13 Must-Have Wardrobe Essentials

Raise your hand if this sounds like you: You wake up, shower, do your hair and makeup (fabulously, of course), open your closet and … sigh … so many clothes, and none of them anything you actually want to wear.

Is your hand up? Thought so. We’ve all been there, when everything in the closet is too boring/not appropriate/doesn’t fit right/[insert random excuse here]. What we haven’t figured out is how to change that.

Until now. Yep, after talking to Lani Rosenstock Inlander, stylist for Style for Hire, we’ve got the tricks that’ll have you — gasp — excited to get dressed in the morning. Not only that, but you’ll have an outfit for every occasion that comes your way, from a cocktail party to a last-minute job interview.

Click here to see your wardrobe essentials.

The secret is building up an arsenal of wardrobe essentials — clothing items that’ll work for every day and ones that you can dress up or down and make your own. Once you have these wardrobe essentials (and a few fun extras), getting dressed in the morning will be as simple as whipping up a combo to suit your mood. It’s a much better way to start the day than wrestling with an armful of close-but-not-quite-perfect clothing until you’re so frustrated you leave the house with what you have on — regardless of whether things remotely go together.

With help from Inlander — and celebrities Julia Stiles, Michelle Obama, Claire Danes, Angelina Jolie, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Gabrielle Union, Julia Roberts, Keri Russell, Danielle Fishel, Anna Kendrick, Michelle Trachtenberg and Hilary Duff — we’ll show you what wardrobe essentials you need to buy (a legitimate excuse to shop — woohoo!) and how to find the right fit for you. But first, Inlander shares some shopping wisdom that we should all take seriously:

“Never go shopping when you’re in a mood or emotional,” she says. “You’ll buy things that are right for you in that moment, but the next day or a week later when you’re not in that mood [what you bought] won’t feel right. That’s how you end up with things in your closet you never wear.” So true, so true.

Click here to see your wardrobe essentials.