These 3 Affordable Brands Are Making Our Absolute Favorite Wardrobe Staples
Our closet just dramatically improved.
by The Candidly Team
We’ve been on a decades-long quest to stop hating all our clothes. We don’t even know how it happens. We’re the ones who bought all this crap after all. We can barely contain it, and yet, we’re not excited to wear 87% of it.
Well recently, we think we’ve cracked the code. In order to love our clothes and enjoy getting dressed every single day we need to have a closet full of staples that we know look very, very good on us. Rocket science, right?
But excellent staples are underrated. They’re the classic pieces that fit extremely well, flatter our shape, and look chic no matter what. And we’ll just go ahead and say it. It helps if they look not cheap. You know what we mean. Plasticky. Poorly cut. Falling apart after 3 wears.
The trouble is we don’t have hundreds of dollars to spend on each of these items of clothing. So we’re also on a quest to find brands that don’t shred our bank accounts but that look, fit, and feel just as good as brands that do.
Bottom line: we found 3.
The weird part is each of these brands was right under our noses. You already know all 3 of them. But what you might not know is that the stuff they’re making right at this moment is as good as it is. We didn’t!
And so today, we share our discovery/ rediscovery of the brands that are giving us our favorite basics.
Off we go:
1. J.CREW FACTORY
Only recently did we start to peek our heads inside J.Crew Factory. At first, we were blown away by the inventory online. So many styles were showing up that we’d been looking for all over the internet. Mostly in places where the prices depress us and we pretty much have to wait for an annual sale to shop.
The photos on the J.Crew Factory site enticed us. The size range was incredible. The prices were obviously a dream. But we were completely in the dark about what to expect in terms of quality and fit. When our order arrived, all we can say is we were wildly surprised. Pretty much every single piece we tried on left us with the same thought, “why would we spend 2-3x as much on this same thing anywhere else?” We felt good in everything we put on our bodies. We even created our entire French lady wardrobe out of their styles.
Here are some highlights that will do nothing short of make your life easier … and chicer. Possibly daily.
1. Striped Boatneck Tee
If we had a nickel for every time we mention the French marinière as a perfect staple piece, we’d be rich enough to pack ours up and retire to Paris. It’s just a striped, boatneck tee, often with a 3/4 sleeve, but it makes us look like one of those casually chic women who know what they’re doing with clothes. So basically, French women. Anyway, don’t spend $80. Just get this one.
Price: $40
2. High-Rise Girlfriend Chino Pant
This is the cute, “styled” way to wear a basic pant. There’s a magical fit to this pair that reminds us of THIS iconic street-style look. They smooth over curves without feeling tight, and somehow work with every shoe.
Price: $47.50
3. Classic jean jacket
A good-fitting jean jacket just makes everyone look more put together. And this one has the perfect fit. The cut and length are exactly where they need to be to look crisp, clean-lined, and layer-able, but not baggy. Wear it over dresses and skirts and definitely over the above pants. It’s one of those things that makes you look younger and cooler without making you look like you’re trying to look younger and cooler. Skip right to the customer review photos to see why you don’t need any jean jacket besides this one.
Price: $69.50
4. Slip skirt
Every brand seems like it makes a version of this skirt lately. This one fits smoothly in the front but has an elastic waist, so we live in total comfort while our bottom halves look very, very flattered. And so chic.
Price: $34.50
5. Mary Jane Mules
You’ll be shocked at how many outfits get elegantly elevated by this shoe. The color matches a wild number of things we wear. Plus the little embellishment on the strap makes it so we can wear these in lieu of heels to dress-up events.
Price: $49.50
2. GAP
Zac Posen just took over as Creative Director at Gap. And immediately he started creating things like this, which of course sold out in like 16 seconds but still made us weak. He also partnered the brand with DÔEN to create a romantic collection we couldn’t stop shopping from. The point is exciting things are happening at the Gap. And so many of their styles are making us remember why they were the classic, casual, go-to brand of the best mall years of all time. Here’s what’s exciting us right now.
