The ULTIMATE Business Casual Capsule Wardrobe | 15 Menswear Wardrobe Essentials

- Have you struggled to find those pieces that strike the perfect balance between looking put together without going overboard? Like you wanna look nice, but you don't wanna overdo it. Maybe you're not a suit guy. A suit and tie could be too formal for where you work and definitely to dress up for, let's say, a simple date. Well, I've put together a 15-piece capsule wardrobe along with 10 different outfit ideas to show you exactly how to do it. (upbeat instrumental music) I'm Brian Sacawa. You're watching "He Spoke Style" where we give you the information and inspiration you need to dress well, have more confidence, and unlock your potential. So what we're talking about here and what this capsule wardrobe is built around is a business casual dress code. Now, you've probably heard terms like smart casual, sharp casual. For me, while there might be subtle distinctions between those and business casual, I'm not one to really get caught up in strict definitions. I think in any case whether you're talking business casual, smart casual, or sharp casual, the bottom line is that the dress code means looking put together without appearing too formal. It's that simple. And the 15 pieces I'm about to show you could fit in any of those three dress code categories. So although you'll sometimes hear business casual equals no suit, I am including a suit here. A suit does not necessarily have to be formal, and that is especially true when the suit is in a hopsack fabric. A hopsack suit, if you've been around the channel for a while now, you know is extremely versatile. And because of the weave and texture of the fabric, it comes off as a more casual suit option and gives you a great standalone jacket as well. Also contributing to the casual feel, I recommend a jacket with patch pockets. Next we're gonna add in another jacket, a light grey sport coat. And I chose a second jacket in a solid color instead of a pattern because I wanted this wardrobe to be as versatile as possible and as simple as possible to style, especially for someone who might just be starting out in their style journey and maybe a little uncomfortable with a bolder plaid or check pattern. Onto shirts now. We have an ice blue Oxford cloth shirt, a striped shirt, and a denim shirt, which is, in my opinion, one of the the best shirts for this kind of capsule wardrobe. A few pairs of pants now. We've got navy chinos, khaki chinos, and then throwing into the mix a pair of dark denim jeans. Layering pieces. We've got a navy V-neck sweater and a tan crew neck sweater. I'm going with two ties here, a medallion-print silk tie and a striped grenadine tie. And then finally footwear. A pair of suede Oxford lace-ups, tassel loafers, and a pair of cap-toe boots. Those are my 15 must-have pieces for a business casual capsule wardrobe. Now let's take a look at 10 different outfit ideas. First look here. Very simple, very classic and laid back. Great jacket, navy cotton trousers, and the denim shirt really showing the way that it is able to temper the formality of a jacket and pants outfit. And for this look, I decided finish it off with the suede Oxfords. For the second look, I'm really taking what I would call a very classic business casual approach. You've got the navy V-neck sweater over the striped Oxford shirt paired with the khaki cotton trousers, and finished off with the suede Oxfords once again. Super easy outfit that is not fussy at all. Third look. Dressing it up a bit more by adding in the tie. I do think that there is a place for ties in business casual but they should be less formal in nature, either via a texture or a pattern like we've got here. And then the pattern mixing between the shirt and tie also making it less formal. Another very classic, super easy, kind of what I would call textbook business casual look here. Crew neck sweater over the ice blue Oxford cloth shirt paired with some navy cotton trousers. I think this look just really shows you how simple business casual can be. You don't have to overthink it. Three solid basics and a pair of suede lace-ups, and you're done. Here we've got more or less a classic men's wear uniform. Navy jacket, ice blue Oxford cloth shirt, khaki cotton trousers. Such an easy look. You know, you could add a tie. I think a medallion tie would look really good with this too but I wanted to keep it on the more casual side so I went without. and then the loafers are a nice casual touch as well to finish it off. I know that this one is dressed up and maybe on the line of fitting within business casual, but there are enough casual kind of elements that I'm gonna point out to try and justify this. It's a hopsack suit with the texture and patch pockets contributing to that casual feel. A grenadine tie, again, a textural element, and then the tassel loafer is taking some formality out of the suit too. This is a more casual approach, obviously, with the addition of the dark denim but there really is that range that you'll find within business casual. Dressing it up with some simple layering of the tan crew neck sweater over the striped shirt. And then the boots also kind of elevating the denim, giving it more polish. A sport coat with dark denim, definitely acceptable for business casual in my book, but you gotta make sure that your sport coat fabric pairs well with the denim. Hopsack works, and flannel like we have here also a great option. I like the denim shirt because of the way it bridges the gap between the casual and dressy elements. And then the boots kind of dressing up the jeans just a bit more. Another look with jeans here with a very laid back and casual approach. One of the things that I think makes this look work as a business casual outfit, even with the jeans, is that the two big blue elements we have here are very dark and it's monochromatic, which gives it just a little more quote-unquote seriousness. And this one, I went with the suede shoes instead of the boots. This look has a little bit more of a lighter and brighter feel. It's not easy I would say to kind of match lighter tans like this and it might not be for everyone, but I like it here. I think there's enough contrast between the crew neck and the khaki cotton pants to make it work. All basic pieces, all incredibly versatile. (calm instrumental music)