On My Essentials
Wardrobe essentials is one of the first things that personal stylists will ask you about. This is because figuring out what your essentials are is a practical question. Think of your wardrobe essentials as your building blocks. The pieces that are foundational in your closet, that you reach for on a rushed morning, a lazy day when you still have to look a little put together, what you might bring on a weekend trip somewhere.
Figuring this out for me was so empowering - and yes, I’m using that word for a reason. Let me explain.
Essentials are empowering.
Think of a celebrity or real person whose style you wish you could have. Got one? Pull up some pictures of your favorite outfits from them. What do you notice about all of their outfits? Do they have amazing power suits? A hat for every occasion? Jeans + white tee and then a statement shoe? Obviously, if it’s a celebrity you’re looking at, they have stylists that think about this stuff for them and chances are they don’t actually own all of their clothes. But the principle remains the same! When you figure out what you can throw on without thinking too much and you know you’re going to look and feel like a million bucks, that’s Your Look.
I have a really hard time getting out of bed some mornings. Okay okay fine, most mornings. Knowing that in my closet I have the building blocks for an outfit that’s going to make me look more put together than I feel is a great feeling when I spend the next 3 hours at my desk wishing i was still at work! Funnily enough, these are some of the days when I get the most compliments on my outfits, because I’ve stuck with what I know works for my body and personal style. Even though I didn’t get creative with the outfit, it would be something that I feel totally myself in and I’m a firm believer that if you look good, that can help you feel good.
How do I figure out what my out what my Essentials are?
Hopefully you’re starting to get the idea of what essentials are, and maybe you have some go-to outfits in mind. Let’s take this a step further now. I find it’s easy to do this if you have your clothes in front of you, so open up those drawers and closets and try thinking through these questions:
How do you spend your time?
This question is less about your clothes themselves, but it’s an important one to ask because it’s not practical to have a closet full of fancy clothes if you spend most days in a casual office setting. If you’re a person who goes for runs, hikes, and bike rides every chance you get, then your wardrobe essentials should reflect that. Don’t worry if your list is different than what you find online - that’s the whole point of personal style. It has to work for you and your lifestyle.
What gets worn the most in your closet?
Understand what you have now is key to unlocking what it is that makes your wardrobe yours! It’s also a good reality check - maybe you have a bunch of button-down shirts, but really you reach for your white t-shirts more because you never have time to iron. There’s no right or wrong answer, try to think of this part as objectively as you can.
What colors do you wear most often?
Another angle of the question above, but be honest with yourself. Do you wear that fuchsia skirt? What about that striped blazer?
How do you dress up an outfit?
You figured out that your go-to’s are really your tshirts, leggings, and shorts. Great! Now if you had to modify those outfits in 30 seconds to be a little more dressed up, what would you change? Try to keep this as simple as possible: changing a pair of shoes, adding a blazer, tying a scarf into your hair.
My Essentials
I want to share what my wardrobe essentials are, not because I think this is the perfect set of essentials, but just to show you that they should really reflect your own lifestyle and personal tastes. I deviate from these essentials if I’m really feeling creative, if there’s a special occasion (a wedding, holiday party, job interview), but the way I dress is pretty much the same on an average day, even though the results might look really different day-to-day.
I spend a majority of my time working. Even though that’s at home right now, I still like to dress up as if I was going to the office because that’s how I feel productive. Regardless of the season, I prefer pants over things that reveal my legs, so I have a variety of jeans, pants, long skirts, and even tights that I can layer under dresses and skirts in colder weather (because New England). I also tend to wear lighter sweaters or long-sleeve shirts even in warmer weather because I get cold from air conditioning and breezes very easily!
I like to dress pretty much the same during the work week and the weekend, because I like to feel polished and put together.
I prefer wearing black or white as a base, and then adding pops of colors with a colorful top, blazer, cardigan, scarf, or a statement pair of shoes.
To feel really at my best, I love throwing a blazer over a t-shirt and jeans. If I need to get fancy, I’ll opt for a nicer pair of jeans or pants, and a more dressy pair of shoes.
Here’s my list of essentials, divided into sections based on the type of item. You can scroll through the gallery to see how I’ve styled these various items. Many of the photos happen to be from my travels, because when I travel I have limited space and I don’t want to be worried about what I’m wearing! I can’t always predict my moods, so I need guaranteed good outfits.
Tops
black tank top
white t-shirt
black t-shirt
white button-down shirt
black crewneck sweatshirt
longsleeve navy knit top
cream knit sweater
Bottoms
black skinny pants (bonus: they have an elastic waist band)
dark wash skinny jeans
dark wash straight cut jeans
black chinos
white jeans (maternity)
tights
black floor length skirt
Dresses
knee-length black dress
patterned maxi dress
Layers/Outerwear
mustard cardigan
black blazer
other blazers (I could probably do a whole post on blazers alone… comment below if you would like that?)
vintage silky royal blue
millennial pink scrunched sleeve
emerald green tailored
vintage oversized houndstooth
denim jacket
gray knit open cardigan
camel jacket
black jacket
Shoes
white sneakers
black loafers
rust-orange mules
light gray Converses
black Chelsea boots
Accessories
long necklace with round gold studded pendent (i wear this one backwards as well)
shorter necklaces for layering (3 that I bring with me when I travel)
sunglasses
watch
earrings
This is by no means an exhaustive list of everything in my closet! The idea with this list is to give you a sense of what my wardrobe essentials are. But knowing what my base building blocks are makes getting dressed in the morning easier, and it curbs my shopping impulses (will I really wear a pair of high-waisted paper bag shorts, even though they look so cute on instagram?)!
When about when you are sure you want to buy something new?
Ah! If you think you’ve really identified a gap in your wardrobe, that’s important to make note of. What you don’t want to do is impulsively go buy what you think you need. I’ll have a whole other post on how I manage my wishlist but here are 3 quick thought experiments:
Wait before buying.
So you found the perfect ______. Wait at least 2 weeks before buying it. If in 2 weeks you still feel like you want it, try waiting another 2 weeks. What have you been substituting in place of that perfect piece? Has it been awkward? How often did you think about that perfect piece?
Rent it.
Services like Rent the Runway & Le Tote are great if you want to try something out that is a wardrobe risk, or you want to know what it will feel like to really have that piece in your wardrobe before you make a forever decision!
Borrow it.
Do you have a friend/sibling/neighbor/colleague with great style and you think they might be willing to let you borrow something? Try swapping a couple items, or asking if you can borrow something to see if you like it enough to buy it for yourself. I promise it’s not as awkward as you think, and it’s way better than buying something just for a single ocassion!
A Simple Take on your Personal Style = Wardrobe Essentials.
It’s cheesy, but really your wardrobe essentials done right can be the most representative selection of your personal style! If you love color, then your essentials should be colorful! Love loose and flowy linens, let those be your building blocks. Your wardrobe essentials should reflect you and give you confidence!
Comment below and let me know if this was a helpful guide for you! Leave me questions about building your wardrobe essentials and I’ll answer them!
