Sweaters

Not sure if you've noticed, but it's starting to get a bit bloody chilly out there. The Southerly winds are picking up, the mornings are darker and frostier, and winter is in the air. There's only one thing to be done to combat it - layer on the clothes.

Sweaters are the ideal layering garment. They're lightweight, they're woolen, they look equally great with a shirt, tie and suit or a tee shirt and jacket, and they add a bit of English flair to your whole look.

Wearing a black suit? Throw on a grey vee neck underneath it. A charcoal suit? Try the navy blue. Want to get adventurous? Give teal or purple a go.

Working Style's sweaters are 100% merino, fully knitted, functional and hard-wearing. Warm enough to give you that extra couple of degrees protection against the cold, but light enough to last through to the spring months (way) ahead.

Before we get started with this one, let us just say that we fully advocate owning at least one suit, even if it is just for weddings and funerals. That said, we understand that not everybody can afford to do so, and in that case, the next option is suit loan.

Forget your bad high school formal experiences, or that time you were a groomsman at your cousin (from the wrong side of the family) Joe's wedding. Here at Working Style we've taken a classic approach to suit loan. No brightly coloured vests, no bad double breasted suits in cheap fabrics where stains - literally - slide right off. Instead, we've focussed on simplicity, quality, cut and cloth.

Three styles; Cornwallis, Prince and Greene. Cornwallis is a one button shawl collar jacket with satin lapels and satin striped trousers, much like the tuxedo James Bond would have worn. Prince is a two button satin peak lapel jacket with covered buttons and plain trousers, a little less formal than Cornwallis, but still suitable for weddings. Greene is a one button notch lapel jacket that comes with a matching black waistcoat and plain trousers. All are cut from 100% premium wool. See what we said? Simple.

Wear them with a white shirt and a black, white or silver tie or bow tie (also all available for loan), and you'll be the only one who knows. And that's the way it should be.

Working Style Denim

Ever since the genius behind James Dean's costumes in Rebel Without a Cause put the angst ridden teenager in a pair, jeans have been a staple of the male wardrobe. But the old denim pants have a history that goes far beyond the 1950s.

They've had many an incarnation - from France to Italy to India, but our favourite story is the one about them being the pants of choice for the Genoese Navy. Whenever they wanted to launder their jeans they'd put them in a giant mesh sack and drag them behind the boat as it went out to sea. Forget stonewashed, that was saltwashed.

Jeans in their modern day form really owe America for their immense popularity. James Dean, Marlon Brando, John Travolta - they've all worn denim like they were born to do it. And let's not forget Springsteen.

Today, there are so many designer jeans and washes and wears and tears that we can hardly keep up. So when we decided to give denim a go, we wanted to do it as simply as possible. Raw denim washed once with pumice to soften it up a bit, and that's it. Two fits - Geezer and Slimster - one relaxed, one tailored. Wear them with a shirt, knitwear and a good pair of leather shoes and you're good to go.

Blue suits

Make your first suit a blue suit.

Here's a revolutionary thought for all you budding capitalists (of the venture variety of course), make your first suit a navy blue suit. We know, we know, it sounds crazy, New Zealand men wear black suits first and ask questions later, but spare a second to hear us out.

In any other country of the world, when a young man starts his first job, he'll buy himself a crisp navy blue suit - navy and grey suits are for the office, black suits are reserved for weddings and funerals. In New Zealand however, due to a historical connection with the colour of our rugby players' uniforms, a fashion industry obsessed with black and a fairly conservative outlook on men's dressing, our young men choose black as the primary colour in their suits.

But listen up gentlemen, here are a couple of facts you might not have known. According to our creative director Eddy von Dadelszen, navy blue is not only easier to wear than black, but it suits 90% of skin complexions as opposed to black's 30%. If you work in a sales role - and let's face it, all of us are selling something - you're more likely to close a deal in a navy suit than when you're wearing any other colour. In fact the ultimate salesman's outfit is reputedly a navy suit, white shirt and red tie. Works everytime.

Navy suits give you more options with accessories too. You can wear them with brown shoes to give your look a bit of punch, or black shoes to tone it all down. Navy suits look immaculate with just about every colour of shirt too, and if you're a paler gent, they even do wonders for your skin tone.

