The Bones (Part One)
Whilst everyone (including me) is raving about Garance Doré and her fabulous book Love Life Style I have also been going back to the classics. Whilst I recycle a lot of books by taking them back to the charity shops for someone else to love, there are many that I just cannot part with, particularly my style books. The beauty of revisiting the classics is that whilst the newbies are still at full price at the top of the book charts the oldies but goodies are quite often available at a much cheaper price. I have often seen many of them on ebay or in the charity shops for the price of a coffee. I have recently revisited Nina Garcia and The Little Black Book of Style, which got me to thinking about "the bones" as she calls it.
Nina as part of her basic rules advises we invest in the bones.
"The bones of your wardrobe are those essential staples that go
with almost anything, never go out of style, and are enduringly chic"
These bones are those wonderful pieces in your wardrobe that may have been there forever or at least until they have been replaced by something similar and are equally as great having been worn and loved until they just cannot be worn anymore. The bones work so well with anything, are immortal in the world of fashion, and can be worn any time of day, season or location and still make you feel amazing and look super stylish. Whilst many would advocate sending money on these pieces, and whilst you can, I am going to try to find them on a princess and a pauper's budget, so there is hopefully something for everyone.
1) The little black dress
Of course this had to be on the list! The little black dress is never going to go out of style and will never let you down.
"In its simplicity, it makes you look effortlessly stylish. In its sophistication,
it makes you look endlessly elegant. The little black dress is the dress that is
going to let you shine"
This is however a bit of a tricky one, to narrow down to a few options as there are so many styles of the LBD, and it depends on your body shape and what you want to accentuate or not. At the end of the day, it really is the one that feels like "the one". But here are a few for all different budgets to tempt you.
2) A classic men's white shirt
I'm not sure about the men's bit, so I have looked at over-sized options instead. This actually is a gap in my wardrobe. I do have a white shirt of course, but I really want an over-sized one to wear with my leather leggings (to cover my bum and mum tum). I've heard rave reviews about the equipment shirts so how about this one available from Net-a-Porter.
For those of us with a more modest budget H&M comes up trumps once again with this offering for only £15.
3) Cashmere
Nina actually specifies a cardigan or turtleneck, but I think a sweater is just as relevant, and perhaps even more so today. I love the look of this J Crew sweater, which comes in a range of colours, but for me it has to be the classic grey.
The high street has really cottoned on to the need for more affordable cashmere and most stores now seem to have some cashmere options (even Tesco). H&M usually have some good offerings in their premium collection, sadly not today but do keep looking. They do however have this gorgeous sweater dress. I'm not liking the boots that they have styled it with and I'm pretty sure you could do better than that, but styling aside, this is a beautiful piece which most wardrobes would welcome with open arms.
If you are looking for more of a regular sweater than a dress, Uniqlo is always worth a look for their cashmere, and what do you know, they currently have an offer on with £20 off the regular price and now down to £49.90
4) A trench coat
I have a couple of trench coats in my wardrobe, and they really are staples, but sadly I do not have not the holy grail of all trenches, the Burberry mac. A couple of my very stylish friends do have one, and it really is a beautiful item (as are they beautiful people). Whilst it is expensive, it is a classic and if funds do not allow, you may be lucky enough to pick up a second hand one on some of the resale sites, such as Vestaire Collective
For those of us who continue to dream about the Burberry trench, there are lots of cheaper versions available on the high street, and as spring is hopefully about to join us, the shops should now be full of them. Here's one I've found for you from Zara for a fraction of the price.
5) Denim
I know everyone is moving away from the skinnies and on to all sorts of weird and wonderful denim shapes, but these bones are not about fashion, they are about classics and those things that make you look and feel amazing and for me that is the skinny jean. Oh so super flattering, which is why for now, until I am convinced otherwise (and I probably will be, just a little slower than everyone else) I will be sticking with the skinny. Denim is quite hard to recommend to others as it really is a personal choice, and certain brands seem to fit certain body shapes best, so I am just going to stick with what I know, which just happens to be at the more budget end of the scale.
Topshop Jamie jeans - there are endless colours and combinations, in petite, regular, tall and maternity (far too many to include here), but my favourite current option would be these if you want traditional blue denim...
...and these if you want to move away from traditional blue.
I also have a lot of affordable denim from Gap, and H&M (great for over the bump maternity skinnies). I also like the look of the Boden zip ankle skimmer ones with the zip detail, but have yet to try them. I hear lots of good things about MiH jeans so if you budget is bigger, you may want to try there, but I personally have not tried them so cannot give you my opinion. I really cannot stress enough that you just need to try on hundreds of pairs and when you find a brand and/or style that suit, stock up my friend as they may not be around for ever. I learnt that lesson the hard way with the Gap ankle skinnies, which yes they still do, but trust me I asked and they do change the style. I was most disappointed when I thought I'd cracked it on the jean front only to end up back at square one when they brought in a new style of skinny - same name, totally different fit - gutted.
So that takes us up to number five, but I will be back with the other five remaining bones later in the week.
Thank you so much for reading. I would love to hear your comments and to know what yo consider the bones of your wardrobe.
Love this post! I actually bought a Uniqlo cashmere jumper very recently and this offer wasn't on- bit gutted about that now! Very tempted to get another now though...
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