Most wardrobes are not short of clothes. They are short of clothes that work together. You open the doors, look at a full rail, and still end up in the same three things because those are the only ones that go with anything else.
A capsule wardrobe fixes that, and it does not take thirty pieces. Eight will do it, provided each one is chosen to combine with the other seven. Get those right and you have most outfits a British year asks for: the office, the pub after work, a wedding you are attending rather than hosting, a flight, a Saturday.
Below is the list, what to look for in each piece, and the order we would buy them in if we were starting from nothing.
1. A white Oxford shirt
Nothing else in menswear stretches this far. Worn with a tie it is formal, worn open over a T-shirt it is not, and the same shirt does both without looking like it is trying. If you only ever buy one shirt, buy this one.
The Oxford weave is what makes it flexible. The basket-weave texture stops it reading as a dress shirt, so it stays comfortable in a room where nobody else is wearing a tie, and it hides creases far better than a poplin does — which matters if you sit at a desk or on a train.
What to look for: a fine yarn, so the texture stays refined rather than heavy. A collar with enough structure to stand up when the top button is open. And a fabric worth ironing, because you will be doing it for years.
2. A premium plain T-shirt
The T-shirt is the piece most men under-buy and most often replace. A cheap one loses its neckline in three months and its colour in six, which makes it the most expensive item in the wardrobe per year of wear.
A good one changes what it is for. It stops being something you wear around the house and becomes a layer you can put under a jacket, a blazer or an overcoat without the outfit collapsing.
What to look for: long-staple cotton, which is the whole game. Longer fibres spin into a finer, stronger, smoother yarn, so the fabric holds its shape and its colour instead of going grey and shapeless. Pre-washed, so it does not shrink on you. And a fit that is precise rather than either clinging or tenting.
We make two: the Pima Cotton T-Shirt and the Egyptian Cotton T-Shirt, which adds a little elastane for a closer fit. Both come in multipacks, which is how most men buy them once they have tried one.
3. A pique polo shirt
The polo covers the gap between a T-shirt and a shirt, and that gap is where a large part of British summer dressing happens. Restaurants, golf, the office in July, dinner on holiday — all situations where a T-shirt is slightly too little and a shirt is slightly too much.
The polo has been doing this job since 1926, when it appeared on tennis courts, and it has not needed redesigning since.
What to look for: a collar that stands rather than curls after a wash, which is a function of the knit and the trim. Colour that survives the summer. And a piqué texture with some substance to it, so the shirt has body.
If you prefer something without buttons, the Italian Collar Polo is the more relaxed, more European read on the same idea.
4. Tailored trousers you can wear without a jacket
This is the piece that pulls the rest of the wardrobe upwards. Put a plain T-shirt with jeans and you have a casual outfit. Put the same T-shirt with properly cut trousers and you have something you can wear to dinner.
The trick is that they have to work on their own. Suit trousers separated from their jacket rarely do — they look orphaned. Trousers designed as standalone tailoring do.
What to look for: side adjusters instead of belt loops. They give you a clean waistline, remove the need for a belt, and let you fine-tune the fit by an inch either way, which no belt does elegantly. Beyond that: a cut that is slim without being tight, and a fabric with enough weight to hang straight.
If you commute or travel a lot, the Stretch Performance version does the same job and does not crease. The full range is in tailored trousers.
5. One good piece of knitwear
In the UK, knitwear is not a seasonal item. It is the layer that makes eight months of the year wearable, and it is what stands between a shirt and a coat from September to May.
One piece is enough to start, and a half-zip is the most useful shape because you can adjust it. Zip it up and it reads as a jumper; open it over a collar and it reads as a layer.
What to look for: a knit with weight. Thin knitwear looks cheap under a coat and gives you nothing in January. Check that the cut leaves room to layer over a shirt without pulling.
The Half-Zip Jumper is ours, in a heavyweight interlock knit with a suede-like touch. For something more traditional, the Cable Knit Jumper or the Long-Sleeve Knitted Polo. All of it lives in knitwear.
