BYOB {Bring Your Own Basics}

The Basics. We talk about them as knitters. We talk about them in the general realm of fashion. We talk about them in the context of mindful purchases, outfit planning, capsule wardrobes and the like. And of course often all three of these realms intersect.

And for some time now, I have noticed there is a standard set of assumptions about what constitutes ‘basics’ - which may not hold true for all of us {well, at least they don’t hold true for me …and I presume I’m not the only weirdo out there?}

In any case! I had been meaning to write about this for a while, and as it happens my previous post provided a convenient segue - so why now now.

In Knitting Wearable Colourwork, I mentioned offhandedly that I do not wear blue jeans. The surprised response in the comments has made me think of all the other articles of clothing our culture considers ‘basics’ that I personally do not wear. I have assembled them above for your viewing pleasure (from my husband’s closet), resulting it seems in THE iconic basics trifecta:

blue jeans
white crewneck t-shirt
trainers

While I know for a lot of people, this constitutes a go-to casual/ comfortable/ neutral outfit that forms the core of their wardrobe, for me this is not the case.

The denim aversion I am unsure how to explain rationally. It might just be a sensory quirk sort of thing? But for whatever reason, I have never been enamoured with denim and in fact have gone years not wearing or owning any at all. When I do wear jeans, they are typically grey or charcoal. The shades of blue used for traditional denim washes feel somewhat jarring to me. It’s not that I hate jeans as such, I just don’t naturally gravitate to them and don’t view them as a neutral/ basic.

Now, the white crewneck t-shirt… There are actually several issues with that one! I do not wear white, because I am messy. I do not wear crew-necks, because I find them constricting. And I don’t wear short sleeves, because I don’t like how they visually divide my arms in half. So a triple-no for me there, and definitely not a wardrobe staple.

Now I know I am in the minority on this one, but trainers (sneakers, if you are American) have always felt fussy to me. I am not a huge fan of shoelaces for starters. And the soft cushiony rubbery feeling of walking in sneakers is not my idea of comfort. For both city and countryside walking, I find the ankle support and sole-firmness of boots far more comfortable. And in the realm of sports, I have always been a cyclist rather than a runner. Footwear with a hard sole and no laces (because they can get caught in the drivetrain) is what I typically wear on casual bicycle rides. And on an all-out roadbike I wear clipless cycling shoes. So it’s not that I have anything against sneakers; they just don’t really suit my lifestyle and so I’ve never considered them a Basic.

While it feels oddly blasphemous to reject an outfit so iconic in our western culture, it has also been helpful to realise that assumption about style that are made by - well, the stylists whose work I follow for instance - are not ubiquitously applicable. When it comes to personal stye we need to approach everything from scratch and define our own concept of basics.

When I started thinking on this initially, my immediate answer to the jeans/ t-shirt/ sneakers trifecta was the outfit pictured here:

khaki cargo trousers
grey long sleeve v-neck
brown dealer boots

But while it’s true that I wear some version of this outfit often, I don’t think it truly reflects the core of my personal concept of basics either. Because really what I did there, was try to find a direct substitute for each item in the classic jeans/ t-shirt/ sneakers ensemble.

Thinking from scratch however, that’s not necessarily how I conceptualise basics to begin with. When it comes to core wardrobe staples, I am more likely to reach for a dress and go from there as the basis of outfit assembly. I am also extremely unlikely, regardless of season, to ever leave the house without outerwear. Even in the summer heat, I will wear a thin linen blazer of some sort; I am just one of those people who doesn’t feel ‘dressed’ without a jacket. So something like dress/ boots/ blazer would possibly be my thing.

But who knows: Perhaps even that is still a response to the mainstream notion of basics, and could use more analysis. I am perhaps only scratching the surface.

Getting back to the topic of knitting wearable pieces that I touched upon in the previous post…

I do think that we knitters need to start from the beginning and examine our personal style, if we truly wish to be successful in the ‘wear what we knit’ endeavour. Otherwise, we unwittingly follow a path that is simply not meant for us.

If we truly want to find the solution to the problem of wearable knits, we need to bring our own basics into the equation.