The best wardrobes aren’t necessarily the ones filled with the most clothes. They are the ones where almost everything works together, where getting dressed doesn’t require an hour of trying on different combinations, and where even the simplest outfit looks considered.

I have reached the point in my life where I am suspicious of anything that requires me to make more decisions than necessary.

This is probably not the most conventional way to begin a fashion article. Still, I think it explains my relationship with clothes better than telling you what is “in” this season. I have never been particularly interested in dressing according to a trend calendar, and I have become even less interested as I have gotten older. I don’t want a closet full of clothes that technically look good but somehow make getting dressed feel like a project. I want clothes that make sense.

Relief comes from owning a few pieces of attire that never require a decision. You reach for them without thinking, they work without effort, and they make you look like you tried harder than you did. The striped sweater is one of those pieces, and it has been for about a century, which is its own kind of endorsement.