July 22, 2026•6 min read•from Latest from Who What Wear

The Highly Specific Basic to Wear With Jeans If You Want to Dress Like an It Girl This Fall

Our take

This fall, elevate your denim game with a single, surprisingly versatile piece: the cashmere sweater. Channel the effortless cool of an "it girl"—think Dua Lipa—by pairing this luxurious staple with your favorite jeans. It’s a masterclass in quiet luxury, offering both warmth and undeniable style. Embrace the feeling of understated confidence; it’s about elevated basics, not fleeting trends. As our editors discovered in their recent test of Quince sheets, accessible luxury is here to stay.

The Highly Specific Basic to Wear With Jeans If You Want to Dress Like an It Girl This Fall

The relentless pursuit of "It Girl" status has always been a fascinating cultural phenomenon, but the latest iteration, distilled to a single, highly specific wardrobe choice—a certain style of basic top to wear with jeans—feels particularly revealing. The piece's focus on Dua Lipa’s recent studio outfits, and the implication that replicating her style is the key to achieving similar cultural cachet, encapsulates a trend towards increasingly curated and almost performative personal style. It's a far cry from the broader, more organic trends of previous decades, and speaks to a desire for readily-available, easily-replicable aesthetics. We've seen this before, of course, as evidenced by our readers' interest in accessible luxury, like the thoughtfully reviewed Our Editors Put Quince Sheets to the Test — Here Are Their Honest Thoughts, and the eagerness to embrace seasonal shifts with considered purchases, as explored in I'm Bidding Adieu to Summer Trends—19 Nordstrom Anniversary Sale Pieces Trending for Fall. The difference, however, lies in the specificity of this current trend, and the growing reliance on celebrity style as a direct blueprint.

The appeal, undoubtedly, is the promise of effortless cool. By adopting a seemingly simple uniform—this particular top with jeans—followers believe they can shortcut the process of developing a personal style. It's a desire for a pre-packaged aesthetic, a visual shorthand for conveying a certain vibe. This approach, while understandable in a world saturated with imagery and influenced by social media, risks a homogenization of style. The original “It Girl” often represented a uniquely individual expression, a blending of influences and a touch of rebellion. Today’s iteration feels more algorithmic, driven by data and trends rather than genuine self-discovery. Furthermore, the article's focus on Dua Lipa, a carefully constructed persona, reinforces the idea that style is not born organically but strategically crafted and meticulously presented. It mirrors a broader cultural obsession with curated online identities, where the line between authenticity and performance becomes increasingly blurred. The piece itself, in identifying this "highly specific basic," essentially participates in the trend it observes, contributing to the cycle of replication and standardization. One might even draw a parallel to the meticulously planned luxury travel experiences we highlighted in This Storybook Swiss City Combines Luxurious Experiences With Extreme Comfort, where even leisure is orchestrated for aesthetic appeal.

This fascination with replicating celebrity style also speaks to a broader anxiety surrounding individuality in the digital age. As our online spaces become increasingly dominated by filtered images and curated feeds, the desire to stand out risks being overshadowed by a desire to conform to perceived ideals of beauty and style. The quest for "It Girl" status, in this context, can be seen as a form of validation—a way to signal belonging and acceptance within a specific online community. The irony, of course, is that by striving for uniformity, individuals risk losing the very essence of what makes them unique. It is a paradox of the digital age: the more we seek to express ourselves online, the more we risk becoming indistinguishable from one another. The emphasis on a single item—a top—rather than a broader sense of style, further underscores this trend towards reductive aesthetics.

Ultimately, this hyper-specific approach to style raises a compelling question: will the pursuit of replicating "It Girl" aesthetics lead to a more creatively vibrant or a more visually homogenous future? As algorithms continue to shape our online experiences and influence our purchasing decisions, it will be interesting to see whether individuals will continue to prioritize replication over self-expression, or if a counter-movement will emerge, celebrating individuality and embracing the beauty of imperfection. Perhaps the true “It Girl” of the future will be the one who defies categorization, forging a unique style that is authentically her own, rather than a carefully curated imitation of someone else’s.

Not to be speculative, but it appears that there may be new Dua Lipa music in the works, as she's been spotted coming and going from Electric Lady Studios in NYC quite a lot recently. Time will tell, but I'm here to talk about one of her latest outfits for an alleged recording session that included jeans and an accessible, classic basic that she made look quite trendy.

We're going to be transitioning from summer to fall before we know it, and adding pieces to your wardrobe that work for both seasons sooner rather than later would be wise. One that I'm recommending is a bit specific, but that makes it even cooler. It's a Polo Ralph Lauren button-down shirt, which Lipa chose in black linen and wore unbuttoned over a black tank, pairing it with low-rise jeans and black pointed-toe boots. It's an incredibly versatile piece that you could feasibly wear over a swimsuit now and layered under a V-neck sweater later. It also comes in a million fabrics, colors, and classic prints, but you can't go wrong with Lipa's black version with the signature Polo logo in white. Scroll on to shop hers and a handful of other iterations to wear again and again.