A Wardrobe for All Seasons

By Josh Sims

1 Year Ago

Fifty years ago the economist E. F. Schumacher published a book by the name of ‘Small is Beautiful: a Study of Economics As If People Mattered.’ One of its chief suggestions was that there was a need to consume less in order to save the planet — a ground-breaking idea for the time. It helped underscore the idea that buying less and better was not just an ethical choice, but what we might these days call a well-being choice.

“I think that idea applies to men and their wardrobes too now,” argues Simon Cundey, the Managing Director of Savile Row tailors Henry Poole. “There’s a sense that a more reduced wardrobe is just one more way in which we can make our lives a little easier.”

Certainly that fits with a school of thought that points to how rationalisation of the stuff around us — to combat an overwhelming sense of ‘stuffocation’ — makes sense in an economy that makes accessible even more piles of stuff. Sociology speaks of the ‘dematerialisation’ of goods that increasingly sees us rent as we need, rather than own, and stream data, rather than devoting square footage to collections of DVDs and CDs. Interior decoration has long hinted at this too — hence the minimalist style, and the trend for lighter, more mobile, more multi-functional furniture.

“Taking the same approach is simply a more modern way of dressing too — to have fewer, better-made, mostly neutral garments that do more work for you throughout the year,” argues menswear consultant Chris Modoo. “There’s no question that this requires more thought when you shop — ‘yes, this is great for that party, but, hang on, what else can I really wear this with?’ But the fact is that, in line with [cultural change broadly], we’re moving beyond dated ideas in menswear and what it means to be ‘well presented.’”

The pandemic has driven this idea home more recently — it has brought radical changes to working habits, with more of us free to work from home, and with the boundaries between work and leisure time blurred. Add in the pressures of mounting living costs and it’s no wonder that the notion of the ‘capsule wardrobe’ has become super-charged.

“Over Covid, we’ve seen men really start to appraise each garment more closely, in terms of how it’s made, how long it might last, but also how useful it really might be to them,” adds Cundey. “They really want to know that a garment will work hard for them. There’s a clear shift away from disposability in clothing.”

Of course, creating the rational but still interesting wardrobe is not just a personal journey — depending on the individual’s lifestyle, work, age, interest in style, and priorities. As a tailor, Cundey, for one, can be very particular. He’s at the dressier, besuited end of the style spectrum — and recommends a not inexpensive but focused selection to cover all bases. That, he concedes, isn’t easy.

“This is the more minimal wardrobe I’m suggesting — but I could give you 50 more options, if you like,” laughs Cundey. “There is a lot to consider, not least climate, if you live somewhere with distinct seasons or travel a lot. You also need to keep in mind that if you have less but more useful clothing, you can’t wear certain garments all the time, no matter how well made they are — suits especially need to be left to breathe occasionally.”

But for UK residents, he suggests five suits in all — in a 12oz cloth for winter, and 9oz for summer; three of these should be darker suits — including navy and charcoal, which he argues is fine for funerals and more formal meetings, classically cut but with plenty of interest in the fabric, the likes of a Birdseye, herringbone, pinhead or Prince of Wales check. Then he adds three sports jackets, twill, tweed or open weave. And, naturally, you will need trousers to go with them: 11oz flannels in grey and navy, a pair of needlecord trousers and pairs of cotton chinos in dark blue or taupe.

Need a man include black tie in his wardrobe, only for it to be worn on the rarest of occasions? Cundey — whose company pioneered the dinner suit — reckons there are more versatile alternatives now: he suggests that a peak lapel, one-button suit in midnight blue, or even a blazer in velvet, can work just as well when required, but can also be worn on other occasions too.

And as for shirts? Richard Harvie, Managing Director of the Jermyn Street shirtmaker Harvie & Hudson, suggests finding comfort in the classics: white poplin, double cuff shirts in Egyptian cotton for more formal dressing; the same in pink, “because pink goes with everything,” he says; and button cuff styles in blue gingham — “I hate it when certain clothes are called ‘quintessential’ but that’s what that is,” he chuckles — all with a semicutaway collar, which works both with a tie and open. For more casual wear, he adds in a shirt in brushed, mid-blue herringbone cotton, and linen shirts in white and navy, all with soft collars, but stiff enough to still stand proud. “There’s nothing worse than a lettuce limp collar,” he insists.

Harvie concedes that such a selection might not be the most adventurous, but it will offer greatest value all year round: there’s no reason why those linen shirts can’t be worn with a suit, for example.

Indeed, Harvie and Cundey alike underscore that a key shift in the men’s wardrobe over recent years has been the breakdown of formality in its dress codes, such that sartorial reductionists might consider focusing on smart ‘separates:’ tailored jackets that work with jeans, tailored trousers that work with a casual shirt or merino knitwear. Separates have been the key to the potentially more flexible, multi-faceted way of dressing that womenswear has driven, if only because in the office, women have not had unthinking recourse to the safety of the suit. They’ve had to make clothes mix and match.

