The Roi Wardrobe - Return On Investment In Custom Clothing  

INVESTING IN YOUR FUTURE
Beginning a career, like launching a business, comes with start-up costs. Some of these will be obvious (suits cost a fair amount of money) and some will seem hidden (tailoring, dry-cleaning, etc.) but none of them should break you. A plan to spend your money is the key to spending it wisely.

UNDESTANDING NECESSARY EXPENDITURES
Things to keep in mind when building your wardrobe:
1. You might already own some of the items you need.
2. Choose one or two items to invest in a suit and a sport jacket and spend less on the rest.
3. Men are often judged by the shoes and the watch they wear; consider investing in these or at least choose wisely.
4. Easy ways to save: Seasonal sales, sample designer outlets .
5. Go easy spending money on shirts. They wear out, get stained, and the same version can always be purchase again six months to a year.
6. Choose ties that can work with almost every jacket you own. This will make them stretch further.
7. Ignore trends. Buying the occasional fashionable tie is to be expected, but in general, stick with styles that will never go out of style.


SO HOW DO I BUDGT MY MONEY?
Year One - SHIRTS, TIES, WATCH
Year Two - PANTS, SHOES, OUTERWEAR
Year Three - SUIT, SPORT JACKETS, BRIEFCASE

In year one of building your work wardrobe, you have the biggest need and the least amount of capital. What’s the solution? Plan carefully and be smart about your expenditures. To put it in architectural terms, build out from the foundation of the suit and sport jacket. This is where the key investment belongs because you want all the possible quality and versatility you can afford in these items. Smart choices here will pay off for several years.
Don’t waste your limited resources on ties or fancy watches, etc. Ties and shirt at this stage should be simple, and relatively inexpensive especially considering the beating they will take between long hours at work and dry-cleaning wear and tear. An expensive watch will just look inappropriate you want your management to believe you need a raise, not the opposite.

Year Four - SHIRTS, TIES, PEN
Year Five - PANTS, SHIRTS, TIES, SHOES
Year Six - SUIT, SPORT JACKETS, OUTERWEAR, WATCH

By the fifth year of your career, your wardrobe foundation should be solid and you will have started building up the essentials. Suits and jacket are still the priority here because they cost the most and have the greatest versatility. You may also want to invest in a nice overcoat at this point because, although pricey, it should last you for years.
Likewise, an expensive watch would be a good investment at this stage of your career assuming you purchase something that can last you until retirement. If you want to splurge on shirt or ties, make sure they are for special occasions, public speaking, important dinners and that you treat them carefully. Good shoes will take a beating, of course, but by now should have several pairs so you can rotate them. Now is the time to start investing in quality, than quantity.

MEET JOE FRIDAY
When contemplating your Friday wardrobe, to tie or not to tie? There’s a perfect candidate for the job (hey, just like you!)…. the black knit tie! Its texture will soften any suit, but will add a bit of polish to a casual shirt or sport coat. It should be tied with a four-in-hand knot to ensure that you don’t look like grandpa (which isn’t a bad thing when you are his age). The black knit tie is a classic that is welcome in any man’s closet. (Nice to meet you, Joe!)

The Ten…
It worked for Moses; it even works for David Letterman. There is something comforting about having some heads-up guidelines in lots of ten to help make sense of complicated subjects such as civilization or late-night TV. Obviously the bigger challenge is in figuring out what goes with what at 7 in the morning avoiding costly mistakes by buying what either your significant other or sale person gushes over, and, in general, just dressing yourself every day to avoid embarrassment. In light of the sheer magnitude of this we offer these thirty commandments…



From – Dress Smart for Men

 
The following article also comes highly recommended: Custom Clothing For The Corporate Work Place.
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Also see A Mans Accessories.
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Or even Tools Of The Trade.
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