The Sweater

By Megan Gustashaw

Every day of every month at GQ, we start your morning on Instagram with visual advice on What to Wear Today. But we want to go deeper. Give you the nuts and bolts of how to get the look into your wardrobe. This month we're providing you with a list of menswear essentials to upgrade your 2017 closet. Up today: polo shirts and V-neck sweaters in bold shades that'll shake up your business-casual routine.

Mid-January is usually when your office wardrobe tends to get a little dull. With fewer events to hit up post-work, all those New Year's resolutions eating up your off-duty brain space, and cold, gray weather limiting your options, it can be hard to break out of your business-casual routine. To shake things up in your work wardrobe while conserving your energy for spring (see: happy hour rooftop drinks every week), try color combinations that go beyond your standard 9-to-5 neutrals.

Take your typical polo shirt–and–V-neck sweater combination. In oxford blue and navy, the look is a little too safe for its own good, but in pink and cobalt, as John Krasinski demonstrates above, it comes to life in a whole new way. To come up with an interesting color combination of your own, start with a color that makes your skin look good—a bold hue is a lot easier to pull off when it doesn't make you look like you're under the weather—then pick a second color that's in the same family or exactly opposite that shade on the color wheel. If that seems like too much effort, a fresh issue of GQ or a quick Google search always works. Or simply copy one of the pairings below. January style is nothing without shortcuts.

Paul Smith polo shirt, $98 (was $195), available at paulsmith.co.uk; Everlane sweater, $115, available at everlane.com

This is how you fake just-got-back-from-vacation vibes.

Hugo Boss polo shirt, $135, available at mrporter.com; Brooks Brothers sweater, $74 (was $148), available at brooksbrothers.com

You'll feel richer just wearing these two colors together.

Etro polo shirt, $112, available at farfetch.com; Michael Kors sweater, $80 (was $115), available at farfetch.com

Say F-you to endless gray days with this combo.

Loro Piana polo shirt, $477, available at farfetch.com; Polo Ralph Lauren sweater, $98 (was $140), available at farfetch.com

For some retro ’70s flavor, without the polyester.

By The Editors of GQ

By The Editors of GQ

By Tyler Chin

Ralph Lauren Purple Label, $350, available at mrporter.com; Reiss sweater, $50 (was $155), available at reiss.com

Looks great under your favorite camel topcoat.