Building your wardrobe with Dee’s Dynamics: The 5 basic tops you need in your collection.

It’s been a minute… ok, well more like an hour. In other words, a very long time since I spread some thoughts on anything beauty or fashion related over here on the blog.

Today's post is breaking the silence and it’s the first in the ‘Building your wardrobe with Dee’s Dynamics’ series. A collection of written pieces sharing tips that I’ve discovered in my years of being a fashion-focused, clothing loving, ‘bougie on a budget babe’.

Over time I’ve realised the most important place to start when building your wardrobe is with ‘basics’. If you can have a solid few staples you can easily interchange them and build from here. Basics serve as a basis for almost all your outfits, they enable you to mix and match with ease and serve as great layers as the weather changes.

I’ve been ‘building’ my wardrobe for many years now so through experimentation I’ve learnt what items suit me best, both in budget and style.

My basics all tend to be in neutral shades for the obvious reason that it makes it easier to blend with other items in my wardrobe. If you’re starting out and not sure what colours best compliment you yet I would advise starting with neutrals too, you can always add colour in the details of the outfit with accessories and outerwear. But we can talk about that in another post.

‘The long-sleeved black turtle neck’:

Living in the UK this is a crucial item and in the winter this top gets the MOST amount of wear. This particular item from my collection is somewhere between a regular cotton material and a soft knit and it’s ever so slightly stretchy too. This item is a bargain I picked up from a Helmut Lang sale and for me was an investment piece. I’ve had several black turtle necks and this is definitely the best in quality. I particularly love the thumb hole details on this because it helps to give it a more chic look on occasions I want to dress it up. In addition, it washes super well. As in, it snaps back into its perfect form-fitting shape and doesn’t gather those annoying and ugly bobbles which is something to really consider for items you’re going to be wearing (and therefore washing) repeatedly. The next best place I’ve found for turtle necks is M&S and I’ve been lucky enough on a few occasions to find a few in charity shops. So don’t count them out in your search for basic wardrobe essentials!

Next up is…

‘The fitted white tee’:

This one in my collection is ribbed and form-fitting in nature which makes it easy to pair with a looser bottom. Be it a skirt, wide-leg jean or even joggers. This isn’t an item I tend to dress up ever, but could easily be dressed up with a clean pair of denim jeans and heels. I prefer to call on this tee for day to day looks. This one is from Weekday and wasn’t too pricey but seems to be lasting well in the wash.

So where there’s a white fitted tee there’s also a…

‘Black fitted tee’:

For me this one’s gotta be cropped. I’ve often spoken about my shorter torso, the crop cut enables me to pair it nicely with high waisted items and create the illusion that my proportions are more well balanced.The black definitely gets a lot more wear from me as I don’t have to worry about my child like tendency of dropping food and ruining lighter coloured items. This item gives the Kim Kardashian ‘SKIMS’ look, but was at a fraction of the cost via Zara. The quality isn’t amazing and it looks like it may get a little bobbly, but you get what you pay for in this life.

The collection wouldn’t be complete without…

‘The fitted tank top’:

I opted white for this one and grabbed it from Weekday. To me there’s something so simple and chich about a plain tank. Easyh to dress up and down, worn tucked in our with the em exposed over your chosen bottom. There’s not much to say about this item, but it’s needed. From summer staple to winter warmer under your jumpers. If you starting anywhere a tank top would be where. If you’re not as picky with the fit you can grab one of these from virtually any highstreet/online retailer. Just be wary that cheaper white items tend to turn ‘bad colour’ (off white) quicker due to the cheaper materials and remember if you’re trying to build a wardrobe sometimes it makes sense to invest a little into something that will offer longevity.

Last but not least is…

‘The cropped vest top’:

Again from Zara on the low low, so I had to cop both black and white. Similarly to ‘the fitted tank top’ these two are perfect summer essentials as well as amazing layering pieces and the weather transitions. I don’t have to much to say about them because they just do what they need to for any outfit time and time again.

Anywho, be sure to head to my Instagram @Dee.Lafayette in order to see exactly how I style the mentioned pieces and for more inspo and to see what else I’m up to creatively.

It’s good to be back, love everytime,

Dee x