As a fashion editor, there’s a level of expectation that you’re the default stylist, sartorial advisor and general sounding board for your nearest and dearest. My mum, whom I obviously adore to bits, is someone who takes full advantage of my insights and expertise. Much like how I pick her brain on more serious questions or menial life advice, she is always seeking my opinion on the things that matter most to me: what to buy and what to wear. So, when she tasked me with the challenge of curating a summer capsule wardrobe for her on a strict budget, I knew I had to deliver.

You see, I had my reputation for providing comprehensive recommendations for chic essentials to live up to. As someone who has made a career out of perusing the market and piecing together a tight edit of the best bits to shop, I had to ensure that whatever I had selected for my mum was indeed the crème de la crème of what’s available.

So, armed with this immense pressure to ensure my mum’s summer wardrobe was the best it could be—and perhaps earn the validation of one of the harshest critics I know—I turned to the one place that I knew wouldn’t let me down. I’m, of course, talking about M&S.

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A staple on the high street for over a century, the store is a true stalwart for providing well-crafted and well-priced fundamentals that feel as trend-forward as they are timeless. A fashion faithful in every sense of the word, M&S will outfit you with crisp white T-shirts, sturdy denim jeans, polished sandals and flats and even a pretty dress or two.