Capsule Wardrobe: The Rest

Suits, Jackets, and Shoes, Oh My

The previous three Dispatches have covered my philosophy, tops, and bottoms in building a capsule wardrobe that is focused on fun and not simply the fewest pieces that you can manage to pare down to. 

For the final capsule Dispatch, I am combining tailoring, outerwear, accessories, and shoes. 

Tailoring

One of the easiest choices is something that is in—and likely will always be in my closet— is the navy high twist Sid Mashburn Ghost Blazer. I love this jacket, even though, in a lot of ways, it’s kind of odd. I think it’s the perfect blazer for men who aren’t fully comfortable wearing more structured tailoring in their day-to-day lives. It’s unstructured, meaning it has no canvas or lining of any kind. It wears more like a chore coat with a notch lapel than what you might think of as the traditional Ivy-style navy blazer. 

I think when picking out your wardrobe (capsule or otherwise) it’s critical to ask, “when I wear this, what do I want this piece of clothing, or this whole outfit, to say about me today?” The navy ghost blazer reads as “dressed up” to most people, without the rigidity that a suit can sometimes provide. It’s a great way to be comfortable or cozy while being well dressed. 

I got my Ghost when Navy was the only option, and I think it provides the most versatility, but there are so many other excellent colors now.  The Lovat green is gorgeous (it’s even better in person), but there are several colors that I would gladly pick now. 

Much like my white jeans, the next item is probably not something that everyone will want in their wardrobe, but I made it a point to wear more tailoring this year, so it makes sense for me to include a suit that is a little more fun. In this case, that means a brown glen plaid wool/cashmere suit (pictured) that has some olive and bone hits in it. I love the Mashburn Virgil No. 2 suit cut because this suit can easily be broken into separates and worn as an odd jacket or odd trousers. I have worn the jacket as a blazer with both my olive chinos and white jeans. While it is easy to keep it formal with a blue spread collar shirt, my favorite way to wear this suit is with the denim spread collar, or with a navy formal polo. 

Outerwear

The heart of my outerwear rotation, no matter the season, is the chore coat. I have far too many of them in my closet and it was difficult to pick just one for my capsule. I landed on the David Coggins x Quaker Marine Supply chore jacket in an olive/khaki color. It’s relatively lightweight—I considered opting for a heavier twill cotton from Drake’s in olive, but the weather in Austin is quickly turning warm-which makes it a year-round piece for me here. 

It’s great over a tee shirt for a dog walk, over a button down and cashmere when the temperature dips, or worn with a spread collar and a tie (a look stolen from Coggins himself). 

Sometimes, it’s cooler out and the chore coat is not enough, so I added a mid-weight wool Kaptain Sunshine Fatigue Shirt Jacket in this cool olive/khaki camo pattern that I picked up on Grailed. 

You might be wondering, “Camo Bruce, really?” And to that I say, “absolutely.” 

I’ve worn the camo Kaptain Sunshine with pretty much all the tops and bottoms in my capsule. As far as camos go, this one is pretty mild, and from far away it just reads as an olive jacket. It’s a fun way to work in something a little different to a relatively limited palette of clothes otherwise.

I went back and forth on the next jacket, not because it was a hard choice, but because I have two of them. I love them both, they just have very different vibes. I have a small, uh, archive of Barbour jackets, at this point mostly collaboration versions, and the Barbour x ToKiTo Sapper is my favorite for its versatility in a variety of weather. It comes with a wool zip-in liner and waterproof ventilation zips in the upper back and triceps, not to mention the six chest pockets and rear game pocket. 

I was torn between my quieter olive Sapper and the bolder camouflage that looks like a twist on Rhodesian brushstroke camo. 

I opted for the camo, because, again, we’re here to have fun. If I were working in an office with more conservative dress standards, or for times when I don’t want to wear something fso loud, I’ll opt for the plain olive.

Last in outerwear is an overcoat, which is probably the piece that got the least wear, only because it was such a warm Austin winter. I’ve had a Banana Republic camel coat topcoat for more than fifteen years. I wore it most recently over my Ghost blazer with a tie for a dressy brunch on a cool morning with temps in the 40s, but it can be fun to wear on a walk to the coffee shop with chinos, a white tee, and sneakers. This is perhaps the thing I needed the least in my winter capsule. 

Accessories

I wanted to include a handful of things that accompany the bigger pieces as part of a capsule. Because they are smaller, it can be easy to pick up accessories here and there and then end up with too many of them hiding in the dark parts of your closet, just waiting to be used. Looking at how they might fit into a capsule is a good way to figure out what you really need.  

