The Quest for the Perfect Summer Basics

Rule 3 of my 1-year-no-new-clothes challenge says:

I may spend gift card money on new clothes. The point, after all, is to save money. My spending, however, must meet the following requirements:

• The item may be a staple that no longer fits or is damaged beyond my meager abilities to repair; or
• The item may be an important addition to my wardrobe for a particular lifestyle need such as work wear or clothing for a special occasion.
• I must first make every effort to make new clothes, or repair or refurbish clothing I already own before buying, unless the cost of doing so is far greater than the cost of buying something.

When summer came and I hauled out my stash of summer basics, I eagerly donned my favorite white t-shirt and immediately spilled watermelon juice all over it during Memorial Day festivities. (I promise I did not do this on purpose, though the thought has crossed my mind :)). When said stain did not come out, I knew it was time to replace it, according to the rules. (Although why someone as clumsy as I am even owns a white t-shirt is rather unclear). In addition to needing a new white t-shirt, I wanted to replace my too-tight grey tank top. Every summer I take it out and try to wear it without the benefit of layers and discover that it does not fit and is only appropriate for sleeping in. Because I usually buy other new things, I tend to forget about replacing it. Since I could not make the tank top bigger without a sewing machine and some spare fabric, this year seemed like the perfect time to invest the effort in finding that perfect gray tank top.

Thus began the quest for the perfect summer basics. 

I had gift cards to two stores: Target and Gap, and I must have tried on every white t-shirt and grey tank top in both stores before finding the pieces that fit within my gift card budget and fit my requirements -- the pieces needed to be versatile, not too thin or see-through, comfortable, and have a good silhouette that was roomy without looking sloppy. Here's what I ended up with:

Obviously, this is not gray; they no longer have the gray one, but you can purchase this blue one, here. 

The essentials crew neck tee. 

Here is what I learned in the process:

1. Yes, you really do have to try everything on to see how it looks. Before this experiment, I would have picked up the first soft, inexpensive basic piece I found and I would have bought it in my size without trying it on. I would have just lived with the consequences if I didn't like the way it fit. Because I was on a severe budget and had limited store options this time, I could not take that chance, so I went in to the dressing room with stacks of seemingly identical shirts and discovered something: they each fit differently. What seemed identical on the rack did not look identical on my body. 
2. You may have to size up or down to get the right fit. Neither of these shirts looked right on me in my normal size. I had to size down with the tank and up with the shirt. Don't be afraid to do the same when you are shopping. This may mean swallowing pride and buying sizes you don't feel particularly happy about. Just take a page out of Stacy London's book and mark out that bigger size if it makes you feel bad. It's just an arbitrary number, anyway.
3. It takes time and research to find inexpensive, quality pieces. Because I knew my husband would be with me during the Gap portion of this quest, I did some research online beforehand. I knew what pieces looked promising before I set foot in the store during that crowded Memorial-Day sale, and I went straight for them. He still probably had to wait around for me longer than he would have liked (because I still had to try on those different sizes), but I know that my research made the process much less painful for both of us.
4. Quality basics are worth it. I'm so much happier with what I have now than what I had before. I loved my basic white tee shirt before because it was very comfortable, but I didn't wear it nearly as often as I could have because it was kind of see-through and its v-neck boyfriend style made it too casual for many situations. This time, I put in the effort to make sure I was buying a thicker shirt in a versatile style, and now I can wear my white t-shirt to work or the beach. Similarly, because the gray tank top actually fits me, I can wear it on its own (a requirement for hot Texas summers) or layer it up to my heart's content. 

I'm looking forward to featuring some different ways to wear these two summer staples on the blog in the weeks to come.