6. A lightweight jacket that is not a suit jacket
British weather is mild and unreliable far more often than it is cold, which makes the light jacket the single most-worn piece of outerwear most men own. It handles spring, autumn, and most of summer after six in the evening.
The Harrington has been the answer to this since the 1960s. The raised collar, the clean front, the short length that stops at the hip — it goes over everything else on this list without fighting it.
What to look for: a proper lining, because an unlined jacket is uncomfortable over short sleeves. A collar that stands without help. And a length that ends at the hip, not below it.
When the temperature actually drops, the 100% Merino Wool Overcoat takes over. Both sit in jackets & coats.
7. A pair of shoes that are neither trainers nor formal
Most men own smart shoes for weddings and trainers for everything else, and nothing for the large middle ground where most of life happens. That middle ground is where loafers live.
A suede loafer is smart enough for the office and relaxed enough for a Saturday, which is a combination no other shoe manages quite as cleanly. It also does something useful for the rest of the outfit: it makes tailored trousers look deliberate rather than leftover.
What to look for: a soft lining, because you will want to wear these without socks in summer. Suede with a real nap rather than a printed finish. And a sole with a refined edge — it is the detail that separates a good loafer from a cheap one at ten paces.
The Handmade Goat Suede Loafers are lined in premium sheepskin for exactly that reason. If you want something closer to a trainer, the Handmade Leather Trainers are the minimalist version. See all of it in footwear.
8. A leather bag you are not embarrassed by
You can be dressed perfectly and undo it with a nylon rucksack. The bag is the piece men leave until last and notice first on other people.
Which one depends entirely on how you commute. If you cycle or walk, a backpack. If you take a train or drive, a briefcase or a work bag, because they look considerably better carried by hand.
What to look for: a dedicated laptop compartment, so the bag holds its shape. A removable strap, so it works both ways. And hardware that feels solid, since zips are what fail first.
The Leather Backpack covers the other commute, and the Leather Weekend Holdall takes over for short trips. All in leather bags.
Five outfits these eight pieces make
- Office, no tie: Oxford shirt, tailored trousers, loafers, briefcase.
- Office in winter: the same, with the half-zip over the shirt and the overcoat on top.
- Dinner: plain T-shirt, tailored trousers, loafers. Nothing else needed.
- Saturday: polo, tailored trousers or chinos, trainers, Harrington.
- Travelling: T-shirt, half-zip, stretch trousers, trainers, holdall.
Five outfits from eight pieces, and that is before you start mixing colours.
The order to buy them in
If you are building from nothing, buy in this order. Each step gives you more new outfits than the last piece did.
- Tailored trousers in navy or charcoal. Everything else improves the moment you own these.
- T-shirts, in black and white. A multipack is the cheapest way in.
- The white Oxford shirt.
- Loafers. Now the first three look finished.
- Knitwear, if it is autumn. A polo, if it is spring.
- The Harrington, then the bag.
Common questions
How many of each should I own?
Three or four T-shirts, two pairs of trousers, two shirts, and one of everything else. Doubling up on T-shirts and trousers is what makes the wardrobe work through a week without laundry dictating what you wear.
What colours should I start with?
Navy, charcoal, white and black for the core, then one warm neutral — sand or brown — so the whole wardrobe is not cold. Every piece on this list comes in at least one of those.
How do I know it will fit?
Everything at Elmont Row is sized in UK sizing: S to 4XL for clothing, UK waist in inches for trousers and shorts, UK shoe sizes for footwear. Our size guide gives body measurements in inches and centimetres, and shirts and polos are cut slim, so take one size up if you prefer a looser fit.
Start here
The pieces in this guide are the ones we designed the brand around: long-staple cottons, Italian linen, hand-finished tailoring and handmade shoes, made to last long enough that replacing them is not an annual event.
You can see them together in Essentials, or browse the full collection.