GREAT plains
ONCE THE UNSEXY STAPLE AT THE BACK OF YOUR WARDROBE, THE HUMBLE WHITE TOP HAS NEVER LOOKED COOLER, WRITES LAUREN COCHRANE. BASIC? YOU BET
THE BUZZIEST PIECE FROM PRADA’S CATWALK for AW22 isn’t one of the embellished coats or the jewel-coloured quilted bag. Instead, it’s a simple white singlet, distinguished solely by a classic Prada triangle, as worn on the runway by Euphoria’s Hunter Schafer.
This wasn’t the only brand where a gym class-worthy white vest appeared: similar designs were seen at Chloé and Bottega Veneta, where this classic was paired with an equally no-fuss pair of mid-blue straight-leg jeans. It’s fair to say elevated basics like this are having a moment – even in the most glamorous of environs. Look to this year’s Oscars red carpet, where both Uma Thurman and Zendaya spurned gowns for crisp white shirts. Keeping it simple suddenly seems very stylish indeed.
If these classics are always in fashion – so much so that the industry refers to them as ‘perennials’ – the move from everyday wear to spotlight piece is striking. Perhaps it’s down to the legacy of normcore, the 2010s fashion aesthetic that lionises the unremarkable. Or perhaps, after a few years of turmoil, we’re looking for sure-things in our wardrobes. ‘Our customer loves brands that are reliable and those that they can trust,’ says Libby Page, senior market editor at Net-a-Porter.
‘For the classics, they’ll turn to Saint Laurent, Totême and Joseph, [while] The Row designers, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, are the queens of luxe basic-dressing.’
These brands have a cult-like following and this way of dressing also brings to mind the work of another cult designer, Phoebe Philo, whose female-friendly minimalism is set to return to the runway soon with the launch of her own label.
But whatever you wear, it’s essential to add your own stamp.
‘If you want to update your existing basics, then styling is key,’ says Page. ‘The small details are never to be underestimated.’
French stylist and influencer Sylvie Mus has mastered wearing elevated basics. Her Instagram is dominated by white shirts and much-loved Levi’s 501 jeans. Mus recommends adding a new colour or a different layer to make these pieces pop, but it’s a sparing attitude – one Philo might approve of – that’s her secret. ‘I’m very inspired by women with smaller wardrobes who find new ways to rewear and style what they already have instead of re-inventing their look every season,’ says Mus. ‘Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy was a great example of this type of style philosophy.’ Mus could also look to the writer Joan Didion and her famously minimal packing list from 1979. With fewer than 10 items including ‘2 jerseys’ and ‘1 pullover sweater’, the capsule – designed to provide a ‘deliberate anonymity of costume’ – remains a lesson in the power of stylish simplicity more than 40 years on.