Do you really want the classic items Lisa?? Why and what for?
Think you rather need essentials your own way-these don't have to be classic style!

So you can decide on your own essentials as well. Here are my examples.

I am NOT a jeans girl. Think in the past 2 decades I didn't wear blue jeans at all as I found them too casual for my style. But I have and love my white or cream jeans -and learned from Angie to not shy away wearing for winters, too. (You're all 6th year in the barrel trend and I still wear BF or wide legs because barrels look terrible on me.)

Agree with Sal about a linen rather than a poplin button up. I had the same problem. I hate button downs-the crisp classic collared ironed fitted or oversized and poplin ones. I rather have them looser hi-low fit or a shorter length with an inserted tie at the hem, with sleeves to button up(or cuffed) to 3/4 length, no collar (or mandarin only) but a notch V-neck and made of linen and I wear them to my midi skirts-and not the pants! (I also have short hair and fear the andogynous look).
The kinds Jonesy put up for inspiration are also great.

My tees/tops generaly fit looser (not clingy) and have exclusively a deeper round, V, or boat neck now and have prefferable a thicker weight. But have some boxy tops, too for summer.
When needed flat high wamp shoes for spring and fall I gave up on oxfords (laces feel too masculine for me). So I choose loafers instead. I don't do doc Martens anymore for exactly that reason, I do rather Chelsea/western boots. But I like a lug sole as I preffer substantial looking shoes for my frame so many of my shoes have a lug sole.

And also, I never had a sould sucking beige trench in my life! I needed them for looking good over office wear but I had them in black, light blue, deep pumpkin and whiskey and prefferable coated (with a bit of shine).

Don't have to! Well you have already gotten so much good advice I will just commiserate. I have a hard time with button up tops - especially the stiff ones as they never fit right. I don't wear a trench or almost any belted coat. Short sleeve t-shirts are not stand alone items for me. I will happily wear certain classic style sweaters and jeans but it depends on the fit on me, not their status as classics. I have essentials - jeans and shoes that I can rely upon, for example, but will push back a bit on the lasting forever goal. The better they are, the more you'll wear them, the shorter their lifetime. And to quote a long ago style blog - you aren't dead yet.

Ha, ha, ha. I didn't realize that my style, or rather what I own and don't necessarily wear all that much is so classic. That being said, your Classic List is so, so, so NOT Lisa. I echo what everyone else is saying: Find YOUR essentials. I recognize that you may want to burn the whole pile the minute you retire, but maybe your work clothes can give you insight into your Essentials, at least in terms of cut, style, and fabric?

FWIW, I think of you in terms of solids, fabrics that drape, v-neck or v-neck adjacent styles. Your athletic (golf?) wardrobe may need to be completely separate. I can also see you changing up your footwear fairly frequently.

Sorry to post and run. Crazy busy at work today - everyone decides to join a gym in January .

Well , for a ( as is typical for me) poorly articulated post, there are some really great insights here. And thank you to Jonesy and Sarah for rewriting what I really meant to say ;).

I didn't want to get into the weeds on a basics vs essentials discussion, and used the word *classic* to refer to those items that are designed in such as way as to stand the test of time. Thanks for the reminder, Penny.

Irina - good questions, and I often wish my wardrobe would disappear overnight so that I could start again ;). But in all seriousness, that's a good benchmark to figure out what to focus on.

carol , Debbie - yes, good suggestions

goldenpig - it will definitely mean looking at different brands/stores.....a decision has to be made as to how to do that efficiently though.

bijou - I agree that elevating what I consider a classic with fashion details is the way to go.

Dee , slim cat , Lise, kkards, bonnie , echo - you're all absolutely right, thank you.

Suz - the focus on colour/neutrals rather than style is interesting, and I think you've hit on something . (I'm not even thinking about my work wardrobe here although it's one big neutral, lol)

Sal - and now I need/want a collarless blouse of some sort. Brilliant idea.

Chris - I appreciate the idea of going to a store, but that alone is a problem - I think you have the same issue. There just aren't the stores here anymore - like for many of us not living in a huge city- and I don't have the luxury of time to spend trying a lot of stuff on. I'm lucky if I can get into a store maybe once every couple of months. But I can maybe make that work with some on-line ordering .....we'll see.

Helena - I'm so tired I don't even know *what* my goal is anymore. Hahaha. I think it's more to do with having pieces with more longevity, thus falling into the "classics" category. And it's a trick to find versions of those pieces that aren't as strict and conservative ...

SarahD8 - you have made some incredibly insightful suggestions , and I love them. And I'm actually excited to find another person who understands where I'm at! I hate jean jackets! Ah, this is so great, and using my best versions of the dreaded jean jacket or whatever the offending piece is to sit in as substitutes is a great idea when looking at photos of outfits for inspiration. Love this . And I have no idea what I meant by versatility and I admit it. I'm exhausted, lol.

Janet - you do this very well, and actually have the pieces I think I'm missing.....although you do wear v neck sweaters, long sleeved t's for layering etc. You probably have the perfect mix!

RobinF - thanks for understanding ,and I think I do need to branch out and not turn to the same versions of the statement-ish pieces I buy over and over again.

unfrumped - we always see eye to eye :). Maybe the idea of classic pieces is not what I should be focusing on . I am not a big fan of the forum discussions of basics vs essentials .....the minutae loses me early into the discussion. However......maybe that inattention is my real issue.

Angie - I am VERY happy to read that not every wardrobe needs classics. I confess to not really paying attention to the essentials vs basics conversations but I suppose I should . Sigh. Identifying essentials is something I've never sat down to do, and again - sounds like I need to. Thank you .

ValMN - I do know how to sew, and pretty well if I do say so myself ;). I do not currently own a sewing machine ( I sold my serger and gave away my sewing machine 7 yrs ago when I moved to a condo, and I do regret it ) , but that's something I hope to address this year. I already have a little list of pieces I want to make and thanks for the Blackbird recommendation. I've been wondering where one buys good fabric now!

judy - glad you understand, and yes you are right. And to me, belly is as bad as tummy ;). Why must we infantilize our body parts? But abdomen sounds gym-ish.

cat2 - yes, I the French girl thing gets me every time, although I should know better.

Carla - probably. mixing up essentials and basics, but see above for my apparent disregard for both terms ;). And yes, Yin as opposed to Yang, I think . You can see how I like to just see something rather than mentally label it.

Jonesy, thank you for the intellectual version of my midnight rambling. The mystery jeans actually DID fill a wardrobe gap and I didn't realize it. And yes, now that I'm on a roll, let's go nuts and get more classic stuff. In all seriousness, I agree that wovens do a better job of hiding a body than do knits, which is why I don't wear a lot of t-shirts. I have 2 woven linen tops that mimic a t-shirt in cut, and LOVE them. TWP is a fabulous line that I wish I could buy from. Sadly, they are out of my price range in Cdn dollars and actually don't even ship to Canada although they'll ship to every other random country in the world. . These are exactly the kind of clothes I love .