ONLY THE ESSENTIALS

Wallet. Phone. Keys. AirPods. Face mask. This itemised list of cannot-leave-home without essentials is part of your morning mantra, quietly muttered as you dash from door to elevator to train.

Work, life, and whatever balance you can manage out of each and every day is difficult enough. Wardrobe essentials — just like your out-the-door essentials — are here to keep things simple. Here’s how to master the art of purposeful dressing.

There are loungewear sets reserved only for the square footage of your apartment and the eyes of frazzled food delivery guys. Then, there are loungewear sets sophisticated enough to weather the storm: unexpected encounters with past flames, high school acquaintances and the like. Sweat sets striped in Thom Browne’s signature Four Bar motif are, more comfortably, the latter. We’re building on this easy essential with a Fear of God hoodie, smart John Lobb kicks and an extra hot flat white courtesy of Fineprint in SoHo.

Among many of the unexpected things to come out of the past year is the finessing of remote working routines. This, too, has resulted in a dialling down of work attire, namely throwing on above-the-keyboard looks for Zoom or Google Hangouts. Our WFH outfits start smart with Brunello Cucinelli vests and blazers, and relax from the waist down with raw indigo denim, but we like to switch it up from time to time.

Each year, the appearance of the languorous printed shirt is indicative of several things: the arrival of temperatures much too hot for poplin, the ushering in of a raucous festival season, and soon-to-be-enjoyed adventures farther afield. But until we’re able to dust off our passports for a long-awaited trip, we’re buttoning up in one of Neil Barrett’s animated numbers – a tribute to holiday dressing – for sundowners at The Diplomat.