“Don’t be into trends. Don’t make fashion own you, but you decide what you are, what you want to express by the way you dress and the way to live.” 

Gianni Versace

Clothes: love them or hate them, you’ve gotta wear them. So you might as well enjoy what you’re wearing! Lately, I’ve been taking a really close look at my wardrobe. I’ve realized something: I have some gaping holes in my wardrobe. Specifically in the area of basics.

I hate basic clothes. (In either sense of the word. Those felt/wool blogger hats that the influencers wear? I’d like to burn them all.) I’ve realized that I’m always trying to put together an outfit, but find myself thinking, if only I had *insert basic item here* it would all come together. Now, I have a basic black v-neck short sleeved shirt. I have jeans. I have white sneakers. I have a green cardigan. But that’s…about it.

So, I’ve started a list. Every time I think of a basic item I don’t have, or some item I’ve been wanting for a long time but have never bought myself, I add it to the list. It’s actually not that long, and I’ve already purchased a couple of items off it.

The root of my problem is that when I shop, I get distracted. Maybe I’ve gone to the store (or the website) looking for a plain white t-shirt. I get frustrated and bored because I can’t find one, so I start looking at other items, and end up buying a dress or something instead.

This list I’ve been working on has really helped. Plus, I don’t feel guilty buying things off it, because they are all things I really need, or have been wanting for a long time. They’re items that will probably never go out of style, so they’re not a waste of money.

Basic items on the list include: a nice black tank top, a black pencil skirt, black flats with an ankle strap, a brown belt, and a pair of looser jeans.

When it comes to the non-essentials, I’ve tried to have a mindset of: make sure it’ll work with other items in my current wardrobe. Example – I wanted to buy a casual skirt to wear of a weekend. I made some specific requirements for this skirt, because I generally find skirts too fussy and that’s why I basically never wear them. The requirements included: casual style and a pattern with black in it instead of navy blue, because I have more black shirts than navy blue. I ended up finding a vintage skirt on Etsy that fit the requirements perfectly! Plus, buying secondhand cut the cost.

Another item on my list is to get a dress I have in my closet fitted. Thankfully my mom is a seamstress so I don’t have to pay big bucks for this. I just need to finally pull it out, put it on, and get her to work her magic.

Hopefully, this ramble of a post can help you out. In summary: if you have something you’ve wanted for a long time, just buy it! It’s not an impulse buy if you’ve been thinking about it forever. And if you hate white shirts like I do, then just make the decision to not wear one! And finally, stop hemming and hawing and just buy the basics. Your life will be much easier if you have everything you need in your wardrobe.