Minimal Wardrobe: Basics

Following along from Approach comes the topic of Basics, and how they create a foundation of ease, in a functional, minimal wardrobe.

After all - luxury is ease.

When it comes to basics in one's wardrobe, I don't believe there is any sort of formula. I used to read all the French Chic style guides, and capsule wardrobe rule books, only to have left everything I learned on the shelf and come back to what it is I wear. Often.

Basic pieces to one person will be different to the basic pieces of another.

So rather than pretend that everybody needs a Breton striped shirt, a navy blue blazer, and a little black dress, I prefer to focus on everything as a basic. View the video

Let me explain.

The basics done impeccably well

When I was trying on a pair of leather leggings a while ago, I needed something to wear in the changing room with them so I could check all sorts of considerations before purchasing. I wasn't in the market for a t-shirt, but I took a grey cotton V-neck off the hanger and stalked into the changing room.

The sleeves brushed my elbows, the organic cotton draped through the body, and the neckline was deep but still easy. I half-tucked the front into the waistband of the leggings and instantly both garments were transformed.

The t-shirt lent a casualness to the overt expense of the leggings, and the leggings highlighted just how good a basic t-shirt could be. For some of us, that's a very exciting thing to expound upon.

Ashley Olsen and Mary-Kate Olsen of The Row do luxury basics in a way that outshone their 18 year acting career in mere moments. Drape, fluidity, and exacting fits which look incidental.

It's about completely hiding the footprints that lead to an exquisite destination.

Only those who can see it, will see it - and at some point you'll come to appreciate that level of discretion.

When the masses all start remarking upon the same garment, or outfit, luxury appeal has typically been lost to mainstream mania.

Why is that?

Luxury can often be described as the distance between oneself and the object of their desire. The further away it is, the more luxurious it becomes. The reason for that, is that luxury isn't designed to be available to everyone, and so with it comes a sense of scarcity.

A luxury item makes someone feel special just for being able to obtain it.

For me, the idea that basics in a wardrobe can also be luxurious takes the fuss out of trying to elevate an outfit.

I am far more interested in everyday clothing being special than I am in having one luxury garment reserved for few occasions.

Back to basics

Everything as a basic takes me back to my previous blog about my mum, who managed to transform the simplest of items into beautiful outfits. Nobody else was dressing like her, because most were choosing individual pieces that did all the talking.

(Which means, before you know it, your outfit is having one very noisy, chaotic conversation with itself.)

My mum used basics to build something polished, and complete. Nothing competed with one another.

All these years later I can still remember those outfits, and I was only a little girl at the time.

For me, basics are the foundation to a whole wardrobe coming together like a beautiful string orchestra.

There's the base, the middle and the tops of the range.

Investing in beautiful basics prevents my wardrobe from bursting at the seams.

A featherweight merino scarf isn't only something I swathe around my neck on a cold morning. It's also an evening throw. It's also a beach cover up. Made well and in a neutral colour, it's an integral piece of fabric that transforms itself, and the outfit it's with.

But it's still merely a basic square.

Luxe ease

A pair of lambskin leggings, with nothing 'done' to them because all the glory is in their DNA; the waif-like drape of a silk camisole, again with nothing done to it because you cannot refine anything further than spun silk; and the final frontier to complete the holy trinity of luxury fabrics - a cashmere cardigan.

The twist? Choosing a cardigan inspired by something your grandfather might have worn as he perused the Sunday paper. Something genteel, and functional, which offsets the androgyny of leather and the whimsy of silk.

These are all basics.

But they are not boring.

The leather leggings have no pockets, no belt loops, and no additional panels. They are a second skin which require no second thoughts.

The camisole is simplicity in its purest form. No darts, no frills, no lace, no patterns. Just a sheath to suggest at form without displaying what lies beneath.

The cardigan is as honest as a cardigan can get. It hasn't been dolled up with embroidery or embellishments. It's just the Sunday morning answer to slippers and buttered toast.

I don't refer to basics as a pseudonym for essentials. As stated earlier, what's essential to one person is unlikely to be essential to someone else. If invited to a cocktail party, the 'everything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better' Little Black Dress is not essential to me; and yet, it has somehow earned itself the title of being the cornerstone to minimal, elegant dressing. (What becomes essential to me in that arena, instead, is a perfectly tailored tuxedo, or a transparent chiffon blouse.)

Why so basic?

I find that ease is an important element in keeping my wardrobe sparse, functional, and feeling luxurious. The reason for that is too much going on starts to dictate how functional the pieces are.

I refuse to succumb to multiple adjustments of ties, ribbons and buttons. I won't be bound to restricted movement, stride or pace because something is tight, revealing or poorly proportioned.

And I am not one to withstand a fight with conflicting patterns, or too many colours.

I enjoy seeing other people around me in loud prints and fierce fluro, but my objective is to bring time back into my life by having a wardrobe that delivers endless possibilities, with barely a thought.

All the thought happens at the time of purchase.

Not at the time of getting dressed.

Once I've put my clothes on, I don't want to think about them again until they come off.

I quoted the best surmise of this, that I found, when reviewing the wardrobe of the movie Tár:

... she gets dressed fast, without thinking. She doesn’t spend time getting ready and making choices in the morning, but because she has these nice clothes, she knows she will always look good and be well-dressed.

This was in addition to describing Lydia Tár as being very powerful, and 'very busy.'

I kind of like the idea that I'm too busy to spend much time on my appearance, but because I've built a good foundation, I don't have to worry about it. It's taken care of.

Additionally, basic pieces live a thousand exciting lives, whilst those designed and contrived to within an inch of their lives, live a fraction of it. A silk slip can be worn as it is, by night or by day. It can be layered above or below. It can accompany t-shirts underneath or open shirts over the top. It can slip over the top of pants, or display bare legs.

It can also be worn with sandals, boots or sneakers.

Once you start messing with it, though, it ceases to become a slip and starts to morph into something clearly dictated. A cinched waist and some darts take a blank canvas, ready to be mortalised, into the kind of territory where it can only ever be whatever it was designed to be.

And that can still be a beautiful item. But the versatility has vanished.

The same can be said for most items. There's a clear direction, but that's the only viable path that garment can take.

I like the ease and freedom that comes from leaving behind the overt, and loud.

Truly beautiful basics can outshine anything elaborate; and that's because the less something has going on, the more noticeable the flaws, and the harder it is to do it well.

For something painfully basic to also be beautiful, it has to reach a certain standard of design, because anything not done right will be glaringly obvious.

For more elaborate garments, flaws are not as noticeable.

That's why basics done well are typically impeccably designed, and have mastered fit, function and fabric.

They have to - that is their entire composition.

There is no obscuring laziness amidst complexity when you stick to beautiful basics.

When it comes to basic outfits, some classics are truly timeless for good reason. Just consider the elements of a white t-shirt and blue jeans combination. This sort of casual affair isn't as sumptuous as the three-pronged approach to luxury fabrics mentioned above, but it's an outfit built upon basics that continues to stand the test of time.

Basics done well are "...about both precision and artistic abandon."