Photo courtesy of Hailey York of the Mighty Studio
For stylist Reva Luft, a solid set of staples is always the right answer. “The pieces I wear most often feel personal to my style, but they’re also the same staples I ask my clients if they own,” Luft says. “Because if they don't, I see them running into problems later.”
A quick scroll through Luft’s Instagram reveals an easy flow and a creative consistency. Her signature pieces are the kind that work anywhere but also tell a story wherever they go. A lot of that is, unsurprisingly, down to her styling. “I like to be somewhere between polished and undone,” Luft says.
We asked her to share the pieces that help her get there—her most-worns—along with some insight on how she wears them. One consistent thread: She can style most of them with her favorite sneakers.
1Black Cardigan
I've been wearing the same black cardigan as a top for five years now. This piece has gone through three kids spitting up on it, so it’s durable, but it always makes me feel put-together.
What's special about a cut like a cardigan is that it works with any pant, so even if I'm wearing trousers, I don't feel too preppy. The buttons break up the silhouette, and wearing it as a top shows a little personal styling decision. You’re wearing this cardigan closed, and people might not notice that it’s what makes the look click, but it is.
2Black Ballet Slippers
I have been wearing the same pair of black ballet flats for almost six years now. They are so comfortable. I have worn them on walks with my newborns. I have worn the shit out of them. I wear them at the park. They're destroyed. But I throw them on with a pair of shorts, with sweatpants, with jeans. They're literally like my slippers. No matter what I'm wearing, these make me feel really so myself.
3Spring-to-Summer Blazer
This one is really important because it just lets me wear whatever I'm wearing and not care. Last week, I was wearing a blazer with sweatpants and the T-shirt I slept in, and someone said, “You always look so put-together.” I'm like, “No, I slept in this. I'm just wearing a blazer.”
It’s also an amazing piece for travel. The pockets! I put my passport in one pocket, my phone in another pocket. I wore it over a sweatshirt on a flight recently, and when we got off the plane in Italy, I took off the sweatshirt and felt like such a chic Italian in my blazer.
Here I’m wearing it with my Nike Cortez. They're everything. There's something about Nikes that just feels so old-school and retro. They’re sporty, but not too sporty, and because I wear a lot of blazers and trousers, they always just get my look where I want it to go. When you picture someone wearing this shoe, they're running around. They've got their headphones in. Like it's just that little story, you know?
4Fluid Trouser
Another one of my most worn pieces is a low- or mid-rise fluid trouser. With a cardigan as a top and my sneakers, or with a black T-shirt and heeled sandals if I’m going out for dinner, this is a trouser I can wear anywhere and know I’m going to feel dressed. It’s a shape that’s always going to look classic, no matter what pant silhouette is in style—even if you don’t pay attention to trends at all.
5Column Skirt
The column skirt is something new for me, but I think I’ll be wearing it a lot this spring and summer. In three years, I'm going to be like, “Yeah, this is one of my most worn.”
I see the functionality of a column skirt—something so easy to put on instead of shorts or a summer dress. Like that really ’90s minimalism, but it's sexy, chic, edgy, cool. There's just so much you can do with it.
I think it's important to evolve like that. If you had asked me about my most-worn pieces four years ago, my spring/summer blazer wouldn't have been a number one, because I didn’t have it yet.
