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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Simon Chilvers

‘Most men don’t need a purple suit’: why you should go back to basics to find your signature style

Composite of a cork pinboard with images on it of men's fashion items and stylish men
Make yourself a mood board. Composite: Getty Images; Snap/Shutterstock; Nancy R Schiff/Hulton Archive/Getty Images; Richard Saker/The Guardian; Lizzie Himmel/AP

When people find out I work in fashion, they usually do one of two things: ask me to evaluate their look – awkward – or ask me, “What’s trending this season?” The second is actually the harder. That’s because, when it comes to menswear, being a la mode is less about some kind of seismic change and more about a twist. It’s a subtle wardrobe rejig: the length of your coat, or whether or not wearing a tie is in, rather than a sudden, dramatic silhouette shift.

A better question would be: how many clothes do I actually need? Thanks to the timeless nature of so much menswear, curating an evergreen capsule wardrobe doesn’t have to be complicated. Paring back your clothes to the very basics can prove divisive – some say there’s no fun in minimalism, while for others a sleek uniform edit is the peak of owning a style. Either way, we should all be aiming to buy fewer clothes, so the items that actually do make it into our wardrobes demand an extra level of consideration.

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