What are your best quality clothes buys that are "affordable" for a capsule wardrobe?

[itseasybeingcheesy]

I'm trying to create a capsule wardrobe, my budget is fairly small but I'm really only interested in buying classic timeless pieces of very good quality that can mix and match to create different outfits with low effort.

My favourite places to shop thus far have been Braintree/thought for dresses. Marks and spencer (indigo range and similar) for tops and mantaray etc. I have a job that I can wear smart casual wear to and am a mum of three.

Please can you recommend your top buys from good quality brands, especially ones I've not mentioned above. If you have a capsule wardrobe where did you start?

Uniqlo is very good for well-preserved cashmere or merino knitwear.

Ive bought some lovely cashmere from M&S in the sale. Cashmere wrist warmers reduced from £40 to £10, jumper picked up yesterday reduced from £150 to £53, lovely cashmere pyjamas a third of the original price (way too big but I can alter).

I am becoming a cashmere magnet. I can spot it across a crowded sale floor from 20ms away.

Ooh I've honestly never considered buying cashmere. Thanks for the uniqlo suggestion I've never shopped from them.

In terms of cashmere, do you find it lasts and is simple to care for?

I treat mine well so they do last. I have a few jumpers, two lightweight ponchos, one heavy poncho, wrist warmers, scarf, dressing gown and a couple of pyjama sets. All sale purchases. Ponchos live in cotton bags when I'm not wearing them. Pyjamas and dressing gown get a lot of use. I'm wearing my dressing gown now.

So much softer and warmer than any other wool.

Laura Ashley. In their sales, often 40% off.

Well-preserved? Flipping autocorrect. Well-priced.

I keep mine in cotton bags too. Moths have sharp teeth

The sales are your friend. Look around, see what you like and then wait for sales. That way some slightly more expensive clothes become more affordable. I don’t buy full price on principle. Classics are timeless so no ‘last season’ effect - not that I would give much headspace to that notion.

I use (but might be more formal in our work setting) Boden for cheap jackets, Hobbs, Jigsaw and LK Bennet for dresses. Marks for decent foundation garments that don’t ruin the line of my clothes. A few Austen Reed suits. Woolovers for knitwear, although I rarely wear for work. A few Landsend, a few Bombshell and a few Artiagno wrap dresses.

If there's one near you, a few visits to TK Maxx can be incredibly useful. Over the last year or so I've bought long-sleeved tops from Jaeger & French Connection, a cashmere cardigan from Paul Costello, a suit-style jacket from Benneton, and a levis denim skirt. All of these will go on being wearable for years. Still regretting the Nichole Farhi jacket that I dithered over and didn't get...

You can buy heat tech black turtle necks from uniqlo for £12 and wear them under v neck blouses that would otherwise be to cold to wear at the moment.

M and S for shoes and some other basics - you have to filter a lot out but they do still have excellent cotton and wool basics.
Uniqlo
And some COS

I spend most on my bags (because I love bags, they really can elevate an outfit), shoes/boots (ditto, but also the quality of your footwear makes such a difference to your overall look) and coats/jackets (ditto, ditto). I very rarely buy any of these things at full price.

I have a handful of very expensive bags from Mulberry, Anya Hindmarch, Aspinal, Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors (not recognisably his, though!), a few from Mid range fashion brands like All Saints, Kate Spade and Mint Velvet, plus quite a few cheaper ones. I’ve just bought a lovely bag from Toast in their sale which is going to be my go-to for day-to-day casual wear - beautiful leather, small, boxy but relaxed style, crossbody so easy to use. I’m very annoyed that it’s now reduced even further to £85 which is quite a lot less than I paid for it two weeks ago! It will fill a hole in my evolving capsule wardrobe and will probably last at least ten years and still look really great, hopefully more like twenty! I’m really starting to buy now with longevity in mind, and pieces that won’t date. I also will no longer buy anything that is similar to something I’ve already got.

I buy shoes from lots of different places, always heavily discounted in the sales. Hobbs, Jigsaw, Kurt Geiger, Dune, ASH, Timberland, M&S, Clark’s, and also Sports brands such as Adidas, Nike, New Balance.

Coats/jackets, again, I always buy these in the sale. Hobbs, Jaeger, Jigsaw for formal or smarter wool coats. Barbour, Joules, banana republic for casual/outdoorsy and wool/tweed blazers. Mint Velvet, Jaeger, Muubaa and Mango for leather/suede jackets. Hobbs and Jaeger for summer blazers. This year I’m looking to get a light casual jacket in Khaki from Hush or Topshop, because that’s a definite hole in my wardrobe for summer. Hopefully I will find one on eBay, otherwise I will wait for the sales. Denim jackets I tend to buy cheap but fairly good quality - Sainsbury’s, New Look or Mantaray or wherever I see one that fits the bill.

