Every weekday morning I try on three outfits, photograph none of them, and end up in the first one (within approximately ninety seconds of the coffee finishing). The jeans, the top, the shoes. I have no shame about this.

 

But somewhere between the capsule wardrobes, the thirty-day challenges and the rule that everything must look both undone and polished, casual outfits have gotten a little exhausting. We are told to dress down and also to look like we tried. We are told to own fewer things and also to have a jacket for every mood. The verdict, as far as I can tell, is wear the jeans. I also put together The Smart Casual Dress Code Edit: Five Lessons in Reading an Invitation That Says Nothing.

 

Which brings me to a Reno tailor named Jacob Davis, who in late 1870 started putting copper rivets into men's work trousers to reinforce the points of strain. He needed a business partner to patent the idea, so he approached Levi Strauss, the San Francisco merchant, and on May 20, 1873 their patent, number 139,121, was granted for the first riveted clothing. Levi's own historian calls it the birth of the world's first blue jean. Every casual outfit with denim in it is, a century and a half later, still downstream of that one letter.

 

Some of what I read about casual outfits for women made me relieved. Some of it made me suspicious of my own closet. And some of it made me want a nap. So, here are five lessons in getting dressed on an ordinary day, each one something I would actually do, with a few pieces I would reach for every time. I went deeper on a related idea in The Dressy Casual Edit: Five Lessons for the Dress Code Nobody Can Define.

Jeans are the one piece in casual outfits that I will happily wear four days in a row, and Levi's agrees with the spirit of it. Its denim care guide says to wash once every 10 wears at most, and that dryers are the natural enemy of jeans. Read that as permission to buy one pair you love instead of five you tolerate. If you want to keep going, The Resort Casual Edit: Five Lessons for the Dinner Reservation by the Pool is the one I would read next.

 

The straight leg is the safest shape. The Khaite Kerrie mid-rise pair and the Saint Laurent Nico high-rise straight-leg are the classic cuts, and the Khaite Boyle in cropped white is the same idea made lighter. For something looser, the Gucci high-rise wide-leg jeans, the Nili Lotan Terese and the Frame Off Duty Loose all swing from the hip. The Alaïa white barrel-leg pair is the one I would wear when I want someone to ask about the shape.

 

The test is the sit-down. Put them on, sit on the floor for a full minute, then stand up. If you have not tugged the waist once, they are yours.

 

What I would skip: a wash so pale it needs a special top to explain it. Although a pale wide-leg with a plain tee and nothing else is a very good Tuesday.

The white tee began as underwear. The US Navy put a lightweight short-sleeve white cotton undervest into its uniform in 1913, and until Brando and Dean wore one on screen it was seldom regarded as an article in its own right. The stripe has a better paper trail: the French Navy recorded its striped jersey by decree in March 1858, and nobody has ever settled why the stripes. The popular stories are Napoleon's victories, or being easy to spot in the waves.

 

Both are, quietly, the point of the lesson. Neither needs to try. For the tee, the Dôen Nalia with its lace trim and the Leset Margo are the clean ones, the Flore Flore Car Baby Tee is the small one, and the Éterne boyfriend tee in ivory is the one that hangs. For stripes, the Agolde Sona in pink and the Emilia Wickstead Natalie in light blue are the crisp pair, the Comme Si mandarin-collar tunic is longer, and the Leset Yoshi in yellow is the cheerful outlier.

 

The test is a window. Hold the tee up to the light, and if you can read your own hand through it, plan a layer.

 

What I would skip: a tee so fitted that you adjust it every ten minutes. Although a lace trim on a plain white tee is the kind of detail that makes a cute outfit look decided.

Sneakers were built for a job before they were built for lunch. Converse's All Star began in 1917 as the Non-Skid, one of the first shoes designed for the new game of basketball, and Chuck Taylor joined the company as a salesman in 1922. A century on, the shoe at the bottom of the look still decides plenty of cute outfits for women.

 

Clean does not have to mean white. The Gucci Ace 2.0 in white leather is the sharp one, and the Dries Van Noten black leather pair is the quiet one. The Tod's tan full-grain leather sneakers and the Tod's chocolate suede pair feel closer to a loafer in sneaker clothing. For a little interest, the Dries Van Noten calf-hair sneakers, the New Balance 990v4 in green, the New Balance 204L in brown and the Salomon XT-6 all bring a texture or a color that turns jeans into a decision.

 

The test happens in daylight. Look down at the toe box on the way out the door, and if it looks tired, wipe it or change shoes.

 

What I would skip: a pair you are nervous about walking in. Although a scuffed suede sneaker on the right person has its own authority.

A Vogue editor puts it better than I can: the blazer offers a sense of polish that a simple T-shirt or knit does not always convey. The same is true of any jacket with a shoulder and a collar or a seam. It is the part that says someone chose this.

 

The workwear family is the easiest. The French chore jacket began in nineteenth-century France as the indigo bleu de travail, with a loose fit and wide pockets made for carrying tools, and the denim jackets here carry that idea. The Dries Van Noten gathered denim, the Bottega Veneta Intrecciato-trimmed dark denim and the Loewe draped version are the three I would try. In leather and suede, the Arma Paula in burgundy, the Almada Dorothy and the Veronica Beard Walters are the sharp ones, and the Nour Hammour suede jacket in sand and the Nour Hammour Grange are the soft ones.

 

The test is the mirror from the side. Put the jacket on over a tee and jeans, and if the shoulder seam lands where yours does, you are done.

 

What I would skip: anything that only works zipped up. Although a jacket slung over a shoulder on a warm day is a very respectable way to finish a casual outfit.

The best outfits for women I know are finished by a bag that has been used so much it has a posture. That is the lesson, and it is also a warning: the tote you save for good days will stay home.

 

Totes are the answer here because they take a laptop, a sandwich and a change of shoes. The Row N/S Park is the calm brown one, the Victoria Beckham Victoria in burgundy is the structured one, and the Toteme Roam in black is the quiet one. The Gucci Bamboo suede tote and the Demellier Stockholm and Midi New York are the soft ones, and the Loewe Flamenco in two-tone is the playful one. The Alaïa Le Teckel in red is the shoulder bag for the days you want less in it.

 

The test is a walk. Pack it with everything you would carry on an ordinary Tuesday, and go to the end of the street. If you reach for your other shoulder, it is not the one.

 

What I would skip: a bag with a stiff strap you have to hold in your hand. Although a bag with a bit of drama can be the only thing a plain outfit needs.

Here is what the five lessons add up to. A pair of jeans that fits, a tee or a stripe, a shoe that looks chosen, a jacket with a shoulder, and a bag that has seen things. None of it needs a theme, and all of it has been worn by someone before you, from a Navy sailor to a Reno tailor.

 

I will still be tempted by the thing in the window that fits none of the above. I would simply ask it one question before I buy it, which is whether it works on a Tuesday.

 

If it does, bring it home. If it does not, it can stay in the window and I will wave.