Almost all men’s clothing can be separated into two categories: things you want and things you need. Underwear, you need. Crew-neck T-shirts and jeans, you need. But a bright red cable-knit Shetland wool sweater from Drake’s or a brushed cotton workwear set from mfpen? Those you want. And that counts, too. The trick is to build a wardrobe of pieces that somehow sits in the middle of the two camps – clothes that cover the basics but offer that little something extra. Here are 10 elite pieces we think every man should have.

Jeans are so ingrained in the sartorial fabric of our lives that it’s difficult to imagine a time when they didn’t exist. The origin of this influential wardrobe staple is the stuff of folklore. The oft-told story takes us back to Nîmes, in Southern France, in the 1670s, when a dyer by the name of David André developed a durable indigo-blue cloth, the precursor to cotton denim, called serge de Nîmes. This was eventually changed to “denim” by the English-speaking world.

For thousands of years, the start of a new year has offered a symbolic blank slate – a chance to reflect, reset and recalibrate. In ancient Mesopotamia, the new year began in March or April and was celebrated with a two-week religious festival called Akitu. Babylonians made solemn promises to resolve past year’s affairs by repaying debts and returning borrowed items. And the Romans later inherited this spirit of renewal.

The fashion cycles of the running shoe can be, perhaps aptly, hard to keep up with. One minute you’re on the front foot, wearing the sneaker that’s about to take off. The next, the whole world has moved on and you’re left sporting yesterday’s shoe. Honestly, it’s an effort just staying on the treadmill.

Almost all men’s clothing can be separated into two categories: things you want and things you need. Underwear, you need. Crew-neck T-shirts and jeans, you need. But a bright red cable-knit Shetland wool sweater from Drake’s or a brushed cotton workwear set from mfpen? Those you want. And that counts, too. The trick is to build a wardrobe of pieces that somehow sits in the middle of the two camps – clothes that cover the basics but offer that little something extra. Here are 10 elite pieces we think every man should have.

Jeans are so ingrained in the sartorial fabric of our lives that it’s difficult to imagine a time when they didn’t exist. The origin of this influential wardrobe staple is the stuff of folklore. The oft-told story takes us back to Nîmes, in Southern France, in the 1670s, when a dyer by the name of David André developed a durable indigo-blue cloth, the precursor to cotton denim, called serge de Nîmes. This was eventually changed to “denim” by the English-speaking world.