Beginner's Guide
The Men's Capsule Wardrobe: 20 Essentials Every Man Needs
Build a small, versatile wardrobe that works for almost any situation. Here are the 20 essential pieces, in the order you should buy them.
Style Guide
The Beginner's Guide to Men's Style & Accessories
Everything a man needs to start dressing well: the essential wardrobe, how clothes should fit, and how to choose accessories that pull an outfit together.
Beginner's Guide: all guides
3 in-depth articles in this section.
Beginner's Guide
How Men's Clothes Should Fit: The Complete Fit Guide
Fit is the single most important part of looking good. Learn exactly how a suit, shirt, trousers, jeans and t-shirt should fit, and what a tailor can fix.
Beginner's Guide
Men's Accessories Guide: Watches, Belts, Ties, Bags & More
How to choose and wear men's accessories: watches, belts, ties, pocket squares, sunglasses, bags, wallets and jewellery, with simple rules that always work.
Why most men find style confusing
Most men don't dress badly because they lack taste. They dress badly because nobody ever explained the rules. Women's fashion comes with magazines, shop assistants and a lifetime of advice. Men usually get a school uniform, a few gifted sweaters and, eventually, a suit bought in a hurry for a wedding. So it's no surprise that a lot of men feel lost in a clothing store.
The good news is that menswear is far more predictable than it looks. The core pieces haven't changed much in a hundred years: the oxford shirt, the navy blazer, dark jeans, grey trousers, leather shoes. Learn how those pieces fit and how they combine and you can handle almost any situation.
The three pillars of dressing well
Everything in this section comes back to three ideas:
- Fit beats everything. A €40 shirt that fits will look better than a €300 shirt that doesn't. Shoulders, sleeve length and trouser break matter more than the label.
- Versatility beats volume. Ten pieces that all work together give you more outfits than thirty random purchases. That's the idea behind a capsule wardrobe.
- Details finish the look. A good belt, a clean watch and the right socks make a simple outfit look intentional.
How to use this section
If you're starting from scratch, read the capsule wardrobe guide first. It gives you a shopping list in priority order, so you know what to buy first and what can wait. Then read how clothes should fit before you spend any serious money, because it will save you from the most common and most expensive mistakes. Finally, the accessories guide covers watches, belts, ties, bags and sunglasses.
Quick win
Before you buy anything new, take your three most-worn trousers and jackets to a tailor. Hemming trousers and shortening sleeves usually costs little, and it makes clothes you already own look noticeably more expensive.
Where to go next
Once the basics are in place, move on to dressing for each season, pick a direction in our guide to men's style types, and learn which shoes and socks go with each look.