While buying an entirely new wardrobe every season is fun, it isn’t fiscally responsible. Staple garments, which are wardrobe items that can transition from season to season and year to year without looking dated or worn, can help alleviate the necessity of buying all-new clothing every three months. There are several things you need to keep in mind when purchasing wardrobe staples:
Materials: In order for clothing and accessories to last, they must be made of high quality, durable materials. Do your research beforehand. All cotton, for example, is not made alike. Heidi Stearns, Interior Designer and bedding buyer at The Picket Fence in Ketchum, Idaho, says that the best kinds of cotton are known as long staple, which means that the individual cotton fibers are lengthy. Egyptian Cotton and Pima Cotton are both examples of cotton varieties that produce long-staple fibers.
Construction: Even the highest quality materials will not hold up if they are turned into poorly constructed garments. When inspecting garments for quality construction, Stearns said to look for small, even stitches because they are more likely to hold up than larger, looser stitching. Also, look for labor intensive detailing, which signals that the creators of the garment care about the garment lasting.
Design: “A staple garment is a piece that has lasted a lifetime. It is something that you can wear to a birthday party this year and another event five years from now and look just as good,” said John Crotty, a manager at the J. Crew Collection store in Miami, Fla. This means classic designs and neutral colors. Look for black, jewel tones or natural colors.
Wearability: To make sure you will get a lot of wear out of a garment, try to estimate the cost per wear of an item. For example, a $200 pair of bright pink flared jeans that you can only wear for one season without looking passé might have a cost per wear of $20. A $200 pair of dark wash skinny jeans that you can wear four times a week until they wear out might cost less than one dollar per wear.
Nicole Lichtenberg can be reached at [email protected].