Even if you’re not a self-proclaimed “pants” person, having a few essential styles in your closet will ensure that you’ve got your bases covered: for work, for dressy events, for an errand run—whatever you might have going on. So, if you decide to skip the skirt or dress, you’ll still feel comfortable and not have to worry about whether an outfit goes together. From the vintage-style jeans you wear on weekends to the office-friendly trousers you want to wear long after you’ve clocked out, here are 10 types of pants that everyone should have in their wardrobes.
Warning: This post contains Game of Thrones spoilers.
The last time Game of Thrones fans saw Cersei Lannister, she had—finally—crowned herself Queen and came face-to-face with her rival for the Iron Throne, Daenerys Targaryen, who asked her to join forces in an upcoming war against an undead army of White Walkers.
The meeting of Westeros’ two self-anointed queens was a pivotal moment in the series, and Cersei’s costume spoke volumes about the interaction’s implications for season eight. “As she meets Dany, the costume becomes more warlike with chainmail and the silhouette changes with strong moulded shoulders, like a exoskeleton,” Game of Thrones costume designer Michele Clapton tells Glamour. “There is also a slashed and twisted detail on the back of her coat. It feels lizard-like, cold blooded. It creates an illusion that you can see into her soul, and it’s dark.”
True to those details, audiences know that Cersei’s words belie her intentions heading into the final season. She’s pregnant with a fourth child, and she’s more inclined to ensure her future heir’s line to the throne than to honestly band together with the Starks and Targaryens in a war for the living. According to Clapton, her outfits are the first place you can look to know exactly how she’s feeling and thinking in moments like this.
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“All of Cersei’s costumes tell of her story,” Clapton says. “We might hate her, but she is a product of her treatment.” If you’ve watched Thrones from the very beginning, you know that Cersei hasn’t always been decked out for battle—and that she went through a lot to reach her current situation. (To refresh your memory: She endured and escaped a forced marriage, had an ongoing affair with her twin brother, and witnessed the violent deaths of her three children, to name just a few.) Like her machinations, her wardrobe has dramatically evolved over time.
“When we first met her eight years ago, her fabrics and colors were softer. She was subdued, hunted. The imagery she embroidered onto her costumes were birds in swirls of stitches,” Clapton says. The meaning? “It was supposed to speak of her feelings of being trapped—[like a] bird in a cage—within a marriage that she was forced into, forced to be weak and manipulated only because she was a woman by a drunken boar of a man who her father chose for her. The style was a wrapped Kimono in paper silk, implying availability.”
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Of course, she didn’t stay a bystander in her own story for long. As her agency increased in the following seasons—often achieved through deception and murder—her outfits become more obvious symbols of her power grabs (and less typically feminine). “As her position changes with the murder of this husband [Robert Baratheon, who is poisoned in season one], we start to see the colors become stronger and often to be shades of red. The cloth becomes stronger and the Lannister Lion becomes prominent in the embroidery.” In other words, she’s asserting her authority, and her dedication to preserving Lannister power, through her clothing.
HBO
Side-by-side with other women at court, Cersei’s wardrobe is thrown into sharper relief. Take the arrival of Margery Tyrell to King’s Landing, who has competing ambition to take the throne for House Tyrell, for example. Margery leans in to her femininity with colorful, low-cut gowns; meanwhile, Cersei’s costumes tend toward an opposite aesthetic. “[It’s] ultimate power dressing,” Clapton explains, “with armor and heavy symbolic jewelry to insist visually of her belief in her rightful place within the family.” That view ultimately appears to win, when Margery is killed in season six’s dramatic King’s Landing explosion, clearing Cersei’s path to the throne.
Following Meghan Markle’s maternity wardrobe has been one of the best parts of her first royal pregnancy (for us, anyway), but all the looks she’s serving up don’t exactly come cheap. And hey, we’re not judging; it’s not like royalty is going to swing by H&M for their essentials. Now, the numbers are in: One blog has totaled up how much they estimate she’s spent on her maternity clothing since she became pregnant, and safe to say, it’s a lot.
