We all come into our personal style at different ages, but whether you’re trying to hone your look in preparation for an internship or you’ve started moving up the ranks in your career, it’s always a good time to invest in fashionable but timeless pieces that will elevate your wardrobe.
Still, it’s easy to be intimidated by the options when picking out more “grown up” clothes, so it can help to know where to start.
These four pieces are particularly valuable and can help you build a strong foundation and express yourself through your clothing choices.
The Perfect Denim
Denim itself is timeless, but how we wear it is constantly changing. That’s why you want to be strategic when purchasing jeans or other denim pieces. For example, overalls are back in fashion right now, but they’ll likely land in the back of your closet again in a few months or a year.
Instead, opt for jeans in a moderate or dark shade and basic cut that you feel confident in. That way, you’ll get the most continuous wear out of them. Given how hard it is to find a great pair of jeans that fit correctly, you’ll be glad you weren’t too swayed by trends.
A Woman’s Wallet
How many cutesy wallets have you owned during your teen and young adult years? It’s perfectly normal to work your way through a number of these, purchased inexpensively at places like Claire’s, Hot Topic, or even TJMaxx.
Well, now it’s time to upgrade things a bit. Those old wallets were precious and stylized, sure, but they fell apart quickly – you got what you paid for. Now that you’re more mature, you’ll want a simple leather wallet you’ll be able to carry for years to come. It will show age, softening and creasing over time, but in terms of quality, you’ll feel the difference in your hands.
The Day-To-Night Dress
It can be hard to find a dress that’s appropriate for the office yet still elegant enough for a night on the town, but just because they can be difficult to find doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Keep it simple, in a solid color, and consider how the right accessories can shape the look.
Often, pairing a dress with the right blazer, sweater, or shoe is all that it takes to transition a piece between day and night.
Daily Wear Jewelry
Finally, the older you get, the fewer pieces of jewelry you’re likely to need. Instead, what you’ll want are a few simple, elegant pieces of jewelry you can pair with anything. It may be a few pairs of understated earrings – studs and small hoops, a nice watch, a ring or two, or a plain necklace. Statement pieces are all well and good, but for most women, they quickly start to feel more like clutter than necessary parts of your wardrobe.
When you look at the last few decades of fashion, one notable thing is that, while young people’s styles come and go quickly, adult looks tend to be much more stable. Though they may carry the mark of their times, in the cut of the blazer or jeans or other details of tailoring, the gold chain, the leather wallet, even the basic blazer itself, will never really go out of style.
