The elegant man gets dressed.

The boor covers himself, the rich man or the fool adorns himself, and the elegant man gets dressed.

Rewind 60 years ago, men were always dressed, and I don't mean dressed in jeans and a tee, I mean dressed, well. Whether they were on their way to the pub, about the swab the deck, collecting wood for the fire or tending to the horses, they were stylish. The icons and stories of men's fashion were born during this time and it is up to us to keep these classics alive. 

Creative and inventive menswear designers have taken canon benchmarks and combined skills, current education and latest technologies to improve on, increase utility and devise men's clothing and accessories that are, in some regards, superior to their classic counterparts. Styles evolve, trends change, but a classic will always be a classic. We at Ensemble are all for the classics. Of course it is important to mix in a trend piece here and there, just to show you know what's up, but a gentleman should always be cognizant of what is a classic and what is a trend, and have more classics than trends in his wardrobe. 

I am drawn to classics because I feel like style should be more than just what you see on the runway. It should be a way of life. It should be effervescent and serious, elegant and manly, but most of all, timeless. 

Here are a few classic pieces I think all men should have in their business and casual wardrobes.

Business 

You should have a blue suit, a grey (charcoal) suit, a white shirt, a blue shirt, a patterned shirt, and a pair of both black and brown dress shoes. Preferably the suit will be made-to-measure, just to ensure you're looking the part, 100%. A common misconception is that a made-to-measure suit is more expensive than off-the-rack, but that is no longer the case. More info on that in the custom suiting section. 

Casual

It is common amongst men to not care or not know how to put together a casual ensemble. I'd argue that it is more impressive to see a man who knows how to dress well on the weekend than it is to dress to go to the office. If you have a good tailor and know how to (generally) match colours, you should be pretty OK with your office attire - casual wear is another story. 

In general, guys should have a couple pairs of boots, a pair of sneakers, a couple different styles of jackets (I've chosen a bomber and a waxed trench-style), a pair of raw denim, some tee-shirts, a couple long-sleeves and some casual button-ups. Below is are a few examples.