The Essentials

A lot of guys can dress well when they?re dressing up, but the key is to be able to look good when you?re dressed down. That?s where a soft DB jacket comes in, because if it?s correctly cut ? which right now means short and lean in the body ? it?ll look chic and feel relaxed, which is a neat trick.

This classic off-duty item has been an essential for about half a century, but its appeal burns more brightly than usual this season thanks to the general appetite for colour and patterns. Keep the silhouette slim and wear it under a blazer for up-to-date Ivy style.

Brown suede loafers are as casual as dress shoes get, thanks to their form, colour and texture. For this reason they work as well with blue jeans and white trousers as they do with blue suits. Once they?re worn in, go sockless to dress them right down.

Effective and elegant, a single-breasted mac does the job in spring that a trench coat performs in winter: keeping a man dry in the rain. This one retains all the military associations that make classic trench coats so admirably masculine.

Chocolate brown and black may be the go-to colours in winter but in spring lighten the mood with a leather jacket that will look as cool as it wears. For low-key LA style wear it with a T-shirt, faded jeans and simple sneakers.

There?s very little sportswear that successfully captures the glory of classic American athletic gear, which is why beautifully made grey sweatshirts remain so sought after. Pair one with worn-in chinos for a timeless casual look, and to channel some of Mr Jack Kerouac?s style.

Whether you want to pep up the image of a regular watch, or, ideally, give a vintage sports watch some individual style, colourful watch straps look as good peeking out from beneath a white shirt cuff and a navy blazer as they do with a T-shirt.

With iconic shapes dominating in recent seasons we?ve been delving deeper into the archives for optical inspiration, and Illesteva?s tortoiseshell spectacles with detachable shades have an authentically 1960s appeal.

There are few easier ways to upgrade your image than by carrying a decent briefcase. A beautifully made case in a classic design won?t just look good for years, it?ll last for decades ? so it may be worth checking that your son likes it too.

We don?t need to tell you that navy blue and charcoal grey are the default colours for business suits ? that?s why you?ve already got a cupboard full of them. Less well known is the fact that pale grey is undoubtedly the most stylish colour for suits. Keep the shade grey, rather than straying into oatmeal, and the results will be businesslike as well as chic.

To paraphrase Jay-Z, we don?t want to look like businessmen; we want to look the business, man. And there?s no better way to achieve this than with a boldly patterned shirt that speaks of energy, ambition and success. Greed might not be good, but Mr Michael Douglas? office attire in the original Wall Street film certainly was.

iPad holders are no less essential for the fact that they only came into existence this decade. Comme des Garçons? version comes in sober chocolate brown, as well as eye-catching turquoise.

The easy perfection of only wearing navy blue socks holds great appeal, but it?s worth having a few pairs of patterned socks to wear on the days when you have enough time to consider your outfit long enough to introduce a contrasting visual element.

The debate over whether it?s better for dinner jackets to be made from black or midnight blue fabric has raged for years, based on scientifically dubious claims about the relative appearance of the colours under artificial light. This spring we?re calling it in favour of midnight blue, for the unscientific reason that it has a bit more pizzazz than black.

In the past an umbrella?s form (long or short) and its state (ideally tightly rolled) were believed to be strongly indicative of its owner?s character. Now that people are less uptight about such things just enjoy using one to inject some colour into an outfit.

Right now monks are the most fashionable style of dress shoe, with online interest in double-monks reaching levels of near-hysteria, and we like them best when they are given a rugged feel with either grain leather or suede. Wear them with trousers with deep cuffs.

A man can look good in many different outfits, from the antiquated formality of white tie to the ease of a polo shirt and shorts. But for all that, he?ll rarely look as good as he does in a great pair of jeans and the perfect white T-shirt. This, we believe, comes pretty close to being the latter.

The Japanese take denim very seriously, which is why they produce the world?s finest. This spring we?re in search of washed selvedge denim with a relaxed feel, although still a good shape, so that our new jeans feel like our favourite old jeans.

Take the appeal of the unstructured jacket to its logical conclusion with a double-breasted cardigan, which will perform as a casual jacket when worn with a shirt to give you an unassailably relaxed look.

It?s now impossible to remember what we wore in the years before the current deck shoe revival, but to stay ahead of the pack we?re going to embrace colours and change the texture with this suede pair.

There is no greater testament to the usefulness of a tote bag than the speed with which men around the world have adopted them. Smarter than a holdall but more spacious than a briefcase, they have become indispensible for men on the move.

This spring the appetite for more expressive ways to dress has even reached the blue suit. Go for checks, but give some thought to how their scale is going to work with your body shape ? big or tall men look better in bigger patterns. Be inspired by the kind of lean tailoring that was popular in the 1960s, rather than the fuller silhouettes popular in the 1980s.

In recent seasons knitted ties have, for good reason, become near ubiquitous, but to add a more formal note to one?s furnishings, seek out subtle printed designs, and balance their classic style with modernity by keeping them relatively slim.

It?s increasingly common to see a flash of colourful fabric or a row of beads under a man?s shirt cuff. What?s so charming about bracelets is that they make such a clear statement about how a man wishes to be perceived, which makes it important to pick a good one.

This is self-explanatory ? we need add nothing to the above line to justify the essentialness of these shirts.

The simplicity of Orlebar Brown?s swimming shorts was a breath of fresh air when they first appeared, and while their tailored form remains unimpeachable it again feels right to embrace patterns, especially on holiday.

You don?t have to be a cowboy to wear a denim jacket ? they?re so versatile that they can work with every wardrobe. Wear one over a white T-shirt and chinos, or with shorts, and wear it till it becomes an old friend.

The right sneakers will take a man from the park (wearing shorts) to a decent restaurant for lunch (wearing chinos and a blazer), so it makes sense to buy a pair that will stand out from the crowd.

Although stylish men only wear shorts in very relaxed circumstances, the best examples, which bear some Bermudan influence, allow a man to dress them up with shirt and blazer.

In all but the hottest weather knitwear is essential, but it needs to be palpably different from the kind of colours and weights that predominate in winter. Bright shades feel very right this season.

Aside from performing manual labour or watching live sporting events, it?s hard to think of an occasion at which it would be inappropriate to wear a navy blazer. That?s how we justify our wish to buy at least one new one every year. For summer we like the comfort of Boglioli?s unstructured version, as well as its Italian provenance.

Looking through the kind of archive shots that bring on serious style envy (Mr Gary Cooper, etc), white trousers crop up time and time again. It?s hard to look elegant in the sunshine without a pair, whether you dress them up with a blazer or down with a polo shirt.

Bomber jackets are back, not least because Mr Ryan Gosling gained so much female attention wearing one in last year?s Drive. While good with jeans, they really come into their own worn with chinos, as seen on the best American campuses circa 1960.

A man need know nothing about the intricacies of the British class system, and the place that rugby occupies within it, to enjoy wearing a rugby shirt. In soft cotton they?re comfortable, sporty and simple to wear ? try one over a dress shirt.

Cargo trousers have been reinvented in a new slim shape and are a great alternative to jeans. Pair them with an OCBD (Oxford cloth button-down) shirt and a colourful woven belt for a youthful, sprezzy look. Double-monk shoes will complete the outfit.