From the perfect jeans to wedgie-free knickers: fashion experts’ guide to the best women’s basics

Whether it’s a great pair of pants or the perfect T-shirt, nailing the basics can make or break your wardrobe. “They have to work harder than anything else,” says British Vogue style editor Funmi Fetto.

I asked Fetto and other stylists and style writers, along with members of the Guardian fashion desk – who all spend more time than most thinking about this stuff – for their most-loved basics. And don’t worry, most of them won’t break the bank.

The best wardrobe essentials

Knickers

Most people I spoke to namechecked Marks & Spencer for underwear. You’d also struggle to find a softer pair than Stripe & Stare’s Tencel pants. The UK brand claims they’re wedgie-free (in my experience, they are), plus they’re available in cuts to fit all tastes. My favourite is the high-rise. Acting fashion editor Chloe Mac Donnell is also a recent convert: “They’re a better fit around the bum,” she says, “and sit better under trousers.”

Lucinda Chambers, stylist, founder of online lifestyle platform Collagerie and former Vogue fashion director, recommends pants from the French company Baserange, which does a great line of simple, no-frills knickers. They’re made from bamboo lyocell in Portugal and don’t come cheap, but they’re high quality.

For a pair of pants with a bit of extra coverage and support, I recommend the high-waisted Beyond Nine ones, which have a waiting list for several sizes for good reason – not cheap, but they last.

Stripe & Stare Tencel high-rise knickers

Socks

Again, M&S came out on top. Stylist Bay Garnett goes to the men’s department, where she has found her perfect socks that sit higher up the leg: “Multipack. Cotton. Mid-calf”. But she also has an altogether holier recommendation: these amazing socks from Gammarelli, which has been in the business of dressing popes since 1798. You have to fill out a form to get them, but you can’t expect to get the pope’s socks without a bit of effort.

Cheaper but less hallowed is Arket and its multicoloured sock wall. “The quality is really nice,” says Chambers. She likes that they’re “Prada length, which is just on the shin”. Meanwhile, Fetto appreciates socks made by Falke, which is known for its high-quality designs.

On the Guardian fashion desk, senior style writer Lauren Cochrane loves Nike for sports socks and Muji for thicker, woolly winter ones. For their fit, Mac Donnell likes Uniqlo’s JW Anderson socks because “they don’t cut off circulation at the ankle”. Although those pairs are out of stock, other Uniqlo styles offer a similarly soft fit around the ankle, without digging in or leaving marks. I am yet to find a softer, more comfortable pair of socks than these from the Danish company Dilling.

M&S cotton-rich socks, seven pairs

Muji women’s wool-blend room socks

Cotton T-shirts

Cos is Fetto’s go-to because, she says, they hang really well and aren’t too tight. Guardian writer Morwenna Ferrier, who usually buys everything except undies and socks secondhand, favours Cos’s V-neck T-shirts, while Mac Donnell says a crew neck “is a good height for when you want it to peek out from under a jumper”. The quality “is really good”, adds Chambers.

Garnett opts for the more expensive but high-quality Sunspel, “because the cotton’s really nice”, and if Chambers is after something more fitted, less boxy, she recommends the luxury T-shirts of James Perse. “Sometimes, with things like that, I think they’re worth the investment,” she says.

I recently took the plunge and replaced all my moth-eaten, grubby old T-shirts with a bulk buy from LA-based Everybody.World. I can’t recommend the quality or the colours highly enough, and that’s not to mention that they’re biodegradable and made from cotton waste by a fair-wage workforce.

Cos clean-cut T-shirt

A white shirt

Garnett, a thrifting pioneer, has a lot of love for the men’s rail in charity shops when she’s on the hunt for a good white shirt. But Ferrier has found something she, the Duchess of Sussex and, apparently, Akshata Murty agree on: the shirts of London-based brand With Nothing Underneath. Founded by a former Vogue stylist, the brand makes good-quality shirts in different cuts and silhouettes – the Oxford one I own is pleasingly crisp and clearly made to last. I also recently scored a shirt from minimalist-leaning womenswear brand Frankie Shop on Vinted – the poplin is lovely, and the secondhand price feels like a steal.

With Nothing Underneath The Boyfriend Oxford shirt

A simple jumper

Garnett says the older she gets, the more she likes classics, like the sweaters from N.Peal: “The cashmere is really good,” she says. Mac Donnell rates the cashmere at Rise & Fall and has a lot of love for Cos’s “not too fitted” cashmere jumpers.

