How I Would Build a Beginner's Formal Wardrobe for Under $1,000

 $1,000 is a lot, but when you're talking about suits, dress shoes, dress shirts, etc, it gets spent quickly. It is key to get Blue and Charcoal, as this will work in almost any situation and will work with blue or white shirts, giving you style options to change up your look by mixing and matching shirts with suits to make different outfits. For example, by having a blue shirt, you can wear that with both suits, plus you can wear a white shirt with both suits, so you now have 4 distinct looks, which you can further expand by accessorizing with ties, pocket squares, etc. The point is to build the basics for a beginner. You'll branch out as your needs or tastes dictate, getting not only accessories, but more suits, blazers, leathers, overcoats, etc. It will take time and thousands of dollars over that time to build a complete wardrobe. If you start here, you'll be glad you did because these will be solid choices for the next 10+ years after you buy them - no fads, here.

This assumes you have underwear, dress socks, undershirts, etc. It also assumes you have a business casual wardrobe, already. The goal here is to have something to up your game for formal dress events and formal business, such as presenting or speaking in an executive meeting, going to a funeral, going to a wedding, or dressing to impress on a night out. Some things I've left out here are ties, pocket squares, watches, tie chains, etc. (I decided to add leathers to ensure you had something formal appropriate.) This is because I would make a separate list for these, if you want to accessorize. You will need to purchase accessories as you see fit. If ties are part of the expected dress code, you'll have to buy some. But, those accessories are not essentials, in most cases. Solid yellow ties will work with either suit, as will multi-color blue/white/gray ties. As you accessorize, feel free to branch out and make fashion forward choices with those accessories.

Suits:

 These can be had for $100 off on regular sales. At full price, they would be impossible to get. $700 total. Get 2-button, notched lapel, double vent, functional sleeve buttons, black buttons, straight hem legs, and belt loops for a classic look that never goes out of style.

1. Charcoal Solid
2. Blue Solid 

 

Dress Shirts:

 Feel free to replace with brand of your choice, but these are good quality for the price. $90 total

1. Light Blue Dress Shirt
2. White Dress Shirt x2

Dress Shoes:

With a 20% off coupon offered to all customers for first time purchase, these will be $160 total.

1. Black Cap Toe Oxfords

 

Belt:

Be sure to get a Black Leather with a buckle that matches the metal of your watch, or the metal you wish to get in a watch.

1. Black Leather Belt
   

How I Would Spend $250 on Fragrances as a Beginner

This list assumes that you don't have large amounts of money to simply buy any fragrance you want. It is meant to cover any situation. If you're actually into clubbing, then use either The One or Dylan Blue. This is for the beginner, so you can add to this later if you want to club or get more variety.

• Versace Dylan Blue 200ml $70 (Dumb Reach)
  
• Azzaro Chrome Aqua 100ml $30 (Freshie)
  
• Dolce and Gabanna The One EDP 150ml $75 (Date Night)
  
• Mont Blanc Legend Spirit 100ml $40 (Office)
  
• Azzaro Chrome 100ml $30 (Change up for Summer, Office, or Daytime.)
  

Essential Basics for a Gentleman's Wardrobe

Suits

Start with your solids, then work your way to pinstripes, and then to other, more complex, prints. This list of 6 suits is meant to give excellent versatility and confidence that each one will look amazing in almost any situation. Build your foundation with a dark blue suit and charcoal suit - these will work for anything besides black tie. If you have occasion to attend a formal black tie event, you'll want to start with a black tuxedo, but it is rare to need them these days. For warm weather regions or seasons, and less formal events, tan and brown suits can be excellent choices and give you the chance to strut your brown leathers. Don't buy any loud checked or plaid pattern suits until you have these 6 suits - if you ever regret buying a suit, it will often be a loud plaid. Experiment with loud or fashion forward looks on blazers first.

Top 6 choices to begin your wardrobe:

1. Charcoal Solid
2. Blue Solid
3. Black Solid
4. Black Pinstriped
5. Blue Prince of Whales Plaid
6. Medium Gray Pinstriped

 

 Trousers and Blazers

Blazers are a good choice for a "Casual Friday" in a formal business culture or to dress up an outfit in business casual environments. Blazers are the best place to experiment with fashion forward looks and match them with solid trousers, but you want a solid foundation first. So, start with the three basic solid colors: navy, gray, and black. And, then move on to other colors like tan or more complex prints. Skip pinstripes on blazers and trousers, as those look best with exactly matching fabrics in suits. This list is meant to give a solid foundation for your dress/business casual wardrobe. Start to build your foundation with a dark blue blazer and charcoal blazer - these will work for most situations. Gray and black trousers are your best choices for versatility. For warm weather regions or seasons, just as with suits, tan and brown can be excellent choices and give you the chance to strut your brown leathers. You'll have to search for tan and brown wool trousers because they are considered to be not as formal and they aren't carried by many companies. You may also look at some linen, cotton or synthetic-blend fabrics for trousers to save money or get different colors that are harder to find. Look at companies such as Haggar, Van Heusen, or Perry Ellis. (Note: generally avoid chinos or khaki pants when going to more formal functions. They are best when paired with a polo or knitted shirt. Wearing chinos, khakis, or jeans with a blazer is considered very fashion forward.) Know your formality - for business casual, a synthetic-blend trouser with a polo is ideal, but formal business requires suits. Blazers dress an outfit up, so you stand out in a good way, but they do not make the outfit truly business or dress formal. Remember, plaid and checked are extremely "fashion forward." I generally recommend ONLY solid trousers, but once you've got your foundation built, you can take a chance on a plaid trouser - it's up to your adventurousness. I strongly recommend you avoid un-collared shirts with blazers, as this has several unflattering comparisons that it draws up.