According to Love the Sales‘ research, Markle has spent more than $500,000 on her maternity outfits so far, which is no insignificant figure. But as the site’s fashion editor told MarieClaire.com, Markle—given her Hollywood background, is pretty used to designer clothing that she bought with the money she earned from Suits. (Kate, she explains, comes from a little more low-key background, which meant she was wearing more pieces from “understated brands”.) Of course, keep in mind that royals don’t accept free clothes from brands, so all of this is reportedly coming from Prince Charles’ income, believed to be around $28 million.
Love the Sales also shared more interesting tidbits, including that her most-“liked” dress was the black Givenchy gown she wore when she had that two-handed cradle-the-bump moment that weirdly freaked the Internet out.
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And you can bet that the “Meghan Markle Effect,” as the spike in searches and sales for a brand or piece after she wears it has come to be called, is real. According to the site, there was a 5,800 percent and 3,900 percent surge in searches for Karen Gee and Outland Denim after she wore them. (And she’s reportedly her own stylist, too.)
Markle’s wardrobe has reportedly been comparatively expensive compared to the rest of the royal women, and to be honest, it makes sense: She’s a newcomer to that royal life, so she’s basically building a wardrobe the way some of us had to outfit ourselves for our first job, just on a much larger (and more designer-filled) scale. In 2018, the blog UFO No More totaled up how much they thought the royal women had spent on their wardrobes, and Markle took the grand prize with purchases thought to total around $508,000 (Middleton, by contrast, was thought to have spent around $85,000). That means that, yep, she’s spent as much on maternity clothes she’ll wear until the baby comes—and now we see why Middleton breaks out so many great re-wears when she’s getting ready to have another mini-royal.
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It’s not long until we get to meet Baby Sussex, who’s expected around late April or early May—until then, we’ll enjoy the last days of following Markle’s fantastic maternity wardrobe.
The idea of a wardrobe essential is pretty subjective. Some define it as the few pieces (like the white T-shirt and the black blazer) that truly are seasonless and always have a place in your closet; others expand the definition to encompass those trend-driven items (like the Instagram-favored fluted-sleeve dresses and the moody floral tops) that are suddenly everywhere and feel essential in the moment. For spring 2019 there are already a handful of fashion buys that feel like they fit in either or both boxes: color-blocked button-ups, allover printed midi dresses, minimal hoops…some feel incredibly familiar, while others are direct responses and references to the latest runways. Ready for spring or not, these pieces are bound to show up everywhere, so you might as well start shopping them now. We break down the 12 of-the-moment items to round out your wardrobe, ahead.
I’ve believed in the idea of an “investment piece” since I got my first paycheck. I would save up a month’s worth of babysitting money to buy that one top I had my eye on, that I absolutely needed and “couldn’t live without.” It doesn’t matter that I probably ended up wearing it only twice—it was satisfying to me to work toward buying something for myself, especially as someone who’s always loved fashion. Even now, as an adult, I still tend to spend in this way: I won’t shop frequently, but I will put away money with the purpose of blowing it all on one thing that feels special. It helps that, as an editor, I’m constantly learning about new brands and, over the years, have been able to identify the handful of silhouettes that are essential to me (and can feel good spending a little bit more on). It’s taken me years, but I’ve finally found a label that checks off every single one of my requirements: The designs have to be minimal and refined, that I can wear multiple times a week without getting tired of them, that are versatile enough to withstand the lifestyle of someone with a full-time fashion job and two kids.
Reader, let me tell you, Totême has changed the game for me.
This Swedish brand is a few years old (it was founded in 2014), but it’s only recently taken over the “essentials” section of my closet. What really set it apart for me, in a market that’s saturated with brands making basics, is its easy Scandinavian minimalism. Totême is the brainchild of blogger Elin Kling and husband Karl Lindman, who are both from Sweden. And you can tell how their background informs their design, from the limited, muted color palette to the tight product edit.
