23. Building a wardrobe

I like to think that a man's wardrobe is their very own living, breathing work of art. It's subject to constant change from a variety of factors. Things go in and out of fashion, your body changes (for better or worse), your taste changes and so on. Your wardrobe is a reflection of who you are as a person, whether you like it or not. I think this is just fascinating. 

Now, onto the subject of building a wardrobe. There are two key points when building a wardrobe that need to be considered: 

a) depth

b) functionality

c) longevity

Depth

Depth can be described as the degree of which your wardrobe is "complete". You'll notice that a lot of my posts highlight versatility. You can begin by building a small but deliberate wardrobe. Get clothes which can be dressed up or down. Take care of the essentials.

Will you be ok if you're invited to a wedding tomorrow or will you have to hire a suit? Do strict door policies have you scrambling around the shops for a collared shirt? If you're attending a hip hop gig, do you have a cap with a basketball team on it? What if you don't like hip hop? Guess you won't need it - which leads me to my next point.

Functionality

There's no reason to have ten suits if you work as a plumber. It's important to understand the needs of your wardrobe and then satisfying them. If you like wearing hoodies, t-shirts and jeans, good for you. But this can't be the only thing your wardrobe is comprised of. Though you won't wear it often, you'll need at least one suit. You'll need collared shirts for nights out and dress shoes to match. You're going to need shorts for pumping out arse-to-the-grass squats and backbreaking deadlifts. 

A mate of mine, Andy has a fairly extensive casual wardrobe. Plenty of collared shirts and denim happening, but nothing in the way of sportswear. Back in the day, a few of the boys would hire a tennis court and smack some balls around. Andy would also participate but in denim shorts. See below for my thoughts on this:

Eughghghghgh

Longevity

This brings me to my final point of longevity. There are two kinds of longevity, physical and aesthetic. 

It's got to be good quality so it gets more wear.You might argue that it's expensive, but I would argue that good quality presents more value as you won't need to replace these often. Leather goods like shoes and belts fall under this category. One good suit (charcoal or navy) will also go a long way.

Onto aesthetics, when buying something, ask yourself if you think it will look good in a few years time. Maybe a fluro pink singlet from General Pants that cost $150 isn't such a good investment. But, maybe a grey coat from General Pants that cost $150 is a good investment.

Don't be afraid of spending big, but only if you can justify it with longevity rather than trendiness. Go through some of my old posts for some ideas for building your wardrobe.

-Loic