How to Build a Five-Piece Work Wardrobe

Most wardrobes are large and underused. A smaller wardrobe, chosen carefully, does more work.

Start with a jacket that holds its shape. Add a trouser in the same tone. Then a tee that sits under the jacket without argument.

Colour is the constraint that makes it work. Keep everything within two or three tones and the combinations look after themselves.

The test is simple. If you can dress in the dark and still look considered, the wardrobe is doing its job.