Mauricio Gucci, briefly: it is a house signature that has been redrawn several times, and most of what people recognise is the proportion rather than the mark itself. Recognition is built by repetition over decades, which is why an imitation of the mark never carries the same weight. The short version usually matters less than how the thing is used now. Check where the waist seam sits on the model against your own proportions. The groups below run from the decision that matters most to the ones you make afterwards.

What decides this is shoulder fit, length and how the fabric moves. Everything else is preference. Two from the first group show the range: Arcina Ori's ODESSA DRESS PISTACHIO at $480, and A.L.C.'s Dion Satin and Lace Mini Dress at $595. The first is the easy entry point; the second is where the money goes. Lining is what stops a cheap fabric reading as cheap. A dress that fits the shoulders can be taken in anywhere else. One that does not, cannot. A higher price mostly buys materials and finishing, and occasionally it buys nothing at all.

A belt turns a shapeless dress into a deliberate one. Let the dress be the loudest thing you own that day. From the second group, arcinaori.com.au's AVERY DRESS IVORY ($460) is the one that earns its place, because it works in more than one context without being restyled. The third group is smaller and deliberately narrower, trousers, for the decisions you make after the main one. None of this needs the whole group. One piece from each is usually enough.

There are 20 pieces here from 17 brands, $133 to $850, all in stock when this was written. We would not buy all of them, and neither should you. apc-us.com's Greg shirt at $133 is the low-risk way in, and Ann Demeulemeester's Eva Knitted Dress at $850 only makes sense if this is a category you already use constantly. Read as a set, they get you close to Mauricio Gucci without any single purchase being compulsory. Nothing here is included because it is famous, and price is not used as a proxy for quality anywhere on this page. If you take one thing away: the piece you reach for on a rushed morning is the one that was worth the money.