Magnus Andersen/Courtesy of Toteme.
The first thing I bought from Totême was a pair of black trousers. And ever since I first wore them out, people have been stopping to ask me where I got them from and where I got them tailored. That’s how well they fit. (And for the record: They didn’t need a tailor.) To be able to purchase a piece of clothing that actually fits as intended, without the intervention of a third party, is what sold me on the brand. That doesn’t usually happen for me: Usually the waist will be too loose and the pant too long, so I’ll have to have it tightened and hemmed. Not the case here.
Totême doesn’t design according to trends, so its pieces don’t go out with every passing season. Instead, your purchase is meant to live on in your closet. (As such, the pricing is not quite luxury, but not disposable: Pieces start at just under $100 and cap out at just under $1,000.) That doesn’t mean they’re not special, though: There are plenty of details, like a front slit on a pant or asymmetrical buttons on a blouse, that make them stand out from all your regular black bottoms and white button-downs. Whenever I wear something from this brand, I immediately get that feeling of Wow, this looks effortless—which, to be honest, is the ultimate and hardest-to-achieve fashion goal.
Magnus Andersen/Courtesy of Toteme.
As of this post, I own around 25 pieces from Totême. (Yes, I love the brand that much.) I’ve worn them to the office, to dinner, to my kid’s school, and on vacation. Now I’m sharing my best-kept wardrobe secret so you too can stock up on these new essentials. Find some of my favorites, below.
We all have those pieces we turn to time and again: that comfy pair of jeans you could wear seven days a week, the cozy sweater you layer repeatedly throughout winter, those go-with-everything sneakers you inevitably wear into the ground. Good ol’ closet staples that can simplify a hurried morning—and ground those trendier items you bought on a whim—can feel pretty essential.
While they can be perceived as boring or safe (we’re the first to admit the dullness of a white blouse sans nuance), a thoughtful selection of basics guarantees smart style no matter the occasion. No one knows this better than the celebrity stylists responsible for the A-lister outfits we routinely look to for inspiration.
“I believe that you should dress to fit your needs,” says Cristina Ehrlich, who styles Laura Dern, Tina Fey, and Mandy Moore, among others. “If you’re someone who lives by the rules of a uniform, you probably have it down. For the trend lover, just remember that your wardrobe will never be complete unless you have the foundation to carry it season to season.”
A fan of easy-to-try trends like the current hair accessory resurgence, Sarah Slutsky, who’s worked with Debra Messing and Aisha Dee, says basics help curb shopping impulses: “I try to stick to classics and then invest in a few hero pieces that pair well with my forever pieces. I find this the best way to get the most out of my wardrobe and also prevents impulsive purchasing.” She also sticks to “shopping tests” when acquiring new pieces. (“I’m a believer that anything you buy should pair with a white button down or classic pumps and be a great evening option,” she says.) “When I get a bit creative or feel the need for something [that makes] more of a statement, I always apply the denim test: If it’s a top, would I wear it with jeans? [For] a bottom, would I pop on a denim shirt [with it]? If it’s a dress, does it go with a jean jacket? This keeps me honest about the wearability and keeps me true to my personal style.”
Jason Bolden, stylist to Camila Mendes, Yara Shahidi, Mindy Kaling, and more, lives by a “less is always best” moto: “The idea of leisure is luxury to me. Simple pieces get you there—it’s about constantly re-thinking [them]. Nothing is chicer than showing up to a dinner in a black hoodie with jeans, a pair of heels, and amazing jewelry.” He endorses the “take the last thing off that you put on” rule, where you “keep it simple and buy what you like. It’s more about building a uniform. I’m not into the trends of it all.”
To spur a more creative approach to wardrobe staples, we sought the advice of these three experts. And they shared the 15 pieces they can’t live without, to inspire your own 2019 shopping. Their insights, ahead.
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