Mid-Summer Must-Haves: The Wardrobe Essentials We’re Wearing in 2024
Fall—and its cooler temperatures—are on the horizon, which means there’s no time quite like the present to transition your closet into one more suitable for the dawn of a new season. While everyday wardrobe essentials, like crisp button-ups, great pairs of jeans, and notable yet lightweight knitwear, are the usual suspects in a late-summer uniform, our staples for the foreseeable future look slightly different. For fall 2024, we’re giving great white dresses, sleek suede blazers, fashion flats, and even raffia bags (which are no longer just a summer staple!) a front row seat.
With that being said, we could never forgo those aforementioned closet classics all together, especially since the start of a new season is often synonymous with change, whether it’s to improve personal routines, set and manifest goals, or even make a sartorial vibe shift. (Maybe you’re rethinking how to approach your style, cleaning out your closet of unworn items of the past, or looking to update and elevate your collection of wardrobe essentials altogether.)
Pared back but never boring, these are the wardrobe essentials our editors find themselves turning to season after season, the mainstay items, and the pieces we’re loving for 2024. And while we’ll still welcome irresistible seasonal and trend-forward pieces like pairs of menswear-inspired boxer shorts and sleek denim midiskirts (it’s fashion we’re obsessed with, after all!), we know those need to live alongside a capsule of staples, because every wardrobe needs a yin-yang balance. That shiny new statement piece will dazzle even more when paired with, say, a polished trouser. And sometimes that item in question becomes a wardrobe essential itself.
Ahead is a well-curated edit that has helped craft the foundation of our wardrobes. It’s safe to say we’re wearing at least one, if not more, of the highlighted pieces daily. We’ve covered the classics (white T-shirts, crewneck sweaters, oversized blazers, tailored trousers, chic sneakers) alongside those items that have more recently earned their spot as tried-and-trues—think minimalist strappy heeled sandals, barn jackets, and editor-approved, leopard-print dresses that transition from workwear to evening wear seamlessly.
Wearing white during the warmer months is a given, but we’d argue that a great white jean, or in this case, an easy breezy white dress for women have a style shelf-life long after summer. Should your style of choice be a crisp poplin or tailored shirtdress, its effortless sophistication is what makes it a fall staple fit for any scenario—from a casual weekend stroll to your nine-to-five.
No wardrobe is complete without a pair of Levi’s. Whether you shop them new or vintage, a high-waist, straight-leg pair in an easy blue wash is certainly the wear-everywhere denim you’ll never get sick of. Agolde’s low-slung puddle jean is another heavy-hitter—wear with a pair of heels to dress up the style.