What are absolute essentials in any wardrobe? I'm starting from scratch...

[dontcryitsonlyajoke]

So after 3 children in 6 years with 3 years of breastfeeding and gaining/losing baby weight, my wardrobe is a disaster of ill fitting, ill matching, shabby looking clothes, and that's after I've done a ruthless cull of the worst of it! Even my feet appear to have changed shape so I've had to get rid of most of my shoes as so few are comfortable. I now work from home so don't even have much smart work wear any more - just an old black trouser suit that just about does when I have an occasional smart meeting. I have enough clothes to get by until the autumn now but I have been thinking that I really need to rebuild my wardrobe.

Then twice this week, I've been completely caught out - an unexpected trip to the races a couple of days ago and then a funeral to attend tomorrow. I have had to cobble together something for both events and neither outfit is truly appropriate. It's highlighted just how much I need to buy a new wardrobe.

So if you were starting from scratch and needed to put together a wardrobe, what are the essentials you would buy? I need clothes, shoes and accessories to cover all eventualities - day to day school run stuff, occasional work meeting/funeral type clothes, night out at the pub, daytime event etc.

Good quality pair of jeans, skinny but not jeggings, blouse / tshirts and a tailored blazer

I work from home too. I have staples I turn to a lot. These include straight leg black stretch jeans, smaet navy jeans, black and navy stretch smart trousers (Boden Chelsea or Bistro work for me), cotton shirts (Gap or Banana Republic), sweaters and cardigans in neutral colours (I buys lot from the White Company), Jersey dresses that can be dressed up or down, a ton of stretch cotton vests (best quality I can afford), a couple of smart tops (French Connection), knee high boots in black and brown, one pair of smart ankle boots, ballet flats, flip flops and one pair of fabulous heels in black, a blazer, good wool coat, warm scarf, smart leather handbag

Those are my staples year round

As above :)
With the addition of some cashmere knitwear- soft, warm and looks good (and lasts.

The same as above except I work in an office and like fitted dresses with blazers for my winter work wardrobe.

pencil skirts/tube skirts/maxi.
Jeans
T-shirts
Dresses-2 each of smart, casual, summer.
Vest tops
Knitwear
Biker jacket
Trench coat
Denim jacket
Boots
Flip flops/sandals
Converse

This is great - thank you! Making a long list and going to cost it out and prioritise things!

I think the smart stuff needs to be first even though I don't wear it that much, just because I have hardly anything suitable.

I do have two pairs of functional jeans (not brilliant but ok for now) and two nice Blazers (one tweed, one navy) so tops to work with those next.

Black washes me out but grey and navy look much better. Which do you reckon is better as a base colour for work/funerals/smart nights out? I prefer navy but thought charcoal grey was more versatile?

I like navy for summer because somehow it looks nice with summery colours, but in winter I prefer and wear lots of grey- light and dark.
Navy can IMO sometimes look a bit mumsy / frumpy but it all depends on the outfit. I did have a navy' period' and am over that now and into grey .

I wear a lot of navy, but as a base colour with brighter patterns for that very reason! I have a fairly mumsy figure too - boobs, hips, bit of a belly, not too tall so need to avoid anything frumpy!

Have a look at 'the Vivienne files' blog, she has a series about building a wardrobe from scratch and does it in different colour ways to help too. Very interesting, and the pictures help a lot to give you ideas.

I think navy and black can come over as very 'safe' (and boring) whereas with grey you can mix almost any other colours- tan, camel, teal, blues, lighter greys, pinks and corals, purple, mauve, .

Just my opinion but navy office wear can look just that whereas grey IMO looks a bit more sophisticated.

JickChick - I've just started reading the Vivienne files and I think it's going to be really helpful. Not too sure on her colour schemes yet, but I like the principle and suspect I could come up with the best colour scheme for me (I know the colours that suit me well but just need help with the clothes!)