How many suits should a man own? When you get older and on your own, you realize at some point that you have to overhaul your wardrobe and adjust from the college life to the professional life. Then, as you age into the professional life, you realize you have to overhaul it again to adjust from the professional life to the middle management life. At some point, many of us men find ourselves in a situation where we need to wear a suit every day of our work life. You may have found out that that can get very difficult and cost a pretty penny. But how many of these suits do you need?
The answer to that question can vary depending on many factors. First, if you’re outside often and exposed to the elements, you may need more suits because they’ll get sweaty, wet, or collect much more dirt and grime than normal and require more frequent cleaning. Second, if you’re someone who sits in an office all day, you may be able to get by with fewer suits. Of course, there are some tricks you can try along the way, and we’ll let you in on some of the best in the business.
Here are how many suits you need for daily wear and how to go about building the wardrobe.
Getting started
If you’re just starting out, there’s a great rule to follow when you begin to build a suit wardrobe. Consider the four-legged stool to get a more in-depth look at what you need to start with. For a quick and dirty version, here are the four items to grab:
- Charcoal suit: A versatile suit that can be worn as an office suit when dressed professionally or as a replacement for a black suit when worn with black leathers.
- Blue suit: The business suit, when paired with browns, will be the most classic look for the office on a daily basis.
- Light gray suit: A blank slate for you to wear with virtually any shirt and tie combination and nearly all leathers.
- Navy sport coat: Perfect for the less-professional, business-casual environments.
These are the basic building blocks of men’s suits. Every pair of pants goes with every jacket, and there isn’t a combination you do that won’t have multiple shirt and tie combinations that will look stellar with them.
Speaking of shirts, ties, and shoes.
Filling out the shirts, ties, and shoes
Before we get into the deeper cuts of the suits you should pick up and start counting the suits, we need to talk through the other parts of the wardrobe. A suit is no good without the right shirt, tie, and shoes. Therefore, here is the breakdown of what you want if you’re starting your suit wardrobe.
- Shirts – Basic and boring is the key when you are starting out. Not because you don’t want to show off personality, but because the shirt and tie are the things people will remember the most when you wear them. That means they will notice when you are rewearing them. Unless, of course, they are basics. So for the shirts, start off with five white shirts, three light blue (or robin’s egg), and two ecru (off-white or cream). You can wear all of these with virtually any tie and suit, so it is easy to mix and match. Once you start branching out on patterns and colors, it isn’t a bad idea to pick up a new white shirt every time you go shopping. They go quick and you can never have too many.
- Ties – Stay professional. Reds, yellows, and blues are the colors you most often see on politicians for a very good reason. Red is the power tie, projecting authority and leadership. Blue is the trustworthy tie, making you seem softer and more approachable. Yellow is the worker, standing out but in a subtle way. Whether you go with solids, reps, or subtle patterns, these are the colors you stick to.
- Shoes – There are four shoe colors you should have when you are fully functional as a daily suit wearer: dark brown, tan, black, and cordovan. When you first start out, the two brown colors are the best way to go if you are almost always in the office. The black is perfect for after 6 p.m. and formal occasions. And the cordovan is the special color that shows off your versatility. Whether you go with laces, monk straps, oxfords, derbies, or Chelsea boots, these are the colors to stick with.
Now, back to the suit count.
Year-round suits
OK, now that we’ve got that out of the way, it’s time to really look into your suit wardrobe and see how we can expand it to something that will last you for years, even if you wear a suit every day. Ideally, you want these next suit choices to be suits you can wear year-round. No summer weights, no winter weights — all of these should be wool and of medium weight. You also want to stick to the more versatile thread weights, like Super 120s. Anything higher and you will want to save those for more formal/important events.
Start with the middle ground. You already have charcoal and light gray. Now start filling in with medium grays. The gray section should look like a gradient, like an artist shading in a shadow on a charcoal drawing. Follow the same with the blues, from a bright navy to a dark navy, and create a gradient there as well. If you’re feeling creative, mix in some double-breasted suits to allow yourself some depth.
Of course, you don’t want to look like a robot, so branch out a little on patterns and textures. You can grab a pinstripe, a window pane, a micro-check, a glen check, and a bird’s eye. If you want the best variety of suit wardrobe, grab one of each for each color. That gives you 15 suits, enough to wear for three work weeks without a repeat. That’s a great start, but we’re not finished.
Seasonal additions
Now you have a base: 15 great suits that make you look sharp and put together no matter what your work day throws at you. But you aren’t done quite yet. Now we need to dive into the seasonal weights that you need to survive the weather and the fashion police.
The best way to break these up is the warmer months of spring and summer, meaning March through August for most of the country. This means five summer weights, preferably two cotton suits, two linen suits, and one seersucker if you’re feeling confident. Certain suits for men are a lifesaver in the hotter months and will be the difference between looking your best and looking like a mess. The colder months of fall and winter (September through February, generally speaking) will be better served with heavier weights like cashmere, tweed, herringbone, and flannel.
You will want five suits for each season to complete your 20 days of suit-wearing. You have a suit for every day of the month at the office. Another piece of shopping advice: When you buy a suit, you should get a shirt and tie to go with it, preferably two of each. So when you have all 25 suits, you should have picked up in the ballpark of 50 shirts and 50 ties. If that seems like a lot, you’ll be glad you did it when you get to the end of the month. Trust us.
But why so many? Isn’t the four-legged stool meant to be versatile?
Cleaning and care
The simple answer is that you need to be able to wear a suit often enough that you get use out of it, but not so much that it needs to be cleaned too often. Ideally, you only want to clean a suit at a dry cleaner every fourth wear or so. If you’re wearing each suit once a month, that means you’re cleaning it three times a year for the year-round suits and only once or twice for the seasonal suits.
Consider that if you only have five suits, you would be wearing them once a week, skyrocketing that number of cleanings to 12 a year. Since dry cleaning can break down the fibers when it’s overdone, your suits will last you a lot less time. When you’re buying your first suits, consider buying an extra pair of pants for your suit; you will likely have to order them unless you are doing bespoke or suit separates. An extra pair will go a long way toward extending the life of the suits while you save for your ultimate suit wardrobe.
We understand that 25 suits is a lot to take on for anyone, and we don’t suggest running out and buying those 25 suits today unless you’re ready to try on (and pay for) 25 pants and jackets for a tailor. That sounds like a long day, though. You should invest in suits over time, building toward that final number. Just remember that the longer you take to build this wardrobe, the more suits in the wardrobe get worn out faster.
So bottom line: How many suits should a man own? Ideally, 25 suits in various colors, fabrics, and patterns.
