Personal Stylist (Male)

Grumpy_chap

That's kind of what I do, except I always feel as though I end up with a look of "forgot the jacket".

Smart chinos, with crease, would be acceptable

Floss

My ex used to wear very dark Levis and a suit /linen jacket with tan leather Loake brogue boots and a collared shirt, no tie. In winter he would wear a fine merino knit sweater over the shirt (he wasn't one for a sweater with no shirt, but it is another option)

Grumpy_chap

Floss said:

My ex used to wear very dark Levis and a suit /linen jacket with tan leather Loake brogue boots and a collared shirt, no tie. 

Now, that is exactly one of my outfit approaches for social / smarter wear. 
As well as the very dark blue Levi's, I also have some black Levi's and most recently "toffee" (dark tan)
Could not do that to the workplace - definitely no jeans.

I also found one very striking outfit, white 501's, white brogues, white jacket then socks, belt and bold polo (or shirt) all to match. 

It's actually quite surprising how an outfit can be made by the accessories.  Before, all my shoes, socks and belts were black.

I don't wear any kind of jumper ever.

Grumpy_chap

littlegreenparrot said:

I would go for nice trousers and a shirt, that's my standard work wear.

Would a pair of chinos or similar be acceptable? 

Well, today at work I did tan shoes and belt, very dark blue smart cord chinos with crease, pink shirt collared short sleeve, lighter blue jacket in the same palette as the cords and that seemed to work well.

Floss

Grumpy_chap said:

littlegreenparrot said:

I would go for nice trousers and a shirt, that's my standard work wear.

Would a pair of chinos or similar be acceptable? 

Well, today at work I did tan shoes and belt, very dark blue smart cord chinos with crease, pink shirt collared short sleeve, lighter blue jacket in the same palette as the cords and that seemed to work well.

Stick with dark coloured chinos & toning jackets, or you might end up looking like Michael Portillo!

Grumpy_chap

Well, I am now in the office at least weekly, perhaps 2 or 3 times in a busy week.  I feel much more confident.  Though I am not quite sure - the most frequent comment is "dapper".  Is that a compliment?

I did get "always stylish" this week, which has to be positive.  I think it helps that I am working with people now who I did not know before, so there is no pre-conception of the "dated and worn" look that was.

At the weekend, I even received a positive comment on a shirt from my Niece, which was a total and absolute shock.

The big thing is, as I've got some good base clothes, I have gained more confidence to adapt so rather than seeing a full outfit and thinking I need it all or nothing, I have started to realise that I can see an outfit, use some parts that I have and adapt some, so end up only needing one thing to make a whole. 

I have also started to adapt elements, so recently I saw a display of navy trousers, brown brogues, white blazer, maroon jumper.  It looked good, I had all the parts except the jumper, I don't like jumpers but realised I can buy a maroon long-sleeve polo to get the same overall image but adapted to my style.  Here's hoping that Black Friday will have the long-sleeve polo I saw today at a keener price.

My next batch of changes will be a refresh of the shirt section of the wardrobe and I've seen some great stuff at Charles Tyrwhitt.  In particular I like the fact they offer varying sleeve lengths which is great.  I think I'll buy one and see how it fares and then select more colours / patterns if that works well.  It is surprising how hard shirts can be as you need to like it not just when it is new from the packet - I did buy a couple earlier in the year and neither do the full "thing" - one looks great (unusual material) but is the worst thing ever to iron - the other looked great but has not laundered well.  I want to see that the CT shirts do the initial look but also not impose undue efforts to maintain.  I saw that someone recommended CT upthread, so here's hoping.

Floss

"Dapper" is good 😊

Also consider non-chain shops for your shirts or seek out Claudio Lugli https://www.claudioluglishirts.com/

Grumpy_chap

Visited Charles Tyrwhitt yesterday and purchased some lovely shirts in the Black Friday prices, so that was good.  A great range of colours and all with the correct sleeve length.

Did also want some smarter dark navy trousers but the ones I saw online weren't the right fit for me and we were a bit pressed on time to be looking around.  Think I might visit NEXT when I get the opportunity, or possibly M&S.  Both of those should be able to provide what is a core staple items.