6. Pocket Cardigan Sweater
Some of you will be able to drudge up an image of Katie Holmes wearing the most iconic sweater look of all time, and immediately feel the thrill we did of finding this similar shape sweater that is 36x less expensive (not a typo, you read that # right). But even if you have no clue what we’re talking about, get this sweater, wear it with jeans, and let the “where did you get that sweaters?” roll in.
Price: $70
7. Mid Rise Girlfriend Jeans
We’ve been looking for THE pair of boyfriend jeans, once again, mainly to recreate the incredible style of Jennifer Aniston. We’re not celeb-obsessed, but we do like inspiration from classically chic women our own age. And these are the jeans, my friends. They defy dumb denim trends and look incredible on every body type.
Price: $55
8. Organic Cotton Denim Perfect Shirt
There’s a very famous almost-$300 version of a chambray shirt that one of us was once admittedly sent for free, and we have to say it was really, really good. But most days with our own dollars, we can’t spend $300 on any shirt. And thankfully we don’t mind because we found this one, which is soft and organic and fits amazing. It layers over leggings and tucks into trousers and always makes us look polished and smart, as our Londoner friends like to say.
Price: $60
9. Icon Trench Coat
Everyone should own a trench. Truly. It’s light and graceful and you can layer it over your frumpiest sweatshirt and sad joggers and look like Audrey Hepburn. This one has all the classic elements, and we’ve honestly had trouble finding one we like more.
Price: $168
10. Shrunken Roll Neck Sweater
The sleeves. The length. The neckline. There’s some real designery thought going into the Gap, you guys. And it makes pieces like these some of our favorite to wear because we know we’ll look good, not to mention like we could have spent 4x more on them. This sweater comes in many colors, and while we pretty much want all of them, the black and cream just felt like an essential we could grab any day and know we’ll look like we put in som actual effort.
Price: $70
3. QUINCE
Quince is a brand making real clothes out of real cashmere and real leather and real silk, and somehow it’s all actually affordable. So often when we can’t buy the “real thing” because of cost, we wind up turning to flimsy, cheap, sad versions of things that don’t look luxe and that we end up having to replace so many times we might as well have bought the expensive thing we actually wanted in the first place.
The point is, Quince has some incredible pieces, especially in their cashmere line, which we personally live in all fall-winter. But there’s also washable silks and lusty leather bags and even just organic tees that cost $15 instead of $50. It’s all a bit of a fantasy.
And here are the things we think you should make a reality, because they are game-changing when it comes to getting dressed.
11. Washable Stretch Silk Notch Collar Blouse
A silk button-down is very “quiet luxury.” It elevates any jeans and flats we throw together and tucked into a high-waisted drapey trouser, you’ll feel 6ft tall and ready to conquer the world.
Price: $70
12. Mongolian Cashmere Oversized Boyfriend Cardigan Sweater
There’s a very similar version of this sweater that costs almost $500. You know the one. This one is just as whisper soft and slouchy. Like all cashmere, you have to care for it, keep it clean, etc, but it’s worth it because you’ll never want to remove this sweater from your skin. It comes in an overwhelming number of colors we keep adding to our cart (we already each own about 2). So consider yourself warned.
Price: $140
14. Italian Leather Convertible Crescent Shoulder Bag
Behold, the ideal everyday crossbody bag. This is one of those bags that works with everything but also makes us look 17x time more put together just by grabbing it on our way out the door. And the price for genuine leather is genuinely unheard of. Which justifies us getting it in tan, too, no?
Price: $120
15. Mongolian Cashmere Fisherman Sweater Vest
The classic staple we didn’t know we needed. Over a tee we feel like a 90s Meg Ryan. On its own, it’s the chicest top we wear out. And it just feels soooooo good. We want it in all 3 colors. Might have them in our carts as we speak.
Price: $80
At The Candidly, we try a lot of stuff so you don’t have to. We only recommend things we truly love, and that we think you’ll love, too. All products are chosen independently by our creative team, and all details reflect the price and availability of products at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to, The Candidly may earn a commission.
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