If you’re not in a setting where you’re expected to wear the best suits all the time, keeping tabs on all the style rules to follow might be a daunting task. Many of them are unspoken and you’re only clued in if you’re doing it wrong (because someone will immediately tell you so) or live and work as an expert or avid fashion follower.

To avoid this, we took the time to round up the most important rules for how to wear a suit and put them into a simple, condensed cheat-sheet that you can easily refer to whenever you find yourself neck-deep in a three-piece. Also, if you’re in the process of building your “suit wardrobe” the good news is you only need two staple suits that will work for any occasion.

There are always exceptions and qualifications for each of these rules, so don’t take them as the end-all-be-all. Adding some personal flair is key.

Eric Powell, Founder of Ratio Clothing, a digital and brick-and-mortar business that custom-tailors your shirts and suits, says these two suits should be the building blocks of your suit wardrobe:

“If you only want one suit in your closet, this is the one. This is the all-purpose suit you can wear to weddings, funerals, job interviews, and everything in-between. Dark charcoal or navy is the move here — not black. A black suit can look stark in daylight and is generally reserved for service staff uniforms,” says Powell. “Keep things simple on this one with a two-button, notch lapel. A solid fabric will make it versatile, so you can pair it with virtually any shirt or tie. We like a Super 110’s or Super 120’s gabardine that will be comfortable to wear in any season.”

“Not a suit exactly, but these days the situation often calls for something less than a full suit. The navy blazer is your friend when the formality is unclear or if you want to kick your casual wear up a notch. Wear them with jeans or your finest wool trousers. Throw on a tie. Or not. If you wear a navy blazer you’ll rarely be underdressed or overdressed,” Powell says. “We like a travel-ready fabric like hopsack for your navy blazer. Connoisseurs will often go with an unconstructed model for their all-purpose blazer. This keeps things less rigid, literally and figuratively, and will be comfortable for long days that take you from the office to an evening on the town.”

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