What you need to build a basic men's wardrobe

If you "don't care" about clothes and hate shopping for them, I don't blame you. I also have an inner John Fetterman I have to fight every so often. But eventually, you have to face the fact that what you wear sends a message — both about yourself and about your attitude toward the people around you. Dressing appropriately and as nicely as the context will bear is polite. It also affords you a baseline invisibility that is ultimately more comfortable and less distracting in the long run than the hoodie and perma-short life. Once you have this solid foundation down, you can always tweak it as needed. Paying just enough attention to how you dress can also have the benefit of reducing the amount of clothes you have and the decisions you have to make about them.

The modest list below should help you get started. If you already know all this, I hope it will serve as a helpful resource for quality, U.S.-made wardrobe staples.

Suits

In a way, life was easier when men had to wear suits — just get up every day and put on your uniform. The top and the bottom always match, like adult Garanimals. By contrast, the "anything goes" ethos of men's business casual makes dressing for work more of a chore. At any rate, It's still good to have at least one suit for special occasions. Between classic grey and navy, I recommend the latter. Easier to wear with brown shoes (which to me, are more versatile overall than black) and easier to dress down in general while being somber enough for a funeral and festive enough for a wedding. Go to Styleforum if you really want to get into canvassed vs. half-canvassed and other indicators of suit quality, but for the most part, you can't go wrong with the American-made offerings from storied brands Hickey Freeman, Hardwick, Hart Schaffner Marx, and J. Press.

Oxford cloth button-down shirts

In my opinion, these are all you need to pair with a suit, especially if you wear a tie. Again, the name of the game is versatility. Unlike spread-collar dress shirts, you can wear these with jeans or shorts and retire them to full-time casual wear when they get (pleasingly) beat up. I would buy the classic blue and white. Maybe a pink one and one in blue banker stripes. Brooks Brothers is the standard and still makes a line in America. That said, OCBD aficionados are very discriminating, and there have been complaints over the years that BB has fallen off. The husband and wife behind Mercer & Sons started their business precisely to address this. Everybody seems to love their reasonably-priced, made-to-measure shirts. Gitman Vintage makes its OCBDs in Lafayette, Tennessee, from its design archive (the original company began in 1932), and J. Press is a classic, albeit pricey, Ivy League option. Ratio is a newer brand with a lot of customization; its blue OCBD is made in New Jersey.

Navy blazer

To take it down a notch from a suit, you can just do the classic navy blazer with chinos. In my experience, this looks respectable enough to work in a pinch for all but the most formal occasions while rarely, if ever, leaving you looking overdressed (just taking off the blazer goes a long way). You can wear a polo under these as well, although depending on the collar, it might look a little sloppy. Hardwick has a nice navy sport coat with a little stretch. J. Press, Brooks Brothers, and O'Connell's are also good options.

Khakis

If you’re going to wear sweatpants, be honest about it — those yoga pants trying to pass as something you’d wear with a belt are like vegan chicken. Can’t go wrong with khakis — you just have to get the sizing right. Austin-based Jack Donnelly cares a lot about this timeless menswear staple, and it shows. It showcases extensive style and fit options at a decent price. As the name might suggest, Bill’s Khakis is similarly single-minded. A little more fashion-forward is Save Khaki United’s collaboration with Imogene + Willie, the All-American Chino.

Polos

South Carolina’s Homegrown Cotton grows all the cotton for its shirts, making it a true farm-to-closet product. Save Khaki United outsources it’s material, but its polos wear like T-shirts. If you’re looking for something in a classic pique, Todd Shelton makes something very nice.

Shoes

The consensus seems to be that the best American-made dress shoes come from Alden and Allen Edmonds. I can vouch for the former. I think a brown plain toe blucher is a good, versatile option if you only buy one pair, but I’ve also gotten a lot of wear out of chukkas and loafers. Don’t wear “dress sneakers.”

For something still smart but more casual, Maine-based Quoddy has the camp/boat shoe down. And I find the Aurora Shoe Company's shoes extremely comfortable and just distinctive enough that people always ask about them.

Jeans

It can be depressing to realize the extent to which manufacture of this iconic American garment has been off-shored. Designer Todd Shelton’s eponymous company is at the vanguard of the effort to keep American jeans-making great. His carefully curated, classic designs and close attention to fit demonstrates his dedication, but this does come at a price. For less-expensive but equally excellent jeans, try Texas Jeans, which uses denim made at Georgia’s historic Mt. Vernon Mills from American-grown cotton, and Round House.

Underwear

When you go domestic in this category, you have to expect a little sticker shock. The upside is a brand like BGreen are as comfortable as you can get. Less pricey, and made in Los Angeles by fairly-compensated, skilled garment workers is the large selection of Los Angeles Apparel briefs and boxer briefs.

T-shirts

American Giant makes nice ones, as does Los Angeles Apparel.

Socks

Boldfoot Socks make its dress socks from North Carolina Supima cotton. Also keeping the Tar Heel textile-making tradition alive are Boardroom and Dapper Classics. When it comes to more casual socks, it's hard to go wrong with the classic look and durability of American Trench.