A minimal wardrobe that works for interns/first years

Hi all. I thought I would share what I view as a minimal wardrobe for interns/first years as I know there are people here who are interns/just starting their career who would like some guidance. This isn’t the absolute bare minimum you’d need. You can get by with less. This is what I view as a… “useful” minimum. Something that you can build off of. Likewise, the brands that I recommend are going to be targeted for interns/first years. I could say to just go to Henry Poole for the clothes and to George Cleverley for shoes but that is useless. 

Suits:

Go with three colors: a light grey, a dark grey-charcoal, and a navy. Either go with a plain design or something subtle like herringbone. Flap pockets. At least half canvas. Double vents. Single breasted. Notch lapels. I would stick with lapels around 3.5 inches unless you are uniquely small or big. Stick with wool fabrics. If you are going to going for something different I would go no less than 90% wool. At least to start out with. In terms of brands an easy one to go with is Suit Supply. 

The most important thing is to make sure it fits. Whatever brand you choose make sure you get it taken to a tailor so it fits you right. You may not notice it but an ill-fitting suit stands out. 

Shirts:

I would go with 5 shirts: white, sky blue, some type of dark blue, a low or high contrast striped white or blue shirt, some type of check or plaid shirt (ie - prince of wales). So long as you aren’t spilling on yourself you really don’t need that many shirts. You could wear a white shirt five days in a row and no one will notice. However, that’s boring. You should want some variety. And stick with a cotton poplin fabric. Stick with barrel cuffs. No need to deal with french cuffs. 

In terms of brands, Charles Tyrwhitt is a good one to go with. You can get multi-buys in the $40-60 range. Proper Cloth is solid too. Suit Supply and Indochino shirts are just as well. The difference in shirts at the sub-$200 range isn’t really much. 

Ties:

I would have 5: a dark blue, dark red, a diagonal relatively narrow stripe, a small repeating geometric, and a dark solid non-blue/red tie. Unless you are getting a high end tie they are all pretty much the same unless you are looking at something under $25 or so. Just stick with silk. 

Shoes:

There are a ton of good shoe options in the sub-$400 range. I strongly recommend Meermin’s 101198 Black Calf cap toe Oxford. It is $200 or so. This is a good all purpose shoe that you can easily wear for 10 or 15 years. That’s definitely the only shoe you’d need. But if you want a little variety I would go with the 101340 Copper Antique Calf Whole Cut Oxford.