Anna Wintour attends Paris Fashion Week, Spring 2025, Photo Instagram.
Once you’ve found a magic formula that works, why not wear it all the time? No question, finding a specific style, proportion, color combination, or set of clothes that you consistently wear and feel most authentic in is invaluable. I repeat clothes all the time and am a huge advocate of uniform dressing, which I believe to be the essence of modernity.
“I wear the same goddam thing every day,” Jenna Lyons
Jenna Lyons, Photos by Dana Davis, Nina Westervelt for The New York Times, Natalie Keyssar for The New York Times, Rebecca Smeyne for The New York Times, Tawni Bannister for The New York Times
A recent article in The New York Times, “Jenna Lyons Knows How to Find Quality Clothing. Here’s Her Staple Wardrobe”, by Hannah Frye, July 10, 2025, focuses on Jenna’s unswerving personal style. As Frye observes, “Lyons is known for her consistently polished yet delightfully playful personal style. However, if you examine many of her outfits, you’ll see that her wardrobe is built on a foundation of well-fitting basics, which she repeats frequently.
Jenna is not the only one who prizes consistency. Albert Einstein is said to have owned multiple versions of the same gray suit to avoid decision fatigue. Notable tastemakers and fashion figures are known to wear variations of the same designs daily. Seasoned fashion editors are often fanatical about how rigorously pared down their approach is.
Diana Vreeland mage sourced from Pinterest
“Balance was key to Diana Vreeland’s style. By anchoring her looks with streamlined clothing, Vreeland avoided the chaos that can accompany an overly maximalist approach. Instead, her carefully chosen garments created harmony, allowing her bold accessories and signature red accents to take center stage.” — Franziska Steinle, Berlin-based Brand Consultant and Writer
Diana Vreeland, the legendary editor at Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue who later became the curator of the Costume Institute at the Met, proved that her daily minimalist uniform, a masterclass in balance and intentionality, was an ideal foil for her bold statements and dramatic accessories. Vreeland understood that restraint in one area allowed her to be bold in another.
Polly Mellen at almost 100, 2024, Photograph by Pamela Hanson for W
Polly Mellen, who served as fashion editor at Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue before becoming creative director at Allure, passed away at the age of 100 last December. Mellen had a strict, spare look that was by no means boring, observed Marina Rust in an article she wrote for Vogue upon Polly’s passing.
Uniform-loving sisters Wendy Goodman and Tonne Goodman, Photo by Thomas Loof
Tonne Goodman, Vogue’s legendary fashion editor, has mastered the art of dressing in a black and white uniform. Tonne’s sister Wendy hailed her as being really “disciplined in her modernity, so it’s all black and white”, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute’s Harold Koda (who worked with her in the Vreeland years), pointed out, “She was almost exactly then as she is now.” She wore a uniform “that said everything about her: sporty, chic, confident informality.”
Indeed, my sense of style was honed by my experiences as a fashion editor. When I arrived at Harper’s Bazaar in the early 1970s (the best era for fashion, in my opinion), I was surrounded by fashion editors who were never overdressed or underdressed. And they weren’t dressing for social media or the many photo outlets. They dressed for themselves and radiated confidence and chic.
I remember China Machado, Bazaar’s fashion director for 11 years and the first model of color to be featured in a major American fashion magazine (American Bazaar, 1959), sauntering into her large corner office wearing faultlessly cut trousers, a silk blouse unbuttoned just so, almost always in black. The result was effortlessly chic, and it spoke volumes about China’s confidence, her knowledge of fashion, and her self-awareness.
Willie Smith and Carrie Donovan at a Stephen Burrows fashion show, September 13, 1973, Photo Instagram
I will never forget Carrie Donovan, Harper’s Bazaar’s senior fashion editor from 1972-1976, swathed in Halston cashmere (black, camel red, gray), accessorized with a turban, her ever-present pearls, loads of Elsa Peretti’s silver and horn bracelets, or Elsa’s iconic cuffs.
Anna Wintour and I worked together briefly at Bazaar. She was a sittings editor, and I was a market editor. Anna, who joined Bazaar in 1975, was famously fired after nine months. You can see how much damage that did to her future, lol. Anna wore a lot of Missoni and avant-garde designers like Kenzo back in the day, and she loved to show off her great legs, but she did not have a uniform.
Carrie Donovan, the senior fashion editor at the time, wanted Bill King to photograph all the single editors for the March 1976 issue, which was devoted to single women. Can you imagine how that article would fly today?
Bazaar’s Single Women, Harper’s Bazaar, March 1976, Photo by Bill King
Here I am on the left, with Anna in the center, the only one to cover her Bazaar tee shirt with a Kenzo vest, lol. Also in the photo is Wendy Goodman.
Like all of us, Anna’s look has evolved significantly over the years. With age comes wisdom. In the last decade or so, Anna has hit upon a fashion formula that works for her, and it’s one she hardly ever veers from, regardless of the season, the time of day, or the event.
Anna at home in NY with her three best friends, Photo sourced from Instagram
Whether she’s watching the tennis matches, attending a gala, or overlord of the fashion industry, Anna sticks to a time-honored outfit formula. Anna’s silhouette is always long and lean. There is almost always an ankle-length dress, usually printed or patterned (pattern mixing is a signature), topped off with a fabulous ankle-length coat (a perfectly cut reefer or belted trench) or a highly textural fur, sometimes tossed over her shoulders.
Anna Wintour attends the 2025 Met Gala, Photo, Getty Images.
Anna will almost always wear her large Chanel sunglasses, a tall snakeskin boot on a high but sturdy heel (a nude sandal in the summer), and those ever-present vintage Georgian Collet necklaces from the 18th and 19th centuries, which add a touch of color and sparkle.
They have become such a signature; on Etsy, they even describe these necklaces as ”Anna Wintour style” in case you are searching. While the result is admittedly not a good look for everyone, it suits Anna’s narrow frame, her lifestyle, her stature as fashion’s most powerful woman, and her age.
Anna turns 76 in November; she looks regal, sophisticated, commanding, and very much in charge.
