Tessa Faye O’Connell is a contributor known for her work at various fashion houses, specializing in media and public relations, currently working at Coach as its global PR director. She’s a mom of two, working to expand her influence in the fashion space through styling while also just making it out the door on time.

When tasked with creating a basic capsule wardrobe to talk about, I was overwhelmed, thinking, How could I possibly fit everything needed into one neat write-up? That was until I realized that wasn’t the point—the point was to have a base of pieces that could mix and match with all things in your closet as the foundation for getting dressed. Sometimes you just need an anchor item to pull something together, no matter the season. There are pieces that I’ve invested in and now rely on that always serve me.