Sebastian Strobl

Tag: wardrobe

  • Clean & easy casual outfits for summer

    Clean & easy casual outfits for summer

    Finally the summer hit central Europe (kind of at least) so ditch the wool sweaters, the heavy wool or tweed suits and dress a bit more breathable.

    All you need for sheer endless different outfits, that all have quite the same base and look to them is 3 pairs of trousers, 3 pairs of shoes and 3 different dress shirts. Pick colors that work well together like grey, blue and white, or tan, brown and white, tan, blue, white, or even tan, khaki and brown will also work quite nicely. If you make it really complex, pick different shades, dark, medium and light. If you mix those it will always look great. So let’s quickly expand on that. For example you can go with white sneakers (light) put over tan cotton chinos (medium/ mostly) and go for a navy shirt (dark). Or swap it around, dark blue chinos, brown loafers and a white or light blue shirt. You get the idea.

    Having a lot of nearly identical pieces that fit great will make picking a look for the day far easier. Just reach into the wardrobe and pull on thing for top and one for bottoms, if you designed your overall wardrobe interchangeable, it will be a match. On the way out slap some shoes on, if you only have 3-4 pairs you love and that go with every outfit, you won’t accumulate decision fatigue starting your day and you will look great, for what ever plans you might have.

    Have a look at the gallery below for some inspiration. Pictured are only a few outfits that can be put together with the above mentioned pieces. Every Shoe goes with every shirt & of course with every pair of trousers, so will have enough outfits for most weeks of summer, without wearing a combination twice.

    If you feel extra dapper, or your workplace doesn’t permit going without a jacket, even in summer, you can always swap a light linen/ cotton blazer over it. Can be a classic navy blazer, or a brown/tan hound’s-tooth sport jacket. Can be a pretty leisure seersucker blazer or even full suit or a tan linen blazer, a navy double breasted blazer does always look great. If you are the type you can also go with green or khaki or light blue. What ever you like and keep in mind, to mix light/medium/dark colors with each other or have at least on catch piece. Think dark shirt under a light suit or light shirt in a dark suit. Even in monochrome looks there should be some kind of variation in tone.

  • Semi-smart Casual

    Semi-smart Casual

    Outfit for today. Usually I don‘t wear jeans to the office, but had to bike there in the morning and streets were still a little wet from the rain. To balance the jeans I added the grey tie, that I inherited from my dad. Navy blazer, most versatile piece in any men‘s wardrobe and loafers / driving shoes to go with the outfit..

  • Let‘s start building a timeless and stylish capsule wardrobe

    Let‘s start building a timeless and stylish capsule wardrobe

    Now that we both know, what a capsule wardrobe is, let‘s get started with building one. I‘ll show you some of the mainstays every grown man needs to own, give you some input on colors, you might want to consider and round it off, with some tips on adaptability. The key pieces will mostly stay the same for everyone, but you should feel confident to tailor the whole wardrobe to your needs, depending on personal style and professional requirements.

    Where to start?

    Pull out every clothing item and accessories you own and search for the few pieces listed below. That‘s your baseline, don‘t worry if you are missing some pieces or even most of them. Prepare yourself that your wardrobe and your style will be evolving as you continue to add items from the lists. Work with what you have, look for sales and cheaper alternatives that you love. Fit and material is far more important than brands and labels.

    Core pieces for every timeless capsule wardrobe

    Shirts

    • White dress Shirt
    • Light blue dress shirt
    • Light grey dress shirt
    • 2 button down oxfords with richer color
    • 2 – 3 Poloshirts in solid colors, no prints or logos (think navy, charcoal, black, white or off-white)

    Trousers

    • Tan chino
    • Grey or blue chino
    • Grey or blue slacks (pleated is slowly coming back, and is far more comfortable)

    Shoes

    • white simple sneakers
    • Brown Derby or Oxford shoes
    • Brown loafers
    • Brown desert or chelsea boots

    Stuff for layering

    • Navy blazer
    • up to 3 Solid color crew neck sweaters
    • navy or charcoal light cardigan
    • a shawl neck cardigan maybe in blue

    Suits

    • Charcoal or grey suit (travelers wool)
    • Navy suit (travelers wool/ cotton&linen mix, whatever you like, different material & type as the stand alone blazer)

    Outerwear

    • Wool coat (go with navy or camel)
    • Trenchcoat (tan, sand or grey)
    • Navy or black Down-Vest (comes in handy for layering under the above, if it gets really cold)

    Depending on the dresscode required at work, you might want to switch the brown dress shoes for black ones, since those are in general perceived to be more formal. But my guess would be they are overkill for most offices today and you want to land more on the smart casual than business casual side of things. Remember business casual is the standard business look, but without the tie.

    Since the bar to look really dashing is quite low in our society you will already standout with wearing clean chinos, a button down and a cardigan layers above it.

    Blazers, sportscoats and suits will have to be dressed down for most of the days by combining them with loafers or sneakers.

    You don’t want to be the guy showing up to work in a three piece prince of wales suit with tie & matching pocket square, when leadership is running around in jeans and Birkenstocks for a maximum of comfort around the office.

    In addition to the items stated above, have as many shirts/ shorts and joggers you need for lounging around at home and keeping yourself in shape. Also I did not include socks and underwear, go with what feels good and have enough to make it through a week of travel obviously. Just remember socks should always match the trousers and not the shoes.

    Next time we will have a look what to add to your mainstays to make the wardrobe even more versatile and how to combine the items you already have.