Clothing is a mixed bag - I’ve got a few more expensive things, again Hobbs, Jigsaw, Jaeger, Barbour, Joules, banana republic, but most of my current clothes are from M&S (because there’s a big store almost right next to where I live so I tend to pop in, and I like being able to actually try on before I buy. Plus if you pick well I think you can get pretty good quality for what you pay - again, I almost always buy in the sale. I often only pay something like £11-15 for a very nice shirt or top reduced from something like £30-40. Leather/suede shoes for around £20 reduced from anywhere up to about £50. Haven’t tried any of their cashmere yet. I really rate their jeans and Jeggings).

Where else? Mango, H&M (although it’s a pain with the ridiculous inconsistencies in sizings so I don’t go very often anymore), Tesco F&F, Sainsbury’s Tu, New Look, River Island, Topshop. I think it’s much more about the specific piece and its quality rather than brand, especially if you are working to a budget.

I’ve only bought cashmere this season for the first time, one full cashmere jumper from Joules. I’m not sure how good it will actually be but I loved it, it filled a hole and I got it at a good price. One wool/cashmere/cotton mix jumper from Barbour, one merino wool jumper from Jaeger. I’ll see how I get on with them in the next year or so. If I decide I would like more I will probably switch to eBay buys and TK Maxx or research a bit more to find the really good value brands.

Uniqlo - over the years I have acquired so many clothes from Uniqlo, especially the cashmere and merino - check out the mens section for knits as well. I also love their supima easy care shirts.

I think if you are going to use an expensive branded bag - your whole look needs to scream expense too - otherwise your bag does not elevate your look - it just looks fake. Shoes and coats do elevate anything - bags imo do not!

Forgot to say I like Warehouse for good value party/going out wear. I also like their summer dresses. I bought a cotton dress from them last year (for once it wasn’t actually reduced by very much but I loved it so I went ahead and got it) and I was so pleased with it. Good, strong quality cotton and I had so many compliments on that dress!

I’ve not tried Boden - it’s not really my thing with all the bright colours and prints, but I think I’m going to get a couple of good, easy-to-sling-on dresses from there and try them out. I think you have to choose well though, and again, I would never pay full price.

I like FitFlops for relaxed summer wear (they’re good for my feet - had chronic plantar fasciitis for many years and it can still flare up mildly from time to time). I wear a lot of high heels and it’s a nice break. Again, I wait until they are heavily reduced - I bought a pair this month reduced from £80ish to £24.

@leaveby10 I definitely agree with you on that (on the whole). It takes skill to combine high end designer and cheaper elements and come out looking right. But it is doable.

I might look at Uniqlo properly. I bought a padded jacket but DS has stolen it (ok, I lent it to him for school) and I’m getting fed up of the overpriced Boden polyester.

Is it ok to keep a cashmere jumper hanging up inside a dry cleaning bag? Or is cotton better? Also, do you wash it every time - I had heard that putting away once-worn clothes can attract moths.

@HolgerLowCarbingLoser I have no doubt it is doable but it is a risky investment for someone who struggles to maintain a highly polished look all the time...I see so many people carrying an expensive bag and they do not look more polished as a consequence - if anything the bag doesn't look like it belongs in their wardrobe - like it was a once in a lifetime purchase, the bag draws attention to their lack of polish it's out of sync - especially if it's heavily branded - which can look cheap very easily.

@MaybeDoctor I was just posting to ask how to wash the lovely items. I seem to ruin anything expensive I buy then wash!

I wash my cashmere in the machine on a wool wash at 20C, I use soap flakes and I dry them on a clothes rack. They often bobble though - it's the nature of the wool - get a comb for about £5 to fix this, eventually the bobbling will stop.

Again, I completely agree.

And I’ve also just realised that I may have come across a bit crass talking about things at that sort of price point when the thread is supposed to be about affordable quality - I just automatically think of bags as an integral part of my wardrobe. I’m sorry, OP!

I would keep cashmere in cotton but would also buy mothballs. I keep all of my cashmere in the same section of the wardrobe and a bag of mothballs was about £2 on amazon. I have put a few into little fabric bags (like lavender bags) and hung them in that section of the wardrobe.

I was worried they would make the clothes smell but they don't at all.

I don't wash mine after every single wear.

Be aware that there is cashmere and there is 'cashmere'. There is a reason cheap cashmere is cheap. Quality cashmere is made from the longest fibres so there are fewer fibre ends. Cheap cashmere is using the short scarf ends. It's still warm but while it is softer than cheap knots it is a world away in terms of softness from quality cashmere and it can pill badly. Top quality long belly fibre cashmere lasts a lifetime. It is cushiony soft and doesn't pill.

Solly, just out of interest, where do you recommend for that really good quality cashmere/merino? I’m sure there’s a Scottish brand or factory that has been recommended on here over and over, but I can’t remember what it is.