.com/product/index.js...entPage=family http://www.polo.com/product/index.js...entPage=family http://www.polo.com/product/index.js...entPage=family Is this statement correct? It's one of the things that have been confusing me: Dress shirts go with suits while dress pants (which are NOT part of a suit) go with sports shirts? Also, dress pants + dress shirt + blazer != a suit?