The New Office Uniform for Men

In 1992 Levi Strauss mailed an eight-page pamphlet called A Guide to Casual Businesswear to about 25,000 HR managers, and it helped push Dockers khakis from the golf course into the office. It did not invent business casual, but it gave a whole generation of managers permission. Thirty-odd years later the argument has flipped. British GQ, updated in August 2026, says more companies than ever are upping their office days, which means mandatory dress codes on more days of the week. GQ also reported in June 2025, citing Google Shopping, that searches for business casual outfits hit an all-time high since the pandemic began and that the suit looks primed for a comeback. My answer is a jacket that works without a matching trouser. Paul Smith opened its first shop in 1970 at 6 Byard Lane in Nottingham, a space of about three by three meters with no windows, and its navy seersucker suit jacket still has that small-shop sense of humor. Drake's navy Games pinstriped linen jacket is the one for a warm office, and the Mr P. wool-fresco blazer in blue is the one for the rest of the year. Wear any of them over a plain shirt and an unmatched trouser. What I would skip is the Polo Ralph Lauren corduroy suit jacket in black for a client meeting, because it reads more weekend than boardroom.

A knit under a jacket does what a tie used to do: it tells people you made an effort. Altea began in 1892 when Giuseppe Sartori opened a tie shop in Milan, and four generations of his family have run it since, so it is no surprise that the label's core is men's knitwear. The beige ribbed virgin wool cardigan is a calm piece that sits under a blazer. Inis Meáin was founded in 1976 on the Aran island of the same name and is the only knitting factory on any of the three Aran Islands, which makes its green wool and linen zip-up cardigan a rare thing. For a half-zip, Officine Générale's brown Tarek and the green A.P.C. are the sort of thing people wear to a desk and a dinner afterward. Begg x Co's green Maytime cable-knit and the black Ghiaia Cashmere Pescatore are for the days when a heavier texture helps. My test is whether you can fold the collar down cleanly under a jacket. The Auralee brown wool sweater is the one to skip in an open-plan office with the heat on high, because wool wants a cooler room.

The shirt is where a uniform either holds or falls apart. Graphpaper started in Tokyo in 2015 around a redefinition of basics, taking things like the white shirt and refining them through fabric and silhouette, so its white cotton-poplin shirt is the one I would buy first. Slowear's Glanshirt striped poplin in blue comes from the shirt branch of a house that began with trousers and expanded into knitwear and outerwear. Kartik Research builds its pieces with a network of about 50 craftsmen in New Delhi, and the pinstriped cotton-canvas shirt in ecru is the most interesting shirt in the grid. For something classic, the Polo Ralph Lauren striped oxford and the Paul Smith light blue poplin do what they say. Charvet, founded in Paris in 1838, is credited as the first shop dedicated to shirts, and its black cotton-sateen polo is the one to wear when a tie is not required. The Mr P. jersey tee in black is the one you put under a jacket on a long Friday. Skip the Thom Browne pink linen shirt on a day of back-to-back meetings, because linen wrinkles.

Trousers do most of the visual work in an office outfit, and I would rather own three good pairs than ten forgettable ones. Slowear's history began in 1951 in the province of Venice with Incotex, a trouser maker founded by Carlo Compagno, and the gray straight-leg wool-canvas pair is the reason I keep returning to the label. Canali was founded in 1934 as a men's tailoring workshop by brothers Giovanni and Giacomo Canali, and it remains family run, so the navy wool-twill suit trousers are the safe answer for a day when you need to look serious. De Bonne Facture, started in 2011 by Déborah Neuberg after a stint in the silk department at Hermès, makes the navy Grandad wide-leg in virgin wool, and it is the one that makes a plain shirt look intentional. The Paul Smith seersucker trousers match the jacket from the first grid. For denim, the TOM FORD slim-fit selvedge in navy is dark enough for a Friday. Hem trousers to touch the top of the shoe and no further. For a formal presentation I would skip the ATON wide-leg cotton and linen twill in green, because the loose fall is relaxed by design.

Dress shoes in an office have become more varied, and the men who get it right choose one pair and wear it often. Majordome was founded in 2012 by the brothers Gian-Luca and Florian Cavigelli, and it makes its shoes in Spain using leathers from tanneries in France, Italy and England, so the black M11 cross-grain Chelsea boot is a clean choice for a suit. Sebago was founded in Maine in 1946 and is best known for boat shoes, and the Portland Artisan suede pair in brown is the one to wear with chinos in a casual office. Officine Creative's dark brown Hopkins boot comes from a label that runs each pair through a Time Machine process of more than 100 steps meant to give a worn-in look. MORJAS is a Stockholm label founded in 2017, and its black leather Oxford is the plainest, most formal shoe here. Polish a boot as often as you would an Oxford. VINNY's black Jimmee boot sits between the two. Skip the TOTEME croc-effect loafer in a conservative office, where the texture draws more attention than the outfit around it.

A tie has become a choice, which makes it more interesting. Drake's began in London in 1977 with scarves before it became best known for handmade ties, which are made at its Haberdasher Street factory in London, and its blue silk tie is the one I would wear with a navy jacket. Charvet's blue silk-jacquard tie comes from the house on Place Vendome that has been at number 28 since 1982. Zegna's burgundy silk-jacquard is for a dark suit, and the TOM FORD navy silk-twill is the plain one that goes with almost everything. The Paul Smith polka-dot silk tie is the playful one, and I would keep it for a day with no client. Polo Ralph Lauren's green striped twill tie nods to the label that began with wide handmade neckties in 1967. Anderson's makes its belts only in Parma, and the brown woven leather belt is a good one to rotate in. Bleu de Chauffe's navy Woody backpack in waxed cotton-canvas carries a laptop to work without looking like a student. I would skip the Paul Smith polka-dot tie on the day of a board presentation, since a serious room asks for a plain one.

The lesson from Levi's 1992 pamphlet is that office dress codes get written by whoever is willing to be specific. The same goes here. Buy the jacket first, because it sets the tone, and make sure it works with two different trousers. Add a half-zip or cardigan for winter, then three shirts in white, blue and stripe, and a pair of shoes you like enough to polish. Ties go last, since they are the easiest to borrow. A good week looks like this: Monday in a pinstriped blazer and a white poplin shirt, Wednesday in a cardigan under a jacket, Friday in jeans with a polo and a sharp pair of boots. The uniform works because it repeats, and nobody ever remembers what you wore, only that you looked sorted. That is the whole benefit of a uniform: fewer decisions in the morning, and better ones. Keep the colors close, keep the fit clean and keep a spare tie in the desk drawer.

A uniform only works if you can swap parts without thinking, so I added the pieces that make that easy. Start with shirts: the Zegna Trofeo cutaway-collar poplin for Monday, then the Thom Browne garment-dyed linen shirt and the Paul Smith linen and wool-blend overshirt for the days the office relaxes. The Mr P. wool, silk and linen-blend jacket and its pinstriped wool trousers make a suit you can also split. Under it, the Slowear Zanone bouclé cardigan or the A.P.C. Edmond wool sweater, with the Zegna cotton-jersey polo for a quieter day. Friday belongs to the Canali cotton and cashmere-blend jeans, the Officine Creative Ortega Chelsea boots and a De Petrillo silk-jacquard tie in the desk drawer. What I would skip: the pinstriped trousers on casual Friday, because they want their jacket.