The eight pieces that survived a year of getting dressed

We asked forty customers a question that most brands would rather not ask: over the last twelve months, what did you actually reach for? Not what you loved in the shop — what came off the hanger on a wet Tuesday when you were late.

The photographs came back and the same eight shapes appeared again and again: a coat with no lining, a merino crew, a straight jean, a poplin shirt, a wide trouser, a ribbed vest, one pair of boots and one bag. Between them they covered ninety-one percent of the days recorded.

What did not survive

What did not survive is more interesting. Anything with a hard shoulder. Anything that needed its own shoes. Anything bought for a single event. And — this one surprised us — anything in a colour that did not already appear three times elsewhere in the wardrobe.

• Buy the coat first. It is the only thing anyone sees in winter.
• Two pairs of trousers you love beat six you tolerate.
• If it needs new shoes, it is not one piece — it is two.
• Colour is a system, not a decision you make once in a shop.

“The wardrobe that works is smaller than the one you want, and larger than the one you would admit to.”