I Gave Up Most of My Basics to Wear These 4 Cheap Amazon Essentials

Before we jump in, let me just give you a little background on my daily uniform. I pretty much wear a black tee, sweatshirt (or sweater), jeans or joggers, boots or sneakers, and some sort of jacket on the regular. Thus, I’m always on the hunt for the perfect iteration of said items. So a few months ago, I asked one of my friends where he gets his black T-shirts because the cut and fabric looked legit. TBH, I was expecting to hear some designer brand spew out of his mouth, but nope, he said Amazon.

While I’m an avid Prime user, I hadn’t dabbled in the Amazon fashion section a ton, aside from Hanes essentials here and there. But inspired by my friend, I thought I’d give it a try, especially since I was feeling a bit tired of the tees and sweatshirts I’ve included in my daily rotation for awhile. I started with an order of Amazon Essentials black tees. Given the glowing recommendation from my friend, I knew I’d be into them. And I was. First off, the price point is desirable (under $20 for a pack). But also, the quality is quite solid (aka soft, made from 100% cotton). The cut also works for me—fitted but not too tight, and with a classic, higher crew collar. FYI, here’s a recent IG of me in the tee.

Rather than continuing to gab right here, I thought I’d actually share more information about the tees in question below (note I bought men's items, but I included women's iterations here)—along with the other basics from Amazon I started buying (all of which have over four stars with positive customer reviews). Because, yep, I’m hooked now. With that, keep scrolling to shop the affordable basics you may want to add into your arsenal as well.

The Amazon Essentials Tee

Voilà. Here are the tees I’ve been chatting about. While I bought the men’s versions (here, FYI), the women’s iterations are more or less the same as a comfortable must-have for all your layering needs. Others seem to agree as the tees have 4.3 out of 5 stars, with more than 2000 customer reviews.

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The Amazon Essentials Hoodie

Like I mentioned, I also live in basic sweatshirts during the fall and winter. Honestly, they’re the perfect foundation piece under a cool leather or camo jacket. I recently scooped up this black style (naturally), but the line features a range of colors for every preference. I personally love the higher cut of the top of the hoodie, in addition to the ribbon-like tassels—which gives the vibe a more expensive feel (despite ringing in at $18).

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The Champion Joggers

Sure, you can find the on-trend Champion basics at a variety of retailers, but I find that the Amazon offering is actually the most affordable. I primarily work from home these days, so I often live in joggers as a comfortable yet not totally lazy pants choice. This Champion pair has a slightly tailored fit to make it elevated-feeling when I wear them out in the real world for a coffee or lunch run.

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The Amazon Essentials Skinny Jeans

Okay, I haven’t tested these quite yet, but I just ordered a pair of jeans from the Amazon Essentials collection as I was putting together the first part of this story. Sure, skinnies are one of the more polarizing denim trends out there, but I consider them a classic and live in black skinny jeans in particular. I honestly wear a variety of brands, but the affordable silhouettes on Amazon have great reviews, so I’m pretty confident they’ll become mainstays in my denim collection as well.

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Next, check out how fashion editors would spend $100 on Amazon.

Opening Image: Getty Images