Notes on color matching between trousers and blazers: 

• Black pairs with gray well, but can flex to be used with tan. Black pants also work well with almost any color shirt that is a lighter shade.
  
• Blue pairs well with gray and tan.
• Gray pairs extremely well with black or blue. With other colors, it's a VERY fashion forward look. Lighter Gray pants work well with almost any color shirt that is a darker shade.
• Brown pairs best with tan and cream colors. Many plaids will work with Brown.
  

Top choices to begin your wardrobe:

1. Charcoal Solid Blazer
2. Blue Solid Blazer
3. Black Solid Blazer
4. Blue Trousers
   
5. Gray Trousers
   
6. Black Trousers

 

Dress Shoes

It is important to build your shoe choices to give you the leather choices to complete a look. For instance, burgundy leathers with a navy suit or a black oxford worn with a black or charcoal suit to a formal function, such as a wedding or funeral. Adding wholecuts gives you a formal alternative for some flavor and the Monkstraps are for more fun or casual outfits. Always have a matching leather belt for your shoe choice. Black leathers work with black, charcoal, and gray suits, but can flex into other colors, such as with a dark blue suit or tan trousers paired with a black blazer. Brown leathers work well with blues, tans, and browns, but can be a fashion-forward flex into gray suits. Burgundy leathers work best with blues and grays.

Top 6 choices to begin your collection:

1. Black Cap Toe Oxford
   
2. Dark Brown Cap Toe Oxford
   
3. Burgundy Cap Toe Oxford
4. Black Double Monk-Strap
   
5. Brown Double Monk-Strap
6. Black Wholecuts
   

Fragrances

All-Purpose

Some scents are amazing for every occasion. Date night, Spring Break, summer beaches, in the office, the club, or even church. The hallmarks of these scents are great depth of scent with a fresh citrus opening, followed by a strong body that features amber or incense notes to add a sensual quality, and anchored by a woody/masculine base. These will typically be labeled as "Blue" fragrances.

Top Designer Picks:

1. Blue de Chanel
2. Dior Sauvage
   
3. Yves Saint Laurent Y
4. Versace Dylan Blue
5. Prada Luna Rossa Carbon
   
6. Azzaro Chrome Legend
   

Date Night

When looking for something wear for date nights, you want something sweet, yet masculine. In the heat, you want something like sweet fruit, such as pineapples or apples - simultaneously light and fresh. In the colder months, you'll see an emphasis on warm sugar and spices, such as with pepper, cardamom and vanilla, because of their perceived warming effect. There are many choices in this category, but I honestly feel you should try them all and only buy a small number of these, perhaps just one. The reason being you get much less usage out of these than some other types of fragrances because you probably aren't going on a date EVERY night. These will typically be labeled as black, nuit, noir, red, fire/flame, etc - indicating the night time usage, the relative spice or sweetness, etc.

Top 3 Warm Weather:

1. Versace Eros
2. Jean Paul Gaultier Ultra Male
3. Mont Blanc Explorer

Top 3 Cold Weather:

1. Dolce & Gabbana The One (EDP)
   
2. Viktor & Rolf Spice Bomb Extreme
3. Versace Eros Flame  

 

Work-safe Daytime

These are all known for a soapy scent, which is very inoffensive and perfect for the workplace. They are still good scents that can pull compliments. These may be known as "white" fragrances and many come in white or clear packaging, symbolizing the powdery and/or soapy scents.

Top picks:

1. Giorgio Armani Acqua Di Gio Profondo
   
2. Prada L'Homme
   
3. Nautica Voyage
4. Mont Blanc Legend Spirit
   
5. Azzaro Chrome Pure
   

Summer Time

These are best suited to warm weather, during the day. Some are versatile, more so in regions with higher temperatures. You'll notice aquatic and citrus notes heavily featured here. These are somewhat seasonal and will need to be paired with an all purpose fragrance, or a date and work fragrances. These are essentially "blues" with lighter woods in their bases and bodies that aren't as heavily influenced by amber or incense.

Top picks:

1. Azzaro Chrome Aqua
   
2. Versace Man Eau Freiche
   
3. Jimmy Choo Man Ice
4. Perry Ellis Pure Blue
   
5. Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue
   

Day Time Everyday

These are almost as versatile as Bleu de Chanel or Sauvage, but are better suited to day-time wear, as a signature scent. They can definitely flex into other categories, but aren't ideal in all situations. For example, some are great date night choices (Chanel Platinum Egoiste) or summer choices for the beach (Versace Pour Homme), but not everything. Pair these with another type of fragrance to have something better for cold nights or a hot beach.

Top picks:

1. Versace Pour Homme
   
2. Jimmy Choo Man
   
3. Chanel Platinum Egoiste
4. Chanel Egoiste
5. Prada Luna Rossa
6. Azzaro Chrome