WARDROBE.NYC

WARDROBE.NYC started with an observation. Josh Goot and Christine Centenera, both Australian, moved to New York in 2016 and noticed that everyone around them dressed in a daily uniform. In December 2017 they launched the label with collections sold as five-piece or ten-piece wardrobes, designed in New York and made mostly in Italy. Centenera is the editor in chief of Vogue Australia, and her stylist's eye shows in how little is left to chance. The tops here are the base layer of that uniform. The RHW bodysuit and the RHW sleeveless bodysuit are the starting pieces, while the translucent bodysuit, the sheer tank bodysuit in butter and the turtleneck long sleeve bodysuit give you three more ways to go. For something plain, the cotton crewneck classic T-shirt, the slim-fit long-sleeve T-shirt and the ribbed-knit cotton tank top do the job, and the draped crepe-jersey top and the halterneck cotton-blend top are the more dressed up versions. My thoughts on the layer everyone measures others against live in the white tank top piece. A simple test: hold the top against a pair of black trousers in daylight and check that the neckline and hem stay clean.

The early capsules covered tailoring, sport with adidas, street and denim with Levi's, and a permanent collection followed in October 2020, so the bottoms here tell that story. The RHW wool pants, the light mid rise trouser in black, the Mid Rise trousers and the beige crepe bias-cut trousers are the tailoring. The pleated cotton-blend wide-leg pants lean a little more relaxed. The RHW sculpted skirt mini and the drill cotton twill miniskirt are the short skirts, and the pleated mini tweed skirt is the textured one. For denim, there are the low rise straight leg and the low rise jeans in black, and the clean shorts in taupe and the clean pleated short are for the warm weeks. What I would skip is the low rise jeans with a cropped bodysuit if you want the line to read as polished; a longer top keeps the proportion calm. For more cuts to compare, look at wide-leg trousers and pants.

The dresses are the tailoring turned into one piece. The RHW sculpted blazer dress and the RHW double-breasted twill mini dress both borrow from the jacket, and the X RHW sculpted mini dress in black has the same short, structured line. The evening column mini dress is the dressiest, the side-slit tank midi dress is the quiet one, and the open-back cotton-blend jersey minidress and the taupe racer tunic minidress are the easy ones. The woven mini dress rounds out the group. Picture her walking out of a gallery opening in the column dress with nothing else added. For other denim shapes in dress form, the denim dress guide is a useful reference when you want more length.

This is the part of the label that reads most like a brand signature. The Clean perfect trench, the Perfecto trench coat and the spring trench in cream sit at the center, and the Clean trench mini jacket in taupe is the short version. The tailoring is in the blazers: the oversized wool blazer, the longline wool tailored-fit blazer, the black light longline blazer and the single breasted one button blazer. The difference between them is mostly length and shoulder, so try them over the same top. A trench worn open over the oversized wool blazer is a combination I find myself daydreaming about for a gray November morning, when the collar of one frames the lapel of the other. Choose a blazer that closes cleanly over a bodysuit, since that is how the label seems to imagine it. If one is for travel, jackets to travel in can help narrow the field.

The last section is the layer under the layers. The sheer tights, the corded lace tights, the lace tight and the opaque stirrup legging in ash are what make a mini skirt or short feel finished. The RHW briefs and the high-waisted brief are made to sit under tailoring, and the Spring waistcoat in cream and the RHW leather belt finish a suit. Together they are the details that make a plain outfit look planned, which is the whole idea of a uniform. If you are wearing shorts into fall, the micro shorts and tights piece shows how that works. Sheer tights suit a mini skirt, and the opaque stirrup legging in ash is the quieter choice under a long coat. Check that the waistband of any brief sits flat under a bodysuit before you leave the house.

If I were starting from nothing, I would choose a bodysuit, the mid rise trousers, a longline blazer and a trench. That is four pieces to start, and the label first sold its collections as five-piece or ten-piece wardrobes, so the logic is the same. Add the Perfecto trench when you want a second layer, and the sheer tights when the weather turns. Everything else in this edit is a variation on those, and that is the point.