The S. aureus bacterium is surrounded by capsular polysaccharides. These capsular polysaccharides are important in the pathogenesis of staphylococcal infection. There are 11 serotypes of capsular polysaccharides that have been identified, and a majority of strains express capsular polysaccharides type 5 (CP5) or 8 (CP8). The main focus of this review is to describe recent advances in the area of the chemical synthesis of monosaccharide components of S. aureus CP, oligosaccharide assembly and functionalization. Chemical routes to obtain oligosaccharides derived from CP1, CP5 and CP8 represent a compendium of modern classics of the total synthesis of challenging glycan sequences.