How to build a wardrobe you never think about

There are some people who relish getting dressed in the mornings. I am not one of them. I want to reach into my closet, slip on something reliable, and not think about what I’m wearing for the rest of the day.

I struggled to achieve this through most of my twenties. I bought a lot of clothes, but often felt I had nothing to wear. Many women I knew felt the same. They would go to Zara or J.Crew (this was the 2010s) and buy a whole outfit, or try desperately to settle on a uniform, only to become bored or find it didn’t work when the season changed.

Today, in my mid-thirties, I have a smaller wardrobe and rarely struggle with what to wear. It suits the demands of my life (office, industry events, weekend, gardening), travels well and doesn’t require frequent updating.

For those seeking similar style sangfroid, you need to know what you want to look like. Pinpointing your personal style is about finding the (probably rather narrow) overlap between what suits you and what you like.

That does not necessarily mean choosing the absolute most flattering style for your body. Fit and flare dresses make me look slimmest, but bore me to tears and are tricky when it comes to footwear. It was the writer Leandra Medine who suggested, when we were sharing a car at London Fashion Week a decade ago, that I try wide-leg trousers cropped above the ankle (à la Rachel Comey’s “Bishop” trouser) — and that has been my go-to cut ever since.

To start, see what in your closet is working for you. When, in the morning or going out to dinner, you put on something that makes you feel good, take a picture of it and save it in a folder on your phone. I was surprised to find that although I mostly wear separates, about a third of the photos in my folder are of long-sleeve, columnar dresses. It’s also easy to see that I gravitate to soft tailoring, neutrals, and black bags and shoes.

Pay attention to parts. Maybe you have narrow shoulders and like your neck, and a button-down shirt is going to give you a little bit more shoulder width and, if you leave it partly unbuttoned, accentuate the length of your neck (another tip I got from Medine). I am tall and have big hips, so I gravitate to things that create long, straight lines — long coats, long skirts, straight-leg jeans.

Don’t be afraid to repeat, repeat, repeat. You don’t have to have a strict uniform, but your life will be easier if you stick to a few shapes. I buy or hem skirts to be the same length as my trousers, so just about everything ends at the exact same spot, just above my ankle, because it’s annoying when a certain shoe only goes with a certain skirt or trouser.

If you only take one piece of advice from me, let it be this: take all of your trousers to a tailor

It also helps to have a hero piece, either to be the starting point for your outfits or to polish them off. Mine are three-quarter-length gilets, which do the latter. I have a green-quilted one from Gabriela Hearst, and a more formal version from The Row, in lightweight black wool.

If you only take one piece of advice from me, let it be this: take all of your trousers to a tailor. I buy my trousers one size up and then have the waist, hem and sometimes the leg taken in. A perfectly tailored pair of trousers will carry an outfit. Jennifer Aniston once revealed she had her T-shirts tailored; I did it once, and was amazed by the improvement.

Speciality tailors are worth seeking out, and if you’re altering denim, ask if they have the right machinery (I learnt this the hard way). My go-to is Pinnas and Needles in Soho, which is run by Pio and Francesco, two Italian twin tailors, who were recommended by Levi’s in-house tailor on Regent Street.

In my experience, tailors will err a little tight. Once your trousers are pinned, make sure you can still sit down comfortably and tuck a jumper in (if that’s something you do). If you’re getting things taken in when you’re at your thinnest (not something I recommend), add a little extra. When getting trousers hemmed, I ask the excess fabric not to be cut away, so that I can let them out again in the future.

Buy for the season you’re in, not the season ahead. It’s only once the weather changes and you’ve unpacked all of your seasonal clothes that you’ll feel what you’re missing. Keep a list of the gaps in your wardrobe, and only buy items from that list.

Versatility is really important. When shopping ask yourself: Is this colour going to go with the rest of my wardrobe? Can I wear this dress to the office with sandals, and out to dinner with a low heel?

Treat every piece like an investment piece, because ideally you will buy it once and never again. If you want a pair of black ankle boots or a white Oxford, go in search for the very best version of that thing, and be prepared to pay a bit of a premium for it. Utilitarian fabrics are good value for money, because they are tough and they last.

If you love something and it’s uncomfortable, don’t buy it. Once the novelty wears off, you’ll stop putting it on.

And I cannot emphasise this enough: do not buy clothes when you are at your slimmest. You’ll wake up one winter morning after a big pub dinner and have nothing to wear.

Find out about our latest stories first — follow @financialtimesfashion on Instagram