“There’s still a demand for formal style, but there’s also a clear shift towards separates that are still sufficiently smart for most occasions, but more relaxed too, which is how more men want to dress now,” explains Harvie. “I think they have found that breakdown in formal and casual distinctions confusing, but increasingly freeing. They have more choice, but that also means that, like women, they have to plan.”

That demand to make any one garment work harder has also brought about the other key shift in menswear of recent years: towards more performance oriented clothing, even in classic tailoring. Toby Lamb, Brand Director of tailors Richard James, notes how there’s more deconstruction — jackets, for example, might be unlined, in fabrics that are high twist and lighter weight, maybe with some stretch added to them. There’s more of an emphasis on layering — over light knitwear especially, not least because it affords even more classic dress some personality — and less on the spectacular stand-out garment that doesn’t fit into your wardrobe’s big picture.

“What we’re seeing is more of a smorgasbord of ideas,” says Lamb. “Now you might have trousers, for example, that ostensibly look formal but have a drawstring fastening or, on closer inspection, are actually in jersey. Good fit is still important, whatever your size. But what’s great is that there are far more options as to what you can wear, but also how and where. That certain attire is expected for certain times and places isn’t the case anymore.”

Tom Leeper, Creative Director of Jermyn Street men’s outfitters New & Lingwood, agrees. “What’s key is that the rules in dressing that men once felt they had to follow don’t have the same relevance now,” he says. That’s why his key capsule pieces might include an unstructured double-breasted grey flannel suit, but not shirts — he’d opt for a long-sleeved winter-weight polo shirt or a plain lambswool sweater to wear with it instead.

“I think this all means men are freer to approach clothing differently post-Covid — we want the kind of clothing that perhaps has a softer silhouette that you can dress up or down accordingly, day into evening, or wear season to season,” he adds. “It’s clothing that’s all about the cloth and detailing — so it doesn’t have to be boring at all — but is more about comfort, durability, breathability, practicality, cohesion.”

The inexorable rise of the smart sneaker is testament to this. If once sports shoes were strictly part of the dressed down universe, now it’s not uncommon to see the ‘smart sneaker’ — as this fledgling category has so far been called — worn as happily with a suit as with jeans.

“Arguably this simple, streamlined, all leather sneaker is the most versatile shoe in menswear now,” reckons Mark Higgs, the Brand Director of Crown Northampton, which makes its sneakers with the same materials and construction as more traditional English Goodyear-welted dress shoes.

“You’re starting to see so many brands better known for those traditional styles deciding that they have to add a white sneaker to their collection. It’s a sign of how men’s dressing is changing.”

Higgs stresses that, naturally, there’s still a market for seasonal, trend-led catwalk styles. Most younger men remain uninterested in dressing like their fathers — even if their respective styles are blending. But, speaking personally at least, he does feel that the inclination to reconsider one’s wardrobe and make each garment in it justify its presence might be a process that comes with age and self-confidence.

“It’s not that I care less about clothing — far from it. It’s more that I want to be more content in my clothing. I want it streamlined, which I think is a positive step towards better mental health too,” he says. “Like many men [working in the creative industries], I’m not in the kind of job in which classic tailoring really figures, so I’ve been able to narrow my wardrobe down to a certain slim fit of trouser, to certain good weight of T-shirt, overshirts that can be semi-smart, and running shoes. In fact, it’s getting to the point that the clothing I wear day-to-day isn’t that different from the clothing I go running in. It’s clothing that works. It’s easy, wears well and is presentable in a modern way.”

That emphasis on modernity — on being ‘contemporary’ — is core to what is becoming an ever more fluid kind of menswear design now, one that doesn’t just break down those formal/informal distinctions, but also young and old, dress and sports, classic and on trend, heritage and fashion.

Menswear designer Oliver Spencer argues that actually now it’s the treatment of any one garment that determines its 21st century flexibility: put, for example, a bomber jacket in a luxurious cloth, and suddenly its range is greatly extended. That’s why historically casual garments, often with a sports or military pedigree — the loopwheel sweatshirt or Oxford cloth button-down shirt, chino, roll neck sweater, loafer and parka — aren’t going anywhere. Reconsidered, upgraded, they’re as central to any rationalised wardrobe as any suit.

“You know, we’re basically talking about the essentials of the men’s wardrobe here,” reckons Spencer. “Men have always liked clothing that’s multi-tasking — just look how much we love pockets. But whereas ‘practical’ and ‘stylish’ used to be set in opposition, we’re waking up to the idea that a garment can be both — just because it looks relaxed, that doesn’t mean that you can wear it with something else and suddenly it looks good to go out to dinner. And that’s the way the men’s wardrobe is going now. The good news is that it makes putting together a really great capsule wardrobe — one that can take you anywhere through the year — that much easier.”