Q: I have a nearly non-existent clothing budget. Is there a basic wardrobe I can purchase (over time), and tricks to accessorizing so that I look stylish instead of time-warped?

A: To start, you probably need a jacket, a cardigan sweater, a skirt, a pair of pants, a flat-knit pullover, a raincoat, a good three-season wool coat, shoes you can walk in and a good looking bag. It sounds boring, but you'll get a lot more mileage out of these pieces if they're all the same dark color. (Bonus: Now that fashion's getting tired of mixing colors and textures and things that match are cool again, you'll look like you're on top of the latest trends.)

Once you've assembled the basics, think about adding a white shirt, a turtleneck/T-shirt/sweater in your favorite contrasting color, a scarf or two, jewelry, a skirt and/or pair of pants in a color or pattern that works with the solids, etc.

Then think about what you might need to do that you can't do in some combination of these pieces. Depending on your life, you may need hiking boots & jeans, a little black dress and frivolous high-heeled evening pumps and chandelier earrings, a black leather jacket, a ballgown, a wetsuit, sequin pasties, whatever. What's key is to avoid succumbing to the temptation to buy something that doesn't work with the things you already have, no matter how far it's marked down. This is something I personally have never been able to do, despite repeated good intentions, so I have all sorts of bargains I can't wear until I buy things to go with them. They amount to useless -- and expensive -- clutter. So do as I say, not as I do!

Next start looking for a few things you really love that will make your wardrobe look like nobody else's: A vintage suit jacket, a short Japanese coat, an organdy shirt, a pair of beaded clogs -- whatever speaks to you.

As for looking stylish instead of time warped: Only indulge in trends that cost practically nothing. $5 butterfly hair clips are fine; a $150 pashmina shawl could be an expensive mistake. Sure, it would've looked fab a year ago, but by next fall it's going to look very last year, and you'll have to lay it down in mothballs for a few years -- something you can't afford on a nearly nonexistent budget. So notice what everybody else is buying, and don't buy it. Buy something different that works the same way: A long velvet muffler instead of pashmina, a clutch to tuck under your arm instead of a feathered-and-sequined Fendi baguette, etc.

Patricia McLaughlin is a nationally syndicated fashion columnist.
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