What's your classic wardrobe must have?

[MissChanandlerB0NG]

It's official, I am over fast fashion again.

I've started reworking my wardrobe as I've gained weight and my clothes don't fit well at the moment - so now is the perfect time to finally do it.

I've started building a timeless wardrobe and I'm running out of ideas/things I might forget.

I need inspiration for outfits/dresses/hats etc that genuinely always look nice.

I'm so sick of my clothes going out of style, my dream is a complete wardrobe that I don't need to update regularly.

White T-shirt
White fitted shirt
Wide leg trousers
Black polo neck
Loafers/sneakers
Classic Levi or similar, shape obvs depends on your shape
Flat tan sandals

I've started building a timeless wardrobe and I'm running out of ideas/things I might forget.

Well, what do you have already?

Black polo neck
Black cigarette pants
White blazer
Leather biker jacket
A dress you can reliably wear for Black tie/cocktail party at the drop of a hat - I've got a sequinned shift that has done sterling service
Well-fitting bras

Breton top
Selection of different styles of jeans including straight leg jeans

Oops, I fell asleep so early last night!

I have -

Levi jeans - high rise, straight leg
Levi jacket
Fred Perry polo shirt (black)
3 Fred Perry dresses (one collared, Amy Winehouse house of cards and shirt dress)
Black flight jacket
Denim summer dress
Some very basic summer bits that need replacing tbh
Dr martens chunky sandals
Dr martens oxblood boots
Dr martens black monkey boots
Black vans
Linen dress X2
A few winter coats

There is definitely a theme in the new bits I've got 🤣

Love the idea of white t-shirt. Definitely need new bras. I haven't got any kind of dressy dresses so that's a great shout.

I'm generally quite girly with hair, makeup, nails etc but do like an edge.

I must get some jumpers for winter but it's so hard not to buy what's in fashion and get something I can reuse. A roll neck is pretty timeless right?

I've been rebuilding mine too, I had my colours done first. It was a revelation and helped hugely.

Did you sort of start over?

My wardrobe is absolutely full to the brim of clothes I never wear. I just want it all gone and to have a small wardrobe of classics, I've heard it's so freeing finally making the change.

@MissChanandlerB0NG I didn't start over, I heavily "pruned" based on the colours I know didn't work, sold that stuff, then invested in "gap" pieces focussed on the colours that work for me. It's been really good!

thefrench.com/capsule-wardrobe/

I've started building a timeless wardrobe

Good luck with that!

Although, one place from which I’m buying clothes I expect to wear until they fall apart is this. It’s not your average shop and there are no bland ‘classics’, but they’re definitely things worth investing in for the long term.

If you want excellent quality from a wide range of brands Vestiaire is a brilliant pre-worn resource.

There was a fantastic thread on here a while back about doing this - let me see if I can find it

Well-fitting bra
Levis
tan sandals, boots and bag
knee-length black/navy summer dress
Decent white, black and stripy t-shirt

At the risk of pissing on your chips, I don't think anything is timeless, although there are certain things that come back into fashion so regularly that when they do, it's easy to forget they've ever been away.

Even T shirts are subject to trends - shape, fit, length, neckline, sleeves etc, although admittedly, by the time one goes out of style it'll have probably have worn out anyway.

But there are fast moving trends that have already burned out by the time they reach S&B and there are slow trends, often to do with shape and silhouette that can stick around for years and years. If everything in your wardrobe dates as fast as you say then I'm guessing that maybe you buy a lot of the first kind of trend and not much of the second kind? If that's the case, you might find that just tweaking the balance a little might work.

Also I haven't seen you say what kind of clothes you actually like. No point buying so-called 'classics' unless you want to wear them in the first place.

One of mine is a smart navy blazer type jacket. I'm still looking so if you know where to find a good one...

Actually sorry op, you did do a post about things you like that I missed!

Cashmere jumpers and silk shirts. Well-fitting pair of jeans, nice bag and shoes and the above outfit works for almost every (non-formal) occasion.

Place marking as I love threads like this. I'm almost 50 and am only just getting to grips with my what suits me.

Depends to an extent what your day to day life is like..do you work in a formal setting for example? Or do you spend most of your day at home and running around after kids (in which case what would your ideal outside look like for that)?

Something that has worked well for me certainly over the last few winters is a short-ish black dress that I can wear with Dms on wet days and trainers on dry ones.

I've just ordered this and will squirrel it away. The gold laurel wreath detail is my only concession to print

And actually that reminds me. For the last ten years I've tried to avoid black as every man and his dog tells you it's ageing, yadda yadda. And maybe it is. But actually I look pretty good on it and it works with all my minimalist silver or gold jewellery. Looks great with white or some monochrome. You can add texture with different fabrics. It rocks basically so I'm allowing myself to fall back into it and enjoying how much simpler it makes putting an outfit together.

@jeaux90 can I ask where/how you had your colours done? Thank you!

www.fredperry.com/sale/long-sleeve-ringer-t-shirt-dress-d4168-102.html

Me too. I'd buy it in black too.

That's another thing ... when you buy something you love wear it asap a few times. That way if it's a keeper and it's classic, if you can afford to, buy it again

Found it

www.mumsnet.com/talk/mumsnet_classics/3797652-thanks-to-s-b-i-m-finally-winning-in-the-pursuit-of-elegance

I do a capsule wardrobe and it works well for me - I only really buy something if I'm replacing an existing item like for like/similar when it's become tatty or I suppose if I have a specific event that I have to attend that sits outside of my usual smart/casual style. My winter bits are currently in storage and my summer clothes are on a rail but several items get used all year.

Currently on the rail:
High rise straight leg jeans - mid blue wash and an off white pair
Linen shirts - black linen, white linen, Navy, khaki and a striped one
A couple of oversized lightweight jumpers in plain colours - White, Navy
Good quality Black and White T-shirt
Trousers - Beige linen, Navy wide leg culottes
A black and white polka dot bias cut midi skirt
1 pair of cut off denim shorts
Jackets - oversized off white denim ,a khaki shacket
2 summer dresses - 1 shirred top black midi that has removable straps, 1 cream and black button down cap sleeve midi dress.
Black birkenstocks and a pair of tan leather sliders and a pair of trainers
1 neutral straw bag, 1 black leather cross body
A tan leather belt and a black one
1 brown pair of sunglasses, one black
A load of gold jewellery

Then I just have a little drawer with plain vest tops in in neutral colours and a couple of old bits for the beach of garden that I don't mind getting ruined.

@desertcalippo in London by a lovely but small company called Red Leopard. Someone recommended them to me.