Fetto isn’t a jumpers person but rates APC’s designs, which aren’t too heavy: “[They’re] fitted but not super tight.”

Chambers will spend more on a good polo neck; on a bad hair day, you can tuck your hair in and forget about it, she says. She rates Soft Goat, although at £400+ for a jumper, it’s definitely an investment: “I’m wearing them every day, so you want them to last and not bobble and do horrible things that you’re constantly getting your cashmere shaver out [for].”

Cos cashmere crew-neck jumper

Jeans

Cochrane, “like the rest of the fashion industry”, is forever in thrall to a perfect pair of vintage Levi’s 501s. “But in the meantime,” she says, “I buy the JW Anderson straight-leg Uniqlo ones. They’re a good price, good denim and have an approximation of the fit I want.” Ferrier agrees: “The first new thing I’ve bought in years. They have a great shape and a low waist,” she says, “but they can lose their shape.” So make peace with them doing their thing and enjoy them on wash day. Sadly, though, they are out of stock for now – watch this space. But these from M&S are a decent alternative. Ferrier also has a soft spot for “Levi’s Superlow in black and CK [Calvin Klein] low-rise baggy (90s from Vinted)”.

For Chambers, if she’s after “a pair of really plain [jeans in] fabulous denim”, she’ll opt for a pair from Los Angeles-based Citizens of Humanity. “I just love their shape,” she says. Fetto is loyal to the jeans of Raey, which is out of business but being relaunched this year. In the meantime, they’re still available on secondhand sites, such as Vinted.

A few members of the fashion desk are impressed by this pair from Reformation. Mac Donnell bought them three years ago, and they’re still a favourite. They’re pricey, but “they’ve kept their shape and haven’t faded”, she says.

M&S mid-rise straight-leg ankle-length jeans

A basic trainer-y shoe

“Converse forever,” says Ferrier. Chambers also wears the brand’s high-tops pretty much every day, in black but also bright red, “which go with everything”. Cochrane is all about the Converse One Star.

Fetto has about seven pairs of Grace Wales Bonner’s shoes for Adidas, which she wears on rotation, and considers them the perfect basic shoes.

For more of a blank slate, I love the arch support of a Superga, and, for something with more style chops that is still versatile and incredibly comfy, the Nike Air Rift. But given historical ethical concerns, maybe find yours on Vinted, where they are abundant.

Converse One Star Pro

Superga 2750 Cotu classic

A useful bag

Garnett is a fan of a classic LL Bean tote bag, as well as a straw bag in summer, which she’ll usually pick up wherever she goes on holiday (our own Jess Cartner-Morley swears by Sézane’s straw baskets).

Chambers is “a total tote toter” and a big fan of Radley’s large striped tote – the perfect size and her favourite colour combination: tobacco and black. “It’s really hard-wearing, you can fling it around, curl it into the back of the car, it’s brilliant.” It’s out of stock, but London brand Osprey has a chocolate suede tote that is a good match.

I find a bag stashed into the bag you actually want to wear is a smart idea for any overflow when you buy bananas on the way home. That might be a little Baggu or, if you’re worried about your back, a totally packable-down Ticket to the Moon rucksack made from waste nylon.

LL Bean boat and tote open-top bag

Baggu pleated bag

Other basics

For Ferrier, it’s “some smart black balloon trousers WITH A CREASE. You can get into any do/event/meeting/A-list gathering if they have a crease”. These, from Maje, are “not cheap, but they’re well made and look like Dior”, she says.

Garnett rarely goes without a belt – she thinks she caught the habit from time spent with Anita Pallenberg. She tends to find them secondhand, championing Etsy as a good place to look.

Garnett is also a sucker for a good blazer – her collection is the result of many incredible charity shop finds. “I find it hard not to buy them,” she says. If you’re on the hunt, the first thing to look at is size: “If it’s too big, it looks shit,” she says. “Then look for the print, then how big the lapels are. I like a strong lapel.” But there’s also a bit of intuition involved, she says: “As soon as you put it on, you know, immediately.”

Mac Donnell sees PJs as a basic. “H&M cotton muslin pyjamas are really comfortable,” she says, “and feel and look very fancy.”

Maje balloon suit trousers

For more, read Jess Cartner-Morley’s September style essentials

Ellie Violet Bramley is a writer who has been delving into style and what it means for nearly a decade – mostly for the Guardian’s fashion desk