So to close, here's our recommendation for you: make your first suit a navy blue suit. You can thank us later.

Cotton suits

It's a dilemma faced by men the world over. How does one stay sharp while the sun blazes overhead? She's a tough one. All around you stand guys wearing the wrong stuff. Looking comfortable wearing the wrong stuff. Singlets, board shorts, jandals. But you can't close a business deal in singlets, board shorts or jandals. Worry not. We've got your answer: cotton suits.

Like their woolen counterpart, cotton suits look, feel and act like a suit. They're structured, hold their shape, look great with a shirt, tie and leather shoes, but that's about where the similarities end. Cotton suits are cool. They're breathable. They won't leave you sweating all over the show. They're more casual than a woolen suit, which is perfect for summer. They come in a plethora of different colours like beige (pictured above), navy blue, brown, and you get away with it because they're cotton. But best of all, they have a very European air to them. Do you know who wears cotton suits in summer? James Bond, that's who. Case closed.

One last thing. If you don't feel like wearing the full suit, or a shirt and tie, or even your business shoes, that's fine. Split it up. Wear the jacket with a good pair of jeans, or the pants with a short sleeve shirt. Try the suit with a polo shirt and leather sandals. The possibilities are endless.

Splitting your suits

Film still: An Education

You'd think we'd be the last people you know who'd be trying to convince you to break up your suit, but here at Working Style we've had a little change of heart. Don't get us wrong, we're still big on the full suit, but what with the advent of casual Fridays and all, we'd like to give you some more options.

Casual Fridays. Two words, which, when used simultaneously, herald the demise of the formal business uniform as we know it. It took us a while to get our heads around the idea, but then we had an epiphany. Casual Fridays don't just have to mean bad Obama-esque jeans and ironic slogan tee shirts. A man can still dress like a gentleman and keep it casual regardless of the slobs with which he is surrounded. The answer - splitting your suit.

The key to splitting your suit is knowing your cloths. A quick rule of thumb is to make sure to keep the more formal elements on top. Wear a wool suit jacket with a pair of cotton or corduroy pants; a tweed jacket with flannel pants; a cotton jacket with jeans. Don't be frightened by colours - sometimes the greater the contrast, the better the effect. Pair a navy blazer with grey or beige pants; a charcoal blazer with navy or black pants; a black blazer with just about anything.

You can wear it as formally or casually as you like - keep the tie, add a cotton pocket square. Lose the tie, unbutton the shirt and cuff the pants. Throw some knitwear under the jacket - a merino or cashmere v neck sweater looks great with a knitted tie and a pair of jeans. If you need any further ideas, go watch the film An Education - set in the 1960s, it has some of the best split suits we've ever seen.

The result, a more professional looking worker. Somebody people can trust. After all, who wants to take advice from a guy in an 'I'm with stupid' tee shirt?

Knitted ties

If the 80s were all about the shiny, double breasted power suit and the 90s were all about the big, boxy, shapeless suit in bad colours, then the noughties have been all about returning to tradition. English tradition. The good old days. Narrow lapels and pants, clean blacks, blues and greys, crisp shirts with small collars, knitted ties.

The knitted tie is about as far away from the traditional tie as you can get. First off, it's knitted with a machine as opposed to woven like a normal tie. They're both made in 100% silk, but knitted ties are a bit more casual and have a heavy texture you can see and feel. But most noticeably, knitted ties have a straight end, otherwise known as a bobtail. If a skinny tie is the rockstar of ties, its knitted counterpart is the English rake.

Here's how to wear it. For the classic 60s look, pair the knitted tie with a white shirt and a plain coloured suit. Since it's a statement piece in itself, keep the accessories to a minimum - leave your pink silk kerchief at home and replace it with a white cotton pocket square (and I mean folded in a square, no elaborate points or poufs). If you want to dress it down, take off the blazer and replace it with a v neck knitted sweater. Or wear the sweater underneath the blazer. I personally like the first option - a navy knitted tie, white shirt, dark suit, white cotton pocket square. Channel your inner Alfie (Michael Caine, not Jude Law) and add a silver tie bar. Instant 60s cad.