9 Wardrobe Staples & Why I Love Black Clothes

Wardrobe staples are something that I had never really thought about until the other day I read a post all about how to create a capsule wardrobe. Despite the fact I love the idea of a capsule wardrobe, in reality that level of control & minimalism just isn’t me. However, despite not being convinced to take on the ultimate challenge, I did pick up a few really great tips from this post that have helped me to streamline my wardrobe. Yes! The main tip was to work out what your go-to wardrobe items are and why you love them, so that when you invest in new pieces they will be things that you are going to wear over and over – rather than just a load of seasonal junk. From doing exactly that, I feel like I have got a real sense of my wardrobe stripped down to its basics and today I am going to share with you my newly discovered wardrobe staples.

Let’s first address the thing that you are all thinking… Holly that is a lot of black! I know. Normally I’d apologise, but actually black clothing makes up a fair bit of my wardrobe and I think it is about time I explained why. Here are five reasons to explain why, when it comes to wardrobe staples, black is best…

1. Black is endlessly chic. Full Stop.

2. Are there any colours it doesn’t go with? I mean seriously, it makes getting dressed in the morning so easy. It is so fun and easy to create a fully black outfit with a single colour accent like a hat (see the beret above).

3. It can make even the shabbiest of outfits look smart. Honestly, try it out.

4. Does it ever go out of style? I’m not sure it has or ever will, so when buying those items that you want to last you forever think black.

5. You can build a wardrobe with it as the base. They say you should choose either navy or black as a base for your wardrobe, buy the key pieces in these colours and then build up from there. Sounds like a foolproof plan to me.

So, what black items do we have here then?  Let’s start with the obvious, my trusty black, skinny Joni jeans from Topshop. They are super tight and skinny, but comfortable and let’s just say this is my third pair. Another pair of ‘bottoms’ that I have been reaching for, that I didn’t include in this because I was wearing them (oops!), are some plain, black cropped suit trousers from Next. These two pairs combined essentially make up the bottom half of my wardrobe, unless I’m feeling really jazzy and I pull out some blue jeans. I know. It’s a shocker right? Seriously though, I don’t know where I would be without my trusty black jeans and trousers, and I know I will wear them until they can no longer be worn and then I will buy them all over again.

On the top I am obsessed with high necks – anything with this gorgeous feature gets my vote. It is just so classy and not to mention it keeps your neck toasty warm (scarves be gone!). So of course when choosing my staple tops all of my choices were high necked and, you guessed it, two of them were black. Hell yeah! The first is a simple, knitted, black turtle neck from Next; the second a vintage, velvet, short-sleeved top; and the third the cosiest ‘beige’, curly jumper from M&S. Let’s start with the turtle neck, it is the ultimate basic and is probably the item in this post that I wear most of all. It is such a versatile piece and I wear it over tops, under dungarees, etc. This jumper is the ONE and if you don’t own one I reckon you are missing out! For the slightly warmer days I love to wear this short sleeved, velvet top because although still thick, it is a bit lighter and again perfect for layering. I also love that it is velvet, which can give an outfit a bit more texture and a slightly more put together look – this ain’t just any old t-shirt.

Jumper wise this, again high neck, cosy jumper is so warm and the fact it is oversized, for me just makes it ten times better. It looks great with black skinny jeans and despite having been worn consistently for several years now, it is showing no sign of wear and tear – a true testament to the quality of M&S. This may surprise you, but they sell the coolest jumpers and, if you haven’t already, you should definitely check them out.

Everyone around me has always said that I have suited hats however, it wasn’t until I saw a few bloggers wearing berets recently that I thought I might have found a hat trend that I could get on board with. I’d kept away until then – just because something suits you, it doesn’t mean that you want to wear it. Nevertheless I thought I would give berets a go and a trip to Primark later I had found this gorgeous deep orange, felted one, and I LOVE it! This is more of a future wardrobe staple, rather than something tried and tested, but so far I am adoring it and I definitely think it is going to be a key part of my wardrobe for a long time to come.

Do we count shoes as accessories? Either way that is what I am going to talk about next, beginning with my all time favourite pair of shoes, my 1461 Smooth Dr Martens. I bought these as school shoes when I was about 15-16 years old and honestly, since then, not a week has gone by that I haven’t been wearing them (Note: I am 20 now). They go with everything, can cope with any weather (even torrential rain) and are so hard wearing that they don’t look that different to when I first set eyes on them in the shop all those years ago. If you want cool shoes or boots that WILL last, then Dr Martens is the place to go.

Elsewhere on the shoe front are my pink (faded to beige!) Adidas Gazelles. If you had asked me a few years ago if I would be putting a pair of trainers in a wardrobe staples post, then I probably would have laughed at you. I have only recently started to wear trainers generally for anything other that sport, and boy was I missing out. These shoes come in the most adorable colours and are so comfortable, I can’t even tell you. I have been obsessed with pink (like the rest of the world) for the past few years, so these go with so many things in my wardrobe and never fail to look super cute. 10/10 from me. And with that we move onto our last staple, with both pairs of these shoes I am forever wearing black ankle socks. I hate having long socks visible between my jeans and my shoe (sorry if you love that look) and these simple, little sock solve that problem. I must have twenty pairs at least!