Shoes have the ability to make or break an outfit. It’s difficult to find shoes that compliment your wardrobe perfectly, but if you have patience and are persistent in your search, eventually you’ll happen upon the perfect pair. I must reiterate, HAVE PATIENCE. In my search, I fell into the typical trap of buying way too many pairs of shoes to appease my temporary want, only to eventually replace them with the perfect pair that came with time.

Considering color, I gravitate towards dark colors, but I do experiment with bursts of bright colors occasionally. Shoes are the one area of my wardrobe in which I do not experiment. Unless you’re a shoe aficionado with a plethora of shoes to choose from, shoes need to be the most versatile part of a wardrobe. I recommend selecting colors that have endless options when working with your current wardrobe. Brown, black, and gray are great staple colors. If you’re one of the few who can pull it off, white is an excellent color as well. In relation to price, higher quality often demands a higher price that accompanies greater comfort. If you are looking at a pair of shoes that will only cross your path once or the shoes you are likely to be buried in, go ahead and break the bank. If you’re looking for a temporary fix, hold on tight to your pocket.

Stomping Tales
Boots are increasingly popular on the runway and the market is expanding.  Personally for me, boots emerged as a trend, but are now here to stay as a staple.  Over pants and worn with thick wool socks, boots add punch to ordinary outfits.  There are two options for boots; pull-on or laced.  The pull-on boot offers a clean sophisticated look and it’s laced counterpart usually contributes to a dressed down militant look.

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My philosophy towards accessories is quite simple. Unless the piece is constructed well and a unique piece from a respected designer that I am not likely to see again; like the above pieces, I am not willing to spend a great amount of money.  I view most accessories as throw away pieces.  I’ll spend a lot on a coat, because it is an item I plan on keeping for years; accessories not so much.  For most of my accessories, I buy them at cheap prices at places like H&M and Topman.  I leave the bulk of my spending for actual clothes.  After the cut, you will find the type of accessories I buy.

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I recommend owning at least one dress coat and one casual jacket in a solid color that compliments the majority of your wardrobe.  A good staple coat can be dressed up or down depending on what you’re wearing underneath, while a casual jacket is great for throwing on with a pair of jeans.

When purchasing these pieces, it is very important to take into consideration the intended use of outerwear.  If you know that you need protection from the cold, you should be looking for outerwear made of wool.  If you are just looking for a jacket for that windy day, you are going to want to look for cotton or a synthetic blend of man produced materials like polyester.

Your intial purchases should be geared towards what you need immediately.  Once that is done and you have some room to build your wardrobe more freely, I recommend owning two jackets and two coats; one light weight, and one heavy for each.  This is also the point, where you can get creative and venture into the world of patterns, prints, etc.

For starting out, I definitely recommend taking a look at A.P.C., who has reasonably priced outerwear.  Also, if you’re looking to pick up some extra pieces that are not necessary at the moment, wait until February when the price of outerwear is slashed tremendously.

Ending this piece, I’ll give you an example of a wardrobe, by listing what outerwear I have.  In my wardrobe, I have one black wool coat, one blue wool duffel, one plaid (earth tones: brown, olive green, etc.) coat, one red cropped peacoat, and two oversized blazers that double as jackets.  I recently had a lightweight military inspired jacket, but had to ditch it, because it was way too big.  I will be on the hunt for a jacket this season that fits the criteria of this post.  Happy shopping!

After determining what fits best, bottoms are perhaps the easiest part of the wardrobe.  My personal list of must haves include a pair of leggings, wool shorts, shorts (long & short), trousers (relaxed & slim fit), and jeans (relaxed/slim & slim fit).

Leggings are great for lounging around the house or layering with shorts.  Spring 2009 collections utilize this look a lot.  If you want to do the leggings/shorts look, I recommend loose fitting shorts and an unusual material like wool.

For shorts, below the knee is a no brainer, but what do you do for shorts worn above the knee?  Personally, I like to balance out the shortness of my shorts with an oversized tee or button down.  They are not oversized enough to drape like a dress, but oversized enough to divert the eye from “Wow, those are short!” to the overall silhouette from head down.

For trousers, I highly recommend getting a pair from Phillip Lim.  The workmanship is excellent.  When choosing a color, make sure to compliment the waistcoats and blazers in your wardrobe.

If you wear jeans everyday, spend a lot of money on your jeans, but if you don’t, I like the cheap route with Cheap Monday.  I love their gray wash.  It goes with everything.  Make sure to own at least one pair of jeans in both a slim and relaxed silhouette.  On a hot day and many other occasions, slim jeans are not pleasant.  There are a lot of jeans with a relaxed fit, but Opening Ceremony make a nice pair that still taper.  I have not seen any online stockists recently, so you’ll have to visit the store or phone one of the locations.

Overall, make sure you have versatility.

Missed day one’s look at tops? Click here.

If you are building your wardrobe or revisiting your wardrobe, I suggest that you try to incorporate one to two of each these pieces in safe complimentary colors (earth tones, darks, neutrals) before heading off into the colorful spectrum (red, aqua, orange, etc.).

TEES

I like to layer, so I like to keep my tees light and thin. On most guys, I do not like the v-neck craze that has run rampant, but as an alternative I do like Phillip Lim’s pocket tees (top left).  Rick Owens (top right) as well as Ann Demeulemeester offer thin tees long and short sleeve that are perfect for layering.  They also look great with a waistcoat.  However, please please DO NOT ATTEMPT to wear a waistcoat with a regular plain shirt.  It looks extremely sloppy and negates the point of a waistcoat.

Not everyday needs to be a day on the runway, so a good supply of graphic tees is nice whether lounging around the house, running to the store, or going to grab a quick bite to eat.

For basic tees, I like the material and workmanship done by B.Son.  They come in a plentitude of colors.

TANKS, VESTS, & HOODIES

Tanks are another great piece for layering or wearing alone if you have the bod.  I chose to show this big tank from American Apparel, because I like my tanks oversized and would never spend a lot of money.  Personally, for me, tanks are throw away pieces that have no longevity, so I feel no need to spend a great amount money on them.

Now, I’m going to take a step back.  Just above, I said not to wear waistcoats with plain tees, BUT here is a way you can.  Cotton vests are the dressed down waistcoats that look great with tees.

I feel the same way about hoodies as I feel about tanks.  For me, they are lazy wear and great especially when it is raining and/or bad weather out and I’m on the run.

BUTTON DOWNS, SWEATERS, WAISTCOATS, & BLAZERS

This section is quite straight forward.  I recommend owning casual and dress button downs.  These are the pieces I’m willing to spend money on, because for the most part, they are not going anywhere once I purchase them.  Decide on your own budget by how often you’ll wear each piece.  I already recommended what colors to buy, but for this section especially, since it can go back and forth between dressing down and dressing up; I highly recommend that for your staple purchases, you stick to complimentary dark colors like navy, black, gray, etc.