How to build a great wardrobe

• A trench coat.

• A good quality, basic black blazer or jacket, light wool gabardine works for most of the year.

• A good white blouse, or two.

• A pair of good blue jeans — buy ones that fit perfectly.

• A pair of black pants.

• Velvet jeans for this season — very flattering, very versatile, very comfortable.

• A turtleneck, or two.

• Long and short-sleeve T-shirts; choose colors that go with everything in your wardrobe.

• A pea coat.

JAYNE: Hi, everybody, and welcome to a fashionable howdini. I’m Jayne Chase.

JEN: And I’m Jen Goodkind, and we’re co-hosts of A Fashionable Life Radio.

JAYNE:  Today we’re going to talk to you about the very basic things you have to have in your wardrobe. Every woman needs these basic things to really build a very competent wardrobe. We are going to start with, maybe not the most exciting item you have to buy, but a trench coat. Everybody needs one. It goes from day to evening. We’re showing you one from Tommy Hilfiger. It is a great mid-price coat. We like the sort of lighter khaki color. We like that it’s belted; it gives a feminine touch to it. But it’s the basic that everybody has to have. You will wear it until the cows come home; you have to have a trench coat.

JEN: We also love a shorter length. If you are getting in and out of the car all the time, who needs all the extra length? So this is a really really good length, and don’t be afraid to wear this in the wintertime with a heavy sweater underneath it: It looks just as good.

JAYNE:  That’s right.

JEN: Well, that being said, a wardrobe is not a wardrobe unless you have a basic black jacket. This is one of those pieces that you can wear with everything from jeans to black pants to white pants. We like black and white, even if it is not summer. So don’t forget to invest in a perfect black jacket, and you will probably want to adjust the look of the jacket to your body type. If you have a longer torso, you will probably want to go with a bit of a shorter jacket and vice versa for other body types as well.

JAYNE:  The other nice thing about this particular fabric is it is made out of a light wool gabardine, which can take you through about 10 months out of the year. Really important when you are investing a lot of money in a jacket.

JEN:Well, next we are talking about wardrobe essentials, and you can’t talk about wardrobe essentials if you’re not talking about a white blouse. Everybody needs to have a white blouse in their closet, if not two or three. This one is your classic Ralph Lauren. Who better to do classic than Ralph?

JAYNE:  And it’s a little fitted, Jen. So it’s got a little bit more of a feminine feel to it. It’s not like a man’s tailored shirt. What we also love about this shirt is it’s got a great French cuff so that sort of adds a little bit of femininity to it to.

JEN:It does. So if you are wearing black, white is a great way to break the black up. Which we say all the time: “White adds light to your face.” Makes you look younger and it’s really another example of not having to worry about what you are going to wear. Throw on a white blouse and you are done.

JAYNE:  There you go. The other thing that you have to have in your wardrobe is a basic black pant. It is an absolute essential item to have. Every woman has to have one. We’re showing you a pair of pants today from The Gap. What’s great about this pair of pants is that it’s very casual. You can wear it on weekends and you can also dress it up. So it’s really versatile and the kind of pant that you’re really going to have forever. It withstands a lot of washing; it’s very strong and durable; and again, it’s just a basic that you have to have. It’s a go-to piece for your wardrobe.

The other thing that we are seeing this season is velvet jeans. And this is another really great piece to have in your wardrobe because this, too, can be casual; it can also be very dressy. We love these jeans, they’re from AG and what’s great about it, there’s a little bit of a stretch in it. I can’t tell you how great this makes your body look no matter whether you’ve got a couple extra “L-Bs” or not; this really is a great brand to go look for in your neighborhood — AG.

JEN: So dressy doesn’t always mean fancy. Dressy can be velvet pants with a sparkly top and you are ready to go out on a Saturday night. So don’t think a velvet is just holiday, it’s really not.

While talking essentials, you have to talk about the turtleneck because a lot of us in the winter time are looking for a basic T-shirt but one that is going to keep us warm, so we have here our favorite Splendid shirts, which we also got from Scoop; and what we love about these is that they are elongated torso, which is great really for everybody. If you are wearing black pants or you are wearing jeans, you can pull it down long; belt it, or you can keep it long and lean and it gets a really really great look; and, of course, it keeps you warm as well.

JAYNE:  The other great thing about these turtlenecks is that they have a little bit of stretch in them so they kind of hug your body; but they are not going to hug all those lumps and bumps that we don’t want anyone to see. They hang beautifully; they’re a perfect silhouette.

And what are you going to wear with those turtlenecks; of course, you are going to pull out your basic jean. I’m sure you already have jeans in your wardrobe, but Jen and I are showing you this jean today; it’s from AG, and again it has a little bit of stretch and I promise you, it makes everybody’s body look fabulous. I promise.

JEN: Well, skinny leg, wide leg, low-rise, high-rise, obviously these are issues that are going to relate to everybody; so in this particular case we’ve chosen a mid-size, mid-waist jean. But what you are going to need to do is go in and try everything on and see what suits your body type.

JAYNE:  That's right Jen, but ask for AG because it's a really great brand for all body types.

JEN: From innerwear to outerwear and we all know that it does get cold in most parts of the country at some point during the winter, and we love the pea coat. We love the pea coat because it is classic, it never goes out of style; and this particular one by Tommy Hilfiger has all the essential features that make it updated, like the double-breasted buttons, the little poof on the sleeve. This looks great with jeans, looks great with a turtleneck with a little sweater underneath; and of course, from a functional standpoint, it’s going to keep you warm. So this is really one of those pieces that you might want to invest in from every season to every season.

JAYNE:  These are basic pieces that you have to have to really build an effective wardrobe.