9 Wardrobe Staples I Wear at Least Once a Week All Year Long

A truly well-rounded wardrobe isn’t something that can be developed in one fell swoop or with a trend mindset. Instead, you have to build it over time with trial and error, keeping pieces that, over the course of various seasons and years, get worn in abundance and getting rid of others that don’t. Personally, it’s taken me most of my 20s to put together a closet I’m proud of that mirrors my individual tastes and is full of only items that I can wear in multiple ways for a variety of occasions and weather situations. (Living in a cramped apartment in New York City, where temperatures range from -5ºF to 100ºF, requires a do-it-all wardrobe.)

For me, specifically, there are nine staple pieces that I can recall wearing at some point in every season and practically every year of my adult life, even back when I was still trying to work out what my personal style looked like. They are the backbone of my year-round wardrobe—items that have and will always call my closet home (no matter how small said closet is). Below, find out which pieces made my list. And if you don’t already own them all, I’d suggest you get acquainted. Then again, maybe that’s just my bias talking.

Levi’s Jeans

I was probably around 3 years old when I got my first pair of 501s. Technically, they were my sister’s, but as is required of the youngest child, I stole them. Sure, there was a time between then and now that I strayed, mostly during Abercrombie’s heyday when I refused to shop anywhere else. But it’s been over a decade now that I’ve worn Levi’s almost exclusively. If I had to guess, I’d say I own 10 pairs, mostly 501s, plus one pair of extremely well-fitting 701s, some cutoff 505s, and a Baggy Dad.