Capsule Wardrobe Concept By Tan France Masterclass

How to dress effortlessly with style as a man

Tan France’s Masterclass Is Gold

I had been looking for ways to look timelessly stylish as a man, not too exaggerated, not too expensive, not time-consuming. I found my answer while watching the master class of Tan France on Style. For people who don’t know Tan France, he was a stylist, fashion designer and got famous in the show — Queer Eyes for the Straight Guy.

Tan France had a concept called Capsule Wardrobe. It includes only 10 basic items to look timelessly stylish. And you can always invest in cheaper versions of those items to look awesome! Sweeeeeet!

Enter The Capsule Wardrobe

What is a Capsule Wardrobe? It is the most classic, simple, and standard items that make up the foundation of your closet, and they never go out of style. They are versatile pieces that you can mix and match, and make you look stylish and fresh year after year. You can build your Capsule Wardrobe at a very low budget, but it is also where you should invest your money (Be thrifty with trendier pieces, they are only here to lay on top of your foundation). You will notice all the items’ color is muted and neutral because it is what makes the clothes timeless. It is very important that you dress and feel confident with your Capsule Collection.

Items in a Capsule Collection

1. A great piece of outerwear: trench coat, overcoat, or something heavier weight is fine.

2. Leather jacket: Don’t buy a leather jacket that is meant for riding a motorbike. You want to tone down a bit. We want style, as opposed to function. It doesn’t have to be real leather, it could be vegan leather.

3. Button-up shirts: Go for white, black, navy, brown, beige, or blue button-up shirts that make you feel like you. Stick with a neutral color. They can be casual wear, not just for your corporate job.

4. A great fitting suit: Matching pants with a matching jacket. Make sure it’s tailored and fits you to perfection. Keep with a neutral, it can either be a darker neutral or a lighter neutral. It doesn’t matter whether you need a corporate suit for work or not, you can always break it up into a fashionable style. Tan has a black suit himself and recommends it.

5. Knitwear: Again, stick with neutral, and something that flatters your body. You can go for crew neck, V-neck… whatever suits you. If you are slightly shorter, go with a cropped sweater. If you want a longer length, go for it as well. By trying on many options, you decide what sweaters work best for you. Tan suggests solid gray, solid navy, solid black, solid cream, beigey, or khaki color (light green). You can go for cashmere or any cheaper option. You need only one or two max.

6. T-shirt: Go for neutral colors like black, white, navy, gray, brown, or khaki. Make sure you like the cut- like round neck, crew neck, V neck, or soft V… try them on, and see what works best for you, and then buy them in a few different colors.

7. Denim: Decide the shades and the fits of denim you like, by trying multiple options. Then whittle it down to a pair of jeans that you will appreciate for many years to come. Go for straight leg, tapered leg, nothing too wide, nothing with rips, nothing bedazzled, nothing with diamantes, and nothing with crazy splatters. You can go for black, blue (dark blue and mid-blue), or white. Unless your jeans are really dirty, then you put them in the wash, otherwise, you can put them in the freezer that kills the bacteria.

8. Footwear: You only need 3 pairs of shoes. Have a pair of white sneakers. It goes for everything. A pair of black boots or shoes (oxford or brogue). And a pair of brown boots (suede) or shoes. Don’t go for super pointy or super square. Go for a rounder shape that’s timeless.

9. Belt: Go for a slim and simple belt. If you need a belt to hold up your pants, you got the wrong pants with the wrong size. Do not wear it for function, wear it for fashion. No matter if you like gold or silver buckles, it’s fine as long as you will wear them for years.

10. Accessories: Go for mixed metals- rose gold, silver, bronze bracelet. Wear less in the daytime, and more in the night time to dress it up.

Styling Tricks

1. Cinching or pushing up the sleeves to give it more structure.
2. Having the dress billow out of the denim, instead of just laying flat.
3. Show off your ankle by turning up your pants with just one hem with an (inner) fold-up. It will make your pants look less corporate and more casual.
4. Shorter shorts make you look taller and sexier.

Exercise

1. Go experiment! Try on different colors and fits of the Capsule Items. Find what works best for you.
2. Buy only 1–2 items a month. You don’t need to build your capsule wardrobe in a day. Ease into it. It took me around 2 years to change my entire wardrobe. And I only pick items that I really like.
3. Try experimenting with different looks by mix & match with different items in the capsule wardrobe. You can take reference of the photos below on how Tan France does it.

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2 Principles to Fashion

1. Know your proportion: Know your proportion and what you want to highlight in your body;
2. Know who you are: Wear what you makes you feel wonderful; Try out different color and textures that are fundamentally representing who you are; Not just for keeping up with the trend;
3. Never wear: Jelly shoes, board shorts, too many ruffles;

Develop Personal Style with mood board

Step 1: Find inspiration

1. Decide who you want to be. Look for people you admire- family, friends or colleagues, whom you think they look nice as a reference point.
2. Use search engine to look for a style. Ask yourself, “Could that be me?”, “Does that feel like me?”, “Do I want to feel like that person?”
3. If there’s a celebrity (e.g. David Beckham) or an influencer who lives a similar life to you when they’re not under the public eye. Who are they and what do they wear when they’re not under the spotlight?
4. Pull inspiration of runway show (e.g. vogue.com). They are not meant to wear those clothes exactly what it is, but just for inspiration.
5. Look for inspiration from nature as well.

Be inspired by their mood or vibe that you can inco rporate into your live. Don’t copy.

Start to screenshot or pin pictures, and create a mood board of the kind of vibe you’re going for in your phone. (e.g. boho girl dressed for different scenarios). Try to find a common theme. Whittle down into ~3 mood boards (5–6 photos per moodboard) for yourself. Don’t be overwhelmed.

Be open to try new things. Integrate small risks first, e.g. start with accessories or test with colors in subtle ways (e.g. socks). Feel what you truly want to feel.

The Right Fit

Know and dress for your proportion. Dress your body to elongate your body and balance out your proportion (meaning balance your top and bottom and flatter your body in the very best way).

1. Fit your trousers and jeans perfectly. Wider leg jeans would not look as flattering as a narrow leg one. It will make you look shorter than you are. Choose a slim cut and tapered jeans. Your legs would look taller, with the right proportion of torso. Also, the pants length should be at your ankle. Cropped or capri pant would make you look shorter.

Right is Slim Cut Jeans

2. Fit your torso. The length of your tops should be just hit your hips to look as tall as possible. Prevent extra long T-shirts, they’ll make your legs look shorter.