A knit tie is a must for me, and something I think every man should have in their wardrobe. I opted for a burgundy, but navy, pine green, or even brown would be perfect here. They’re not as formal as something like a grenadine, and quieter than a silk patterned. For anything I needed to attend that required “dressing up” this was more than enough, though I was usually wearing the knit tie not because I had to, but because I could. 

To keep warm I added a beanie, gloves, and a scarf. The beanie is Drake’s x Aimé Leon Dore in a donegal that could not be more perfect for my entire wardrobe. It’s got flecks of green, blue, and pink, in the grey merino, and it’s warm without being stifling. The gloves are old J Crew lined leather gloves that I’ve had for years, though they were not sufficient for the coldest of days, I might be replacing them with some Hestras at the start of next winter. The scarf is a bit unusual, and definitely wins the silliest name: it’s the Combat Flip Flops Shemagh. Shemaghs are incredibly practical and can be anything from a scarf to a towel to a blanket to an eye mask on the plane. I have one with me pretty much year-round.

Shoes

Finally, we arrive at shoes: two boots, two loafers, and a pair of sneakers. This sounds downright boring after all the camo above, but fear not, there’s still some room for fun. 

For the boots I opted for brown leather and brown suede at two different heights. I’ve had my Alden 403 Indy boots for 12 years now so there was question that they’d make the cut. I’ve walked miles over all sorts of terrain, including a full on six mile hike over rocks and roots and mud, and other than needing a resole, they’re still kickin’. For days when it isn’t wet, or when I want something a little softer, I picked a pair of snuff suede chukka boots from Drake’s on a rubber sole. You can find a similar pair for less from Astorflex. I’m partial to rubber over crêpe sole chukkas because the lighter crêpe can look a little dingy when you do a lot of city walking. 

It probably seems silly to have two pair of loafers, but I wear boots or loafers most days of the week, and again, it’s nice to have some variety and personality in my wardrobe. 

The first pair is my brown suede tassel loafers that are very much in need of rebuilding. I wear them so much I haven’t been able to bear the thought of sending them off for repair. Despite being tassel loafers, they are so worn-in that the chocolate suede makes them wear even more informally than normal. I wouldn't wear these with a navy suit in a business context, but I have worn them with pretty much everything in this capsule at some point. 

The other loafers are definitely wildcards, and don’t have to be included. They are loden green suede Belgians from Baudoin and Lange (now discontinued, but honestly any of the Sagan Strides are worth having). I can’t really justify these any more except to say that I love how soft the leather is, how comfortable they are for walking, and how well the green suede coordinates with almost everything in the capsule, so they made the cut. 

Last, a pair of high or low top, white or cream sneakers is a must. My current pair is the Patta x Experimental Jetset Chuck 70. I don’t wear these with tailoring but I’ll wear them with pretty much anything else ( I’m not a fan of the sneakers with blazers look; I’ve seen it done well, it’s just not for me) and they get a lot of wear for dog walks, Sunday coffee, grocery runs, and the like. 

That’s it, a full, and fun, capsule wardrobe for winter into spring. It’s warming into the 80s in Austin now, so much of this will be changing soon. Look for a shorter dispatch on the horizon with an update. Until then, hit the comments or reply to this Dispatch if you’ve got other clothing questions you need answered. 

TL;DR - The Full List

• Upgrade Shirt

• Solid Sky Blue OCBD

• Pink Stripe OCBD

• Sky Multi Stripe Poplin Spread Collar

• Light wash Denim Cotton/Linen Spread Collar

• Vintage Washed Blue Spread Collar

• Navy Formal Polo

• Brown Bengal Stripe Spread Collar

• White Tee x2

• Cream Long Sleeve

• Grey Cotton Crewneck Sweatshirt

• Oatmeal Wool/Silk/Cashmere Crewneck Sweater

• White Observer Denim

• White Observer Contractors

• Olive Officer Chino

• Olive Off Grid Pant

• Grey Wool Flannel Pleated Trouser

• Swim Trunks

• Navy Unstructured Blazer

• Brown “Fun” Suit

• Chore jacket

• Light jacket

• Heavy Jacket

• Overcoat

• Shemagh

• Knit Tie

• Brown Leather Boots

• Snuff Suede Chukka

• Suede Loafer

• Suede Loafer

• White High Tops