The Essentials Guide
Building your uniform with the best wardrobe basics.
Over the past few weeks a few readers have asked for my recommendations on the best essentials, the perfect white tee shirt, a great cotton sweater, comfortable but flattering sweatsuits, classic button downs, etc. These are the items you don’t need a ton of options; you just need the perfect one. That perfect one might be slightly different for everyone but here is what I found to be the best of the best when it comes to wardrobe essentials.
White Tee Shirt
I think you need 2 options in your closet (if they happen to overlap even better).
You can wear it on its own, not see through and a relaxed cut
You can layer a sweater over it, slim in the body and lightweight.
This Sold Out style is very cool fit, perfect for wearing as is. The brand is built on making the perfect tee. Goldie tees are my latest favorites. They are not see through, slim fit, and lightweight enough that you can wear it under a sweater. I have also worn Vince tees for many years, I love the fitted body and sleeve that hits at the right place on my arm. Great layered with a sweater or jacket over. Oh, and a lot of these also come in black, grey, etc.
Button-Down Shirt
Too hard to narrow down! Another Tomorrow's boyfriend fit is 100% cotton. You can view the provenance journey here, which is very cool. I recently wore this shirt to lunch with a very knowledgeable fashion friend and she asked me if it was Charvet (the end all by all of button downs) major validation that it is a great shirt! I have this shirt from The Row in black, it is slim, so it fits underneath a sweater, and looks great on its own tucked in with sleeves pushed up. If we learned two things from the Beckham documentary it was 1-they are funny and charming, and 2-Victoria knows a good button-down shirt. I like the subtle white on white stripe in this one, takes away that worry of feeling like you look like a server. And two designers that know a good take on menswear, Homme Girls and Alex Mill. I am also curious about the brand The Shirt. Vanessa Friedman just wrote about in the Times, if anyone has one let me know if you like it!
Sneakers
I keep thinking the Adidas Sambas craze will drift off. It hasn’t. I love the Wales Bonner and Sporty & Rich collabs. This canvas sneaker from the Row feels like the fresh item we all need for spring. I love how Mary Kate and Ashley wear them with all black outfits. This new Toteme runner style feels like a not too fashion-y fashion sneaker in a good way.
