This season it’s all about a more-is-more approach. From exaggerated puff-sleeved blouses to shirts with exaggerated frilly collars, this spring we’re diving back into our childhood dressing up box and coming back with the grown-up pieces that are making dressing fun again.

But as joyful as floral prints and playful pastel hues can be, sometimes we just want to keep things simple. When you’re running late for work, completely forgot about that brunch or have no idea what a smart casual dress code even means, you can’t spend time deliberating which square-toed sandal to pair with your coloured leather trousers. Instead you need to fall back on effortlessly easy-to-wear pieces that you can rely on to look perfectly chic, no matter how quickly you’ve thrown together.

For years our wardrobe fail-safe has come in the form of black. From jumpers to jeans, dresses to boots, we’ve curated a monochrome palette that functions as our sartorial parachute. And we’re beyond bored of it. 

While black might feel suitably cool during the winter months, when the sun starts to emerge is feels distinctly dreary. It looks too heavy against a sunny backdrop and doesn’t complement the bright colours and stand-out prints that we’ve curated in our spring-ready wardrobe. Not to mention that all black pieces have faded to different degrees, leaving us with a selection of pieces in various shades of what we can only describe as off-black. 

If we can no longer depend on black to be our style saviour, then what can use to resolve our day-to-day dressing dilemmas? Navy doesn’t spark joy in summer and wearing white feels like an adrenaline sport considering our diet of coffee and red wine. 

Introducing the new neutral sent to take your wardrobe to new levels of cool: khaki. 

The joy of wearing khaki is that it pairs to perfection with every shade you can think of. Unlike black, its warm tones makes it an ideal partner for blue denim, bright patterns and pastel shades, and looks just as stylish in the summer sun as it does on grey weather days. It offers enough interest to work as a standalone look too, whether worn as a jumpsuit or as an ensemble of khaki-toned separates. When it comes to beauty, khaki continues to prove itself as an ultra-wearable wardrobe hero, and complements a dramatic cat eye and statement red lip as well as it does an understated natural look. 

From the Meghan Markle-approved shirt dress to the wear-everywhere shirt that doubles up as a jacket, we’ve found the chicest khaki pieces to wear now. 

Images: courtesy of brands.