5 things every man should own

•This post contains a paid for advertorial from Samsung•

I don’t think great style is particularly hard to achieve, I just think some people don’t get it right from base level. For me, it all boils down to getting the basics right. Once you have a solid foundation of key items, you can build any look you desire around them.

There are more than 5 of these key items, but for fear of writing the longest blog post in the world, I’m focusing on most basic and most important building blocks. For now… there will be more to come.

T-shirts are harder to get right than you may think. They come all shapes and sizes; some shrink, some stretch, some a too thin, others are too thick, some are too short whilst others are too long, some have too low of a neck-line whilst others strangle you.

I live in white T-shirts. I have about 6 of them and I wear one nearly every day. The are a staple all year round. During the summer you can wear one with jeans, shorts or tucked into trousers and when winter comes they are a clean, crisp base-layer to start with under your knitwear.

My Tee of choice comes from Tiger of Sweden. They have the right fit for my physique, a neck-line that looks great on its own but also works well for layering. They don’t shrink much when washed and they seem to stay white for longer than others I have had in the past. They are priced around £60 a go but when you consider the how many wears they get, it’s a worthy investment.

Bomber jackets are a classic shape and one of the most versatile items of clothing a man can own. They can be worn with a T-shirt and jeans for a super casual look or can tone-down a smart ensemble of shirt and trousers when you want to nail smart-casual. They also look great over basics as well as on top of layers when the weather gets a little chillier.

I have quite a few bombers in various colours and fabrics but I have a particular soft spot for this Oliver Spencer number in green suede (this one is a few season old now so this link will take you to a slightly different version from Oli’s current collection).

My wrist feels naked without a timepiece and choosing the right one can really set off an outfit. This rather beautiful example is the Samsung Gears S3 ‘Frontier’. It comes in 2 varieties; the ‘Frontier’ and the ‘Classic’. The former being the slightly more rugged of the two with a black body and bezel, pairs beautifully with this army green strap, whilst the I opt for a simple leather strap when I wear the ‘Classic’ model.

Whilst a lot of smart watches look like a piece of tech on your wrist, what enamours me to this one is that it so clearly takes inspiration from the heritage of traditional watches but is packed with features that make life just that little bit easier. You navigate the menu by rotating the bezel (which reacts with satisfying clicks), you can change the face based on your mood. It can store music and it automatically tracks your location when you go for a run whilst telling you how many calories you burn. You can make and receive calls read tweets and texts, book an uber once you’ve downloaded the app and even measure the air pressure and altitude (something I took great pleasure in when snowboarding with my friends recently).

Sometimes distressed jeans are in, sometimes bleached jeans are in, sometimes pristine jeans are in, but indigo blue jeans are always in. They go with basically everything and should definitely be a staple in every man’s wardrobe. The great thing with jeans is that once you have found the the fit that works for you, when the time comes that you have worn them to death, you know exactly where to go for the next pair. You can also get them in a various colours and finishes without the stress of trying on a million different kinds. My go-to’s are Levis 512 which are slim and taper at the bottom. I have very skinny calves, and the taper helps to hide that.

My 5th essential is a decent pair of brown boots. Brown is much easier to wear that black because it works with pretty much every other colour and picking a pair of all-rounders like these Chelsea boots from coach (again, mine are old so this link will go to something similar) means that one investment can be worn with blue jeans, black jeans, white jeans, chinos and any trousers of your choice.

Once you’ve got the basics down, the rest is easy. You can essentially make any outfit you want by adding certain things, and being a little adventurous.

Thanks for reading. I hope it helped.

Jim