The MR PORTER team take on perhaps the ultimate style challenge.

Occasionally, our style dilemmas quickly become much more complex than one might expect. It’s clothes and not philosophical science, after all, but personal style informs both our own identity and the way in which we are perceived by others. Looking this deeply into something often regarded as superficial is tricky, but it’s something we’re tackling in this week’s Style Question, which is all about how to achieve balance in your wardrobe. What can we say – we love a challenge…

How to have a well-balanced wardrobe?

nico__davis, via Instagram

Short of going full Platonic dialogue, let’s say that this is probably as close to a theoretical dilemma as you can get in the style world. By which I mean, in answering this – whether in theory or in practice – you will go a long way to describing your singular, personal style (if not a complete cosmology). But, rest assured, like all of life’s big questions, you are not alone in pondering them. And you can glean a lot from the ways in which others have tried to answer them.

To begin with: who are you? If, say, you are a uniform type of guy, who has settled on your look and want to wear that forever and wherever – in which case, awesome! – then you will likely buy deeply of your preferred staples, widening your aperture only slightly to include variations on a theme. Maybe you are head-to-toe Rick Owens all the time – fantastic; Mr Owens has designed a complete worldview in which to live, and you’ll just need to re-up on his drapey tees and trousers every now and again to go along with your well-weathered leathers and coats.

Or are you more partial to emulating the “Classic Man”, blending in when necessary, and sticking out when you feel like it? (Granted, the man in the grey flannel suit of yesteryear is more likely to be in something along the lines of jeans and a tee these days, but there is a way to pass, chameleon-like, in almost all instances of life.) In that case, we’ve put together a list of tried-and-true essentials ([see here](http://www.mrporter.com /mens/list/the_essentials)) to provide a nutritious and well-balanced wardrobe. This is your plug-and-play, mix-and-match unified theory of menswear staples in one place – with everything you need for every potentiality, lifestyle-wise (at home, at work, at play, and everything in between). We’ve put a lot of thought into it – making sure there are all the things you need if you’re riding a motorcycle, say, or going to the gym, yachting off the Amalfi Coast, at a gala, a wedding, on a first date, or a work interview.

But then, that’s just the beginning. It is in the pieces you select, the specifics on which you decide, and the way in which you style them, that you can make them yours. Do you like to tarry a bit more on the denim end of the spectrum? Are you happier in corduroy, or sportswear, or do you only feel put together if you have a necktie knotted at your throat? These are the ways in which you will stand out, or not – and the way in which you can season this well-balanced diet to your taste.

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