10 timeless wardrobe pieces: How I style the oldest items in my closet today

An exercise to help make your wardrobe feel new again

Returning to the joy of memories that are held in certain items, whether it’s who I was with and where I was when I bought an item, or the memories that were made wearing those pieces has been one of the best things about my no buy challenge.

When I talk of the oldest items, to be more specific I mean the items I have owned the longest. There are vintage pieces in my wardrobe that are decades old, but these are pieces bought by a younger version of myself. They have been with me for many years and I think they tell an interesting story of my own style evolution. It’s been fun to think about how I wore them in the past and how I can put a new spin on them today. Without further ado these are the pieces that have proved to be timeless in my wardrobe, and how I’m styling them now.

(Note* Free subscribers will be able to see the first 3 pieces, and paid subscribers will be able to view the whole post.)

Shirt - Trousers - Boots - Vest - Bag - Earrings - Ring - Belt (old Topshop)

1. Topshop leather belt

Ahhh this takes me back to my early twenties when Topshop was the fanciest brand I could afford and I lusted after their entire accessory floor. Say what you want about Topshop, but in the early days, some of their leather items were so bloody good. I’ve never once considered getting rid of this beauty as the leather has worn beautifully. It’s one of the thickest belts I own so it has a very unique spot in my wardrobe. Who else had (or still has) this belt? It’s incredibly classic and given that I probably paid less than $40 for it well over ten years ago, it’s safe to say It’s more than paid for itself in terms of cost per wear. Baby Harry probably wore it with skinny jeans and some kind of ‘going out top’ (IYKYK), but this is probably how I wear it most nowadays.

Sneakers - Jeans - Tee - Ring - Bag - Earrings old similar here - Blazer old Sandro

2. Vans Sneakers

I think I bought this pair of Vans sneakers when I first moved to LA over 8 years ago. I remember wearing these with a grey houndstooth suit I bought years ago from Zara, a look i’d still wear now. I wanted to think about how I could make an outfit that felt really comfortable but still me, and this was the result. I feel like if I wear a sneaker, I need at least one element of tailoring (here it’s the blazer) in order to feel true to my style. Granted I reach for my Converse trainers more these days but this was a great reminder to make more of an effort to switch them up with these.

Sandals - Trousers - Bag - Hoops - Sunglasses Old Celine - Top knitted by my Mama

3. Old Celine sunglasses

Oooof these were hard to get hold of. I remember very vividly being on set when I first moved to LA, the model had these sunglasses on and I was so taken with them. As luck would have it I managed to find them on a french website for less than $250 maybe six/seven years ago, which considering i’ve seen them retail on the pre loved market for over $2K since (WOAH) I don’t know if I could ever sell them. They’re also a good example of something that was very trendy, and then everyone seemed to hate them, but I bought them knowing I would love them for a lifetime. Wearing them now I like to add something softer (the knitted tee) to balance out the angular shape of the sunnies. I kept everything else slouchy, a great example of how opposites add balance.