The Next Items to Round Out Your Wardrobe - Part 1

Now that you have the staples of your wardrobe, it's time to augment your wardrobe and take it to the next level. As with the first step of getting the staples, the next step can be simple as well. Usually this will be a process that extends months or even a few years, depending on your budget. I didn't start augmenting my wardrobe for at least 2 years.

So let's look at how I augmented my wardrobe and what I recommend for most men:

1. The grey suit
The first item I recommend purchasing when rounding out your wardrobe is a grey suit. The beauty of buying a grey suit before buying a black suit is that it matches a lot of your navy and blue family of clothes as well as some of your earth tones like browns and greens. Michael Kors, a popular womens wear designer, also makes very high quality men's clothes. The grey suit to the right can be had for $199 at Overstock.com.

2. Pink dress shirt
Dead guys don't wear plaid and real men wear pink. Yes, pink! Most designers have added different shades of pink and various types of shirts with pink stripes to their collections. Personally, I have at least 5 different kinds of pink shirts in my closet. I've found that pink works with lots of different color suits including those in the brown, green, black, navy and grey families. Now that's versatile! I wear pink with almost everything that I would traditionally wear a light blue shirt with. Sean Jean makes a nice textured dress shirt which sells for around $40 at Overstock.com.

3. Black dress shirt
Black shirts are no longer only for those in the mafia. I must advise you that these should be paired with ties with extreme caution. Many of the older ties that you find at discount stores may not be appropriate for black shirts and you might look like you're going to do a hit on someone. If you look at some of the newer versions of black ties you'll find what you're looking for. Lots of variety without the mobster look. You can also wear your black shirt sans tie. I have at least 5 black shirts of different fits, collars, and cuff styles and usually wear them withoutt ties. It's a good look, especially out on the town. Depending on your profession and office dress code, you might not want to wear it in the office. The black dress shirt featured here is by Prada and retail for around $190.

4. More ties
It may be easy to buy 5 ties for $10 at the stand on the street, but you'll be disappointed in the end. Spend the extra money, not much mind you, and take a trip to Sym's, H&M or Target and stock up on some really nice duds. I like buying my shirts and ties at the same time. Even though you're matching items very specifically, you'll find that the new tie you just bought will match a lot of things that you've already purchased. The reason - because you've been buying classic items, not trendy ones. Don't worry, there's plenty of time for trendy items later.

5. The black suit
The black suit is not quite as versatile as the navy suit, but it's pretty close. Your black suit will look snazzy with white, pink, yellow, some tans and orange. If your budget permits, Hugo Boss makes a very nice, modern 3-button suit for around $695.

That's enough to really add a spark to your wardrobe. In our next session we'll wrap up the other items you'll need to round out your wardrobe. Stay tuned.