Your suit is probably sitting in the back of your closet and not getting much attention, because let’s face it, how often do you suit up outside of work? In this post I will try to explain how you can bring out a suit you don’t use so often and how to create simple and functional outfits from it.

If the suit doesn’t fit you as well as it used to, you can consider some small alterations to make it fit better. These outfits will be able to carry you through your busy day, as well as a night out without having to worry about changing; if you can’t do so.

The first look revolves around the pants. Take your ordinary trousers and add an exciting belt so that they stand out a little more. It can do wonders for the outfit. Adding any kind of patterned t-shirt makes the trousers look more casual. You can obviously substitute a button up for the t-shirt, but I’m suggesting a t-shirt to maintain the casual overall look. Some people don’t like tucking in their shirt, and that’s fine. You can totally have it hang over the pants to create an even more careless look, but you sacrifice the detail of the belt. As for the shoes, I prefer a sock-less, bespoke loafer look. It increases the stylishness of the outfit while maintaining casual elements. Again, you can totally substitute loafers for runners or even add socks if you’re not a fan of your ankles showing.

In the second look, we build around the blazer (jacket). Start off by adding a funky pocket square (similar to the belt on the pants earlier) because the detail will make the jacket stand out more. If you don’t own any cool pocket squares, you can cut out fabric squares from old scarves or shirts, and ultimately use them as functional pocket squares! There’s no proper way to fold a casual pocket square, just crumple it up and make it look presentable! For the shirt underneath, I chose a mandarin-collar floral print shirt simply because I wanted to add more detail and create a summer look. If you’re not comfortable with flower prints, you can use plain tops or even ones with small patterns; whatever floats your boat. Leave one or two buttons open so you don’t look casual and not-so-uptight. As for the pants I chose green chinos. Probably not the greatest colour choice, but the element of colour works well to make the whole outfit pop. Finally, for the shoes you can do loafers, runners… Whatever you want really. I chose boat shoes with no socks for the careless preppy look. Overall the outfit looks put together and stylish!