Many men feel their wardrobes are a mess – either they hate every item of clothing in there or they’ve organised it badly and let everything get out of hand. A minimalist wardrobe could be what they need to get through the confusion of finding something right to wear every morning and for any occasion.
The Modest Man website feels that every man has at some time in their life asked themselves “How much clothing do I actually need?”. If you adopt a minimalist mindset, it can help at every stage of wardrobe management – from purchase, through to cleaning and storing out of season pieces.
How to create a minimalist wardrobe
Start by purging. Get rid of all the junk before you even start to think of rebuilding your wardrobe with a minimal amount of key fashion pieces.
Once you’ve got a bag of old clothes to donate to a charity shop, think of versatility. No items can be special use – nothing like a tuxedo or ties that only coordinate with one other item.
Choose neutral colours in solid blocks. Avoid patterns. Items like Farah shirts from www.ejmenswear.com/men/farah/ come in classic colours of black, navy, grey, white and they have a minimalist style.
As well as shirts, you’ll need a couple of t-shirts and jumpers. Eight tops should be enough to rotate and mix with your three pairs of trousers to create different outfits. A pair of jeans and two other trousers like chinos, suit trousers or sweatpants, depending on your lifestyle.
Choose one formal and one casual jacket and then enough underwear and socks to last a week or so, plus two forms of footwear (formal boots and trainers are a good choice) and then you’ve got what you need.
Maintaining a minimalist wardrobe
Buy quality items and your clothes will last a long time. Investing in higher quality pieces like jackets and shoes that you will be wearing day after day is particularly important.
If you don’t want to do laundry that often, you may need to buy a few more essential or basic items, or invest in pieces that need dry cleaning instead of hand washing. But if you want to travel without too much baggage, expect to wash your clothes every couple of days.
