A Collectible Wardrobe // Where To Start
If I beat my drum aggressively about anything, it’s creating a wardrobe of well-made, timeless pieces. Priss & Vinegar is not the place to come for Amazon dupes, Zara edits or deep cuts from the H&M website. Trust me when I say that you will spend more money shopping for something close to what you actually want than if you just bought the darn thing to begin with. Here’s why:
1) Quality: that H&M sweater is going to look a mess after you wash it twice.
2) Value: I am all about price per wear, and a piece that falls apart after a couple of wears doesn’t pencil for me. Sry.
3) Perceived Value: This is where you have to be brutally honest with yourself & just admit that wearing something fabulous you’ve been eyeing for ages feels SO MUCH BETTER than the also-ran you bought just because it was a good deal.
These truths being self evident, here are the six essential pieces for beginning your forever wardrobe:
A beautifully-cut blazer. Navy or black is an intense personal question only you can answer, but either way, there better be some gold buttons & classic double-breasting. Priss & Vinegar’s pick: the excellent Veronica Beard “Miller Dickey” Blazer.
A crisp white button-down shirt. Whether you’re an oxford or poplin gal is up to you, but the collar better look fabulous popped, or else. Priss & Vinegar’s pick: the Frank & Eileen “Waverly” Button-Down.
Classic ballerina flats. Chanel Ballerinas are the gold standard here, and I assure you, the price per wear on these is so worth it it’s silly. However, if they are unavailable near you or not within your budget, Priss & Vinegar’s pick is either monogrammed Mansur Gavriel “Dream Ballerinas” or Margaux “Demi” ballet flats.
A striped bateau mariniere. Whether you wear it beneath a blazer, with a pleated skirt or your favorite pair of denim cut-offs, there are few places a striped tee can’t take you. This is an intense question for a navy stripe queen, but after exhaustive research, Kule “The Boyfriend” is the shirt Priss & Vinegar reaches for again & again.
An ivory sweater. Confession: this is my favorite clothing category, and for a girl with a fairly pared-down wardrobe, the number of ivory sweaters I own is shocking. Were I at the beginning of a collection, the Priss & Vinegar picks would be, in cashmere, the perfect Eleanor Leftwich “Classic Cashmere Crew”, and in cotton, the State of Cotton “Kittery.”
A great shirtdress. I’ve always considered day-to-night dressing a nonsense category invented by fashion magazines in the 00’s, but if there were a piece that could actually bridge the gap from morning coffee to afternoon meetings to evening cocktails, it’s the shirtdress. Priss & Vinegar’s pick: the Eleanor Leftwich “Eleanor Shirtdress” in navy & white stripes.