There are not so many rules to a casual wardrobe compared to other dress codes. You can have a lot more fun with casual wear because it’s not meant for any specific event like the others. However, that doesn’t mean there are no rules at all. At the end of the day the most important rule is to look good in clothes that are comfortable for you. There are many options for you to choose from so I will leave that mostly to you. Here are some classic options for each category and then we’ll sum it up with some guidelines.
Shirts – Long sleeve and short sleeve
Basic t-shirt (crew neck and v-neck), henley, polo, OCBD, denim shirt, sweatshirt, sweater, and turtleneck
Chino pants and shorts
Charcoal, navy, olive, beige, camel, Black, light grey,
Jeans
Black, Darkwash/indigo, medium wash, white, tan, grey
Sneakers
Low, mid, high top, suede, leather, patent leather, knit
Boots
Chukka boots, work boots, dress boots, Chelsea boots, suede, leather, patent leather
Some Guidelines
You don’t need everything on the list and there are more options than what’s included on this list. Use this list as a baseline to build from. You could get three of everything or you could just choose your favorites of each category and get them in multiple colors.
Uniforms are great! There is nothing wrong with making a uniform from this list. If it just so happens you only like short sleeve polo shirts, jeans, and chukka boots then go with that. You can wear those three items as your uniform everyday but everyday it’s a different color of each.
Play with your fabrics and textures to add variety. If you prefer a uniform of only a few items this is a great way to keep it interesting. Let’s continue with my example above just to make it easy. Let’s say you only like grey polos and navy polos. You can get both colors in cotton, polyester, ribbed (like corduroy), wool, etc. As for the chukka boots you can get suede moc-toe, leather moc-toe. You can do plain toe in leather but the colors are chestnut, Black, oxblood, or wheat. Maybe you only like blue jeans so you stick to Dark, medium, and light. See how much variety you can create from just 3 items?
Maybe you live in a particular climate. Dress appropriately for the temperature or season you’re in. If you live in Hawaii you probably won’t have any occasions where a sweater will be necessary. Maybe to sleep in on the rare cold night but otherwise it’s summer weather all the time.
Neutral colors give you the most flexibility. If you have all neutral colors you can literally just throw on any color shirt with any color pants and they will go together. Not much thought necessary in deciding what to wear for the day.
Final Thoughts
Fit is king. Find a tailor and have each item tailored to YOUR body. Off the rack clothing rarely fits anyone perfectly so find a good tailor and have them adjust everything you plan to wear. If you skip this step you’re just gonna look bad while wearing good clothes. So make sure you find a good tailor. If you need some guidelines on how certain items should fit include your name and email on the short form and we’ll send you some of our bonus material.
