1. Meet your new summer uniform: the Blazer 'N Tee
We have to admit: We did not see this one coming. As recently as two or three years ago, a T-shirt and blazer worn together was still the stuff of Don Johnson fever dreams. But then blazers started changing—lightening and softening up. And then T-shirts started changing, too, with better fits and finer fabrics. And when you've got the right blazer (unlined, textured, lightly structured) and the right T-shirt (fitted but not tight; substantial without being thick), it looks casual and considered, laid-back and luxurious.
2. Find your new favorite sweatshirt
Is it possible to find a sweatshirt these days that fits and feels as good as a cashmere sweater? Blessedly, yes. And if you choose one that gets all the details right, it's possible to wear it almost anywhere, too. The only caveat? "Just don't wear it with jogging pants," advises J.Crew's menswear designer Frank Muytjens.
3. Buy a cotton suit...
For all the talk about elevating your closet's basic building blocks, an equally important movement has transpired on the upper end of things: the softening up of luxury goods. In another life, you may have reached for a suit made from some wool-silk blend; instead try one made of cotton fabrics, like a finely woven denim, and make sure to mix it up on occassion by wearing each piece separately, too, says designer Michael Bastian: "I love how easily cotton suits can be split up, with both pieces working equally hard and looking just as good when they're working together as a suit."
4. ...and wear it with sneakers
Consider 2015 the year the 'no suits with sneakers' rule was officially revoked. White canvas sneakers were perhaps the first performance shoe, the choice of badminton champions (Jack Purcell, 1935) and basketball players (Chuck Taylor, 1918) and anyone else who needed to juke, jive, pivot, etc. The canvas is flexible and porous, allowing the foot to move and the skin to breathe; and the design is so simple that they'll never get in your way. The best white canvas sneakers today (and they don't get much better than Purcells, recently streamlined as part of a new Converse Signature series) don't look all that different from how they did fifty years ago. We are the ones who are different, and we know that a well-designed sneaker can look as at home with an unlined suit as with a pair of rumpled chinos. "Sneakers are the Enlightened Man's wing tips," says designer Tomas Maier. "They'll take away years from your age and give you a bit of cool."
5. Pick up your new take-it-everywhere jacket
Like all military innovations, the M-65 jacket was designed with the knowledge that any engineering flaw could cost someone life and/or limb. The finished product, first introduced in 1965, is based entirely on functional simplicity and reliability, with every pocket, stitch, and detail conceived to perform in difficult conditions. Today, outside of combat zones, the M-65 has been repurposed as the ultimate travel jacket.
6. Take your sunglass cues from Steve McQueen
The Persol 714's, a revolutionary pair of foldable, collapsible sunglasses first created back in the 1960s, were synonymous with Steve McQueen, who wore them in The Thomas Crown Affair and who made everything he wore about 32 percent cooler. And the fact that they were purpose-built, with a problem in mind—what to do with one's shades—reflects an optimal marriage of form and function. Persol recently updated and upgraded the original 714's with lighter frames and a slimmer profile, all while maintaing the same unbeatable utility.
7. Try the new 'simple' watch
Notice, if you will, what the watch below doesn't have on its face: there's no date display cluttering up the dial, no chronograph pushers on either side of the crown interrupting the streamlined silhouette—or subdials, or moon phases, or tiny numbers lining the bezel that you pretend to use as a tachymeter; it's just a simple, straightforward, masculine watch, and at 41mm (a little over 1.6 inches), the case is no smaller or larger than a man's wrist should bear.
8. Don't fear the Rumple
A light rumple helps keep up the casual quotient. (Good!) Just make sure you keep it light, like with the blazer and cotton-linen shirt combo below—anything more makes you look like you just rolled out of bed. (Bad!)
9. Try the new elevated chinos
The difference between everyday chinos and elevated chinos comes down to the details. This pair from Berluti combines elements both sartorial (a properly finished trouser waistband) and practical (the bar tacks that reinforce certain seams are just like the ones you'd find in wartime chinos), and they're made in a very dense cotton twill.
10. Consider suede shoes
Buffed leathers and their subtle naps offer just the right amount of texture and depth to keep things looking easy. And while suede's soft hand (the result of buffing the inner side of the hide) and nubuck's finer nap (the result of buffing the outer side of the hide) are meant more for the eyes than anything else, they do have the added benefit of being both durable and long-lasting. (Plus, you never have to get 'em polished.)
11. Embrace the Military Color Palette
Since so much of men's casual clothing stems from the military, it's no surprise that most of it tends toward the neutral—all khakis, tans, and browns. And that runs the risk of things getting a little...beige. But the truth is that there's such a multiplicity of colors within that military palette, and the key to wearing them well is to mix up separates in different shades of neutrals—olives, slates, even rust. Another thing to remember? "Texture is important," says designer Billy Reid. "How the fabric moves is important, too. And always look for slightly different shades to make things